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ENNIS SHOCKED IN AC Germantown junior middleweight contender Derek "Pooh" Ennis suffered a shocking technical knockout loss at the hands of unheralded southpaw Giorbis Barthelemi in the main event at the Resorts Superstar Theater in Atlantic City Friday night.
When the bell rang to end the first, Ennis headed back to his corner on extremely unsteady legs. As he neared his home base, he toppled face-first into the corner pad. It was clear that the fight was over. Ennis' trainer and father Bozy worked to revive Pooh but to little avail. But the fighter insisted the fight should continue.
The Cuban wailed away at Ennis' head and body, battering him from one side of the ring to another. Finally they settled in a neutral corner for the closing portion of the fight. At one point their heads clashed, and Ennis came away with a cut under his right eye. He pawed at the wound as it streamed blood down his cheek. Barthelemi jumped in again and punched away until Ennis was sagging on the ropes. Referee Steve Smoger finally stopped the onslaught at 1:50 of the second round.
It was Pooh's first start since his rousing USBA title defense against Gabriel Rosado seven months ago. Luckily for Ennis his title was not on the line in the ten rounder against Barthelemi. But still the loss could not have come at a worse time. Over the past several months Ennis' managers Moz Gonzalez and Eddie Woods, along with Bozy Ennis, having been trying to line up a world title shot for the 30 year old boxer. His 10-bout winning streak leading up to this fight included several career-best performances that indicated he just might be ready to make his move to the next level. However, a shocking loss like this one is likely to stall his climb for a while as he is sent back to the drawing board. Ennis' record fell to 22-3-1 with 13 knockouts. All three of his losses have been the result of stoppages in three rounds or less. Barthelemi improved to 25-8-2. This was his tenth KO. Seven four-round bouts filled out the remainder of the card. Lightweight Edgardo Torres, Vineland, NJ, made his pro debut by knocking out Marcus Smith, Glassboro, NJ at :43 of round one. Joey Tiberi halted Shawn Hodson at 2:36 of the first round in their lightweight contest. Heavyweight Ali Santos of Camden, NJ won a four round split decision over Eric Newell of Bethlehem, PA. It was Santos' pro debut. Althea Saunders and Melissa St. Vil fought a four round majority draw in their lightweight fight. However, Saunders seemed to do enough to earn the decision. Welterweight Louis Cream, the grandson of Jersey Joe Walcott, Camden, NJ, made his pro debut a successful one with a unanimous decision over Yehudy Vargas of Trenton. Todd Eriksson, Dover, NJ beat southpaw Lawrence Jones, DC in their middleweight fight. The decision was unanimous. Isiah Seldon, son of former heavyweight champ Bruce Seldon, stopped Juan Zapata at 2:36 of round three. Seldon is from Atlantic City; Zapata hails from Honduras. The card was promoted by Diane Lee Fischer / Dee Lee Promotions. The alternate referees were Steve Smoger and Eddie Cotton. The judges for all eight fights were Pierre Benoist, Emil Conforti and Eugene Grant. The ring announcer was Nino Del Buono.
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After
circling each other and trading some polite warm up blows,
Barthelemi staggered Ennis with a thudding right hook. Pooh
wobbled to the ropes and went down in a heap, his trunks
landing on the bottom strand of ropes. Ennis gamely rose
from the canvas but it was clear that he was in deep trouble
and unlikely to survive the round. Barthelemi went right at
his wounded foe, giving him little chance to escape.
However, time was running out in the session.
Within
seconds of the start of the second round, it was obvious
Ennis wouldn't make it. With nothing to lose and a big
opportunity before him, Barthelemi resumed his attack and
battered the top-ten contender.
