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PHILLY PHIASCO! A local hoard of hardcore boxing fans braved the cold snowy conditions Friday night to see the first Philadelphia fight card in months, the reopening of the National Guard Armory as a boxing venue, and an old-school battle of area warhorses. What they got was two out of three, and this time, two out of three was bad. A handful of tepid matches did go off, but the show was marked with three last minute cancellations - including the much hyped "West Oak Lane Rumble" between Tommie Speller and Jameel Wilson. One week prior, Wilson and Speller went at it during a "meet and greet" event. Little did we know this was the closest the two would come to an actual fight. Fans did get to see "Big Poppa" and "Black Gold" in the ring Friday night, but they were fully dressed in street clothes and sharing a microphone. That's a nightmare scenario even for this hardcore fan. Speller took the microphone first to apologize to the fans and explain that the fight would not happen. He offered no explanation as to why the fight was cancelled. Wilson spoke next and only said that he had come that night "ready to fight", which apparently focused the blame on Speller. Tommie grabbed the mic again and announced that he hoped the two would eventually meet in the ring for real.
Five fights did happen. However, only one of them had a dash of drama. All five bouts were settled by wide-margin unanimous decision. And there's nothing more boring than that. Wait; to be fair, it could have been worse. We could have seen five draws.
On a night stripped to just five bouts scheduled for just 24 total rounds, the one bright spot is the promise of an early evening. But this card didn't even deliver that. Delays and intermissions helped to cruelly drag the night out. So hours before Evans won his fight, the evening began. The 7:30 start time slipped to 8:00, and then almost to 8:30.
After Speller and Wilson did their mea culpa, Tim Witherspoon Jr. entered the ring for his fight with fellow Philadelphian Kywame Hill. This scheduled four-rounder was beefed up to six rounds to help fill the void left by the numerous cancellations. The lightweight contest turned out to be the only competitive fight of the night. Witherspoon, the son of the two-time heavyweight champ, cruised through the first round. But in the second Witherspoon suffered a cut from an accidental head butt and began to struggle.
The official scores were all for Witherspoon. Steve Weisfeld had it 60-54. Richard Hopkins scored it 59-55 (as did I), and George Hill saw it 59-54. Hill apparently gave Tim Jr. a 10-8 in the third. Witherspoon improved his record to 6-1 (1 KO). Hill went home 1-7 (1 KO). The fight was promoted by Greg Robinson's Power Productions. The same three judges scored every bout. The alternating referees were Steve Smoger and Hurley McCall. Approximately 900 fans were in attendance for the shabby show. Next up for Power Productions is another Armory show on March 4th. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the event is better and that the fans are forgiving. |
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Later
the PA Commission confirmed the circulating story that
Speller had arrived at the fight with his mandatory medical
tests incomplete. Two more scheduled bouts were scratched
the day of the fight for similar reasons.
Main
eventer and the Power Productions fighter of the moment, Coy
Evans did not disappoint. He showed up for his six-round
bout against his most experienced foe to date, Felipe
Almanza and displayed a boat-load of skill. Running his
record to 10-0-1 with a shutout 60-54 victory, Evans
impressed if he did not inspire. It was a workmanlike
performance - solid but safe. Evans didn't put himself out,
satisfied to simply pile up points all the way through the
bout. And he looked good doing it. At the very end, he hurt
his opponent, but it was too late to capitalize. Almanza,
now 18-20-4, looked more like a fighter than most boxers
with similar records, but he had nothing to offer against
Evans. He was sturdy and able, but never came close to
winning a round.
When
the action finally got underway, Ukraine-born but Shuler Gym
product Georgiy Guralnik opened the show with his
professional debut. The heavyweight won a shutout over four
rounds against Michael Davis. Davis who put up no fight
whatsoever, could have easily been disqualified for his lack
of combativeness. But referee Steve Smoger showed some
patience and the fight lasted the scheduled route. All three
judges gave every round to Guralnik, and one of them scored
round one 10-8 (for a 40-35 final tally). Davis' record
slipped to 0-7.
Next,
light-heavyweight Amir Shabazz made his professional debut a
successful one with his own four round shutout. Part of the
excellent Bozy Ennis stable, many eyes are on Shabazz see if
he can grow into a real player in that talent-rich and
successful team that includes featherweight Coy Evans, USBA
jr. middleweight champion Derek Ennis, NABF super
middle-weight champion Farah Evans, and others. Shabazz beat
Phillip Hannah with speedy lunges, constant jabs and many
uppercuts. Hannah hung in there but did little more than
clinch. All three judges scored the fight 40-36. Hannah
dropped to 0-5.
The
third fight was one of those out-of-town-transplants that
finds it's way onto a show, thanks to some side deal struck
by a manager merely in search for a work date for his boxer.
Enter Jamaican southpaw Venroy July who fights out of
Maryland. He faced Billings, Montana's Joe Broken Rope. July
cruised to an easy four-round shutout on all cards. He
controlled every minute of the action and rattled his
opponent repeatedly. At times it seemed Broken Rope might
fall, but he managed to last until the final bell. July
improved to 6-0-1 with 2 KOs; broken Rope slipped to 2-1.
Philly
fans haven't seen Witherspoon since his first two pro bouts.
Since then he's been on the road fighting twice in Ohio and
three times in the UK. In those early local starts,
Witherspoon looked talented but seemed a little fragile once
the going got rough. But that was years ago. However, back
in Philly against Kywame, Witherspoon again appeared
vulnerable. He sagged a bit after the head butt and Kywame
took the round. Hill picked it up in round three. He roughed
Witherspoon up along the ropes and in the corners.
Witherspoon seemed ready to go down, but then turned into a
tiger. He fired a volley of hard blows at Hill that proved
almost lethal. It was a great round. Hill rallied, only to
be topped by Witherspoon in overall activity and effective
power. Finally the evening had some real boxing action.
Witherspoon
won the third and the fourth, as the club fighter mentality
of the 1-6 Hill set in. He faded and accepted what must have
felt like another inevitable loss. Things slowed down in the
fifth with both fighters looking winded. A few sparks
happened in the sixth that reminded fans of the thrilling
third, but it was mostly Witherspoon.