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BIG RING WEEKEND AHEAD Two major fight cards featuring many local boxers are slated to light up casino rings this weekend. Neither fight is in Philadelphia, but they aren't very far away.
On Friday night, Joey Eye and David Feldman return to Harrah's Casio and Racetrack in Chester, PA. The main event features crowd-pleasing Victor Vasquez in an 8-round lightweight battle with Angel Rios for the BAM title.
Vasquez enters the ring Friday with a 13-5-1 (7 KO) record. He always brings a blood & guts approach with him, and has never failed to make an entertaining fight. Rios has lost three straight but has never been stopped in his fourteen pro fights (9-5 / 6 KO). So Vasquez will be trying to be the first to kayo him. Either way, the winner of the bout will leave with the BAM title belt and trophy.
Two four round bouts round out the card. Heavyweight amateur phenom Joey Dawejko (4-0 / 1 KO) takes on Keon Graham (2-6 / 0 KO), and lightweight Joey Tiberi faces an opponent still to be named.
Twenty-four hours later, Peltz Boxing and Top Rank partner for a six-bout show at Bally's Atlantic City. The main event features undefeated Teon Kennedy of North Philly (17-0-1 / 7 KO) defending his NABA super middleweight belt against Mexican Alejandro Lopez, 21-2 (7 KO). The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Saturday's undercard includes an 8-round lightweight fight between Philly prospect Karl Dargan (9-0 / 4 KO) and Juan Suazo of Tucson (8-4-3 / 5 KO).
Undefeated Cuban Top Rank prospect Yordenis Ugas (8-0 / 4 KO) faces Carlos Ramos of Puerto Rico, who brings a 3-2 (2 KO) record to their four round welterweight bout. Camilo Perez, twenty year old undefeated Puerto Rican, 4-0-(3 KO), fights James Owens, 4-5 (2 KO), of Milwaukee in a four round featherweight contest. North Philly's Fred Jenkins Jr. will open the show in a four round middleweight fight against an opponent to be named. |
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Vasquez
looked good in his last outing at the same venue. His fifth
round TKO of Gustav Dailey offered the promise of a new
chapter for Vasquez. Against Dailey, he boxed well, blasted
to the body, and lowered the boom in the round five - just
when Dailey appeared to be making a move in the bout.
The
main supporting bout in Chester features popular NE Philly
light-heavyweight Tony "Boom Boom" Ferrante (11-2 / 6 KO) in
a six rounder against Ohio's William Prieto (5-5-1 / 2 KO).
Prieto has lost four of his last five (0-4-1), three of them
by KO. So Ferrante should be looking to steamroll him for a
quick win. Let's see. Ferrante served up a snoozer his last
time out, but managed a last KO against Andre Hemphill.
Another
six rounder pits undefeated Angel Ocasio (5-0 / 1 KO)
against Rassol Shakoor in a lightweight bout. Shakoor is the
most experienced fighter matched with Ocasio thus far, but
at 3-8-1 (1 KO), and with five of those losses by KO,
Shakoor should not be too much of a challenge for Angel.
Kennedy
turned pro in 2007 after a stellar amateur career. For the
first two years in the professional ranks, Teon lived up to
his nickname of "The Technician". He out boxed, out smarted
and out punched every foe he fought. But over the past two
years, although his technical skills cannot be denied,
Kennedy's style has changed. At some point, his fights
became wars - thrilling to watch but harder than necessary.
I can't say I'm sorry about the transformation, even if it
has caused me much worry from ringside. Each time out,
Kennedy has These days, Teon is pound for pound the most
exciting Philly fighter out there. He is also one of the
best. So his fights are loaded with a little bit of
everything - quality action, impressive skill, stretches of
complete control, and just enough drama to keep you
guessing.
In
Lopez, Teon will face a seasoned and capable opponent who is
not much of a puncher. However with the legal issues Kennedy
has been going through this summer, the fight should not
only be a test of his ability but also one of his
concentration. Hopefully the always-calm Kennedy will keep
it together and score a big win. There are rumblings of a
big fight being around the corner for the 25 year old
Teon.
Glassboro's
towering super middleweight Derrick Webster (9-0 / 6 KO)
meets Romaro Johnson (11-3-1 / 6 KO) of Cleveland in a six
round match.