|
|
||||
|
ROSADO STOPS LATE SUB BRUCE AT BALLY'S North Philly's "King" Gabriel Rosado won his beleaguered main event bout with second, and last minute, substitute Ayi Bruce by TKO in round five, Friday night at Bally's Atlantic City. After the late scramble to replace Allen Conyers (who had replaced Harry Joe Yorgey), and after the bout was cut from ten to eight rounds, Rosado ignored the last minute curveballs and went to work in the ring, looking to salvage the payday, get the win, and still make an impression on the crowd despite not knowing anything about Ayi Bruce. Rosado accomplished all three goals.
Bruce won the third round when Rosado's bad habit of waiting surfaced once again. Instead of keeping his hands busy, Rosado leaned back, twisted at the waist and failed to produce enough offense to win him the round. The game Bruce chugged forward and threw punches. He landed a few good ones and clearly won the round.
Bruce climbed to his feet and jumped back into the action. Sensing the kill, Rosado went back to work and again began the sampling. As he tried different assaults - body, head, etc. - Bruce kept moving and avoided the another bomb. The bell ended the round, and although Rosado looked frustrated, he appeared to have the fight in the bag.
Both fighters came out for the fifth with clear missions. Bruce was trying to survive and Rosado was trying to close the show. Rosado threw a lot of punches but did not cut the ring off enough to force matters, and it allowed Bruce to last much longer than he should have. As Rosado threw and landed punches, Bruce withdrew from the fight. His offense dried up completely and he was only taking Rosado's scattered but powerful blows. Finally with just a few seconds remaining in the fifth round, referee Cotton ended the bout. The time was 2:56.
The victory improved Gabriel's record to 17-5 with 10 knockouts. Bruce fell to 20-4 with 12 knockouts. Rosado's victory celebration lasted about four hours. News reports the following day said that the 25 year old boxer had been arrested for aggravated assault of a police officer during the wee hours of fight night. At the time of this posting, Rosado was still sitting in county jail awaiting his arraignment scheduled for Monday. Suddenly the serious business of his boxing career appeared very small compared to the potential problems this serious charge might cause the young man.
Junior welterweight Naim Nelson won a four round unanimous decision over fellow Philadelphian Korey Sloane to push his budding record to 2-0 (0 KO). Sloane lost for the first time, 1-1 (0 KO). Bryne Green, Vineland, NJ, beat Tyrone Luckey, Middletown, NJ, by unanimous decision in their four round junior lightweight fight. Green left 7-4-1 (3 KO), while Luckey lost for the first time as a pro, 4-1 (4 KO). Atlantic City welterweight DeCarlo Perez remained unbeaten (4-0-1 / 1 KO) with a four round unanimous decision over Philadelphia's Keane Davis, 1-3 (0 KO). Jamaal Davis, West Philly, looked to rebound from his prior TKO loss to Gabriel Rosado in a six round junior middleweight match with Eberto Medina, Newark, NJ. However Davis had to settle for a split decision draw and many whispers that he looked very much like a tired and diminished fighter on this night. Davis showed his toughness during the first three rounds, which he lost convincingly. However, he displayed great determination by pulling out the three final rounds, and earning the split decision draw. His late rally gives some hope that he still has something left in his boxing tank. The eight round semi-windup bout was a light-heavyweight rematch between Tony Ferrante and Andre Hemphill. Ferrante won their first meeting by unanimous decision about eighteen months ago. This time, it was a rather painful-to-watch clutch fest. Hemphill finally lost a point for holding in round six, and Ferrante pressed the action enough in the seventh to mercifully end the bout. Ferrante dropped his rival and landed enough subsequent blows to force a stoppage by referee Ricardo Vera. The time was 2:44. Ferrante moved to 11-2 with 6 KOs. The loss left Hemphill 10-18-2 with 5 KOs.
Notes: |
||||
|
|
||||
|
Photos by
Dolly Rosado |
||||
|
|
||||
With two fewer rounds to work with, Rosado started fast,
using his jab to effectively control his squat but
powerful-looking foe. Rosado captured the first two rounds
and tossed an assortment of power punches at Bruce. It
appeared that Rosado was trying a number of things
offensively, and
looking for something that would stick. He worked the first
two rounds like he was sampling one of those casino buffets
that are so popular in AC. Besides the
jab, Rosado tried his
left hook, his right and left uppercut, and some thumping
whacks to the body. He moved a
little; he stood still a little.
The result was working well enough for him, but he wasn't
exactly putting things together.
In the fourth, Rosado was once again back at the buffet. A
little of this, a little of that. But he still was not
punching off his jab or putting together combinations. But
then his favorite dish did the job for him. Out of nowhere,
Rosado launched an overhand right that clubbed Bruce to the
canvas. For all intents and purposes, the fight ended right
there. Check please.
Between rounds, somewhere,
somehow, someone got the impression that
the Bruce corner had called a halt to the bout. Rosado
jumped off his stool and began celebrating. But after a few
seconds, referee Eddie Cotton made it clear that the fight
had not been stopped and would continue.
After
all the turmoil and unknown factors leading up to the fight,
Rosado managed to remain focused on the task at hand.
For a fighter like Rosado who is working hard to move up to
the next level, job number one is to win. He did that and a
knockout is always a good way to do it.