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Rogers
Mtagwa went down swinging in what has to be his final world
title shot. WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez
defended his belt by TKO in the second round of their
scheduled twelve rounder in El Paso, Texas. Mtagwa started
out boxing in round one, and had some early success, but
Gonzalez started landing heavy blows by the end of the
round. The punches were significant, and although Mtagwa
wasn't hurt, the blows appeared to move the little warrior
as he absorbed them. In round two the punches came more
frequently. Gonzalez hurt Mtagwa with a vicious left hook to
the head and went downstairs for a devastating shot to the
body. The punch hurt Mtagwa and moved him back to the ropes.
A few solid blows later, the fight was stopped by referee
Guadalupe Garcia. Mtagwa never went down and could have
probably fought on, but why? This fight was clearly over and
the stoppage was right on point. After a breathtaking career
filled with thrilling wars, Mtagwa will probably hang up his
gloves with a record of 27-15-2 (19 KO). He fought for a
title in three of his last four bouts (vs. Lopez, Gamboa &
Gonzalez). Rogers won the African Boxing Union Super
Bantamweight title in 1999, the USBA featherweight title in
2005, and the NABF featherweight title in 2007 before that
belt-winning bout was declared a No Contest and the title
was vacated. Mtagwa also won the Briscoe Award as the 2009
Philly Fighter of the Year. It was a great run, and
hopefully this classic Philly fighter (by way of Tanzania)
takes the long rest he now deserves.
Heavyweight
Joey Dawejko won a first round TKO over John Lennox in a
scheduled four round preliminary bout at the Robert Treat
Hotel in Newark, NJ on Wednesday night (09/14/11). The
win made Dawejko 5-0 with 2 KOs. Lennox lost for the first
time in seven bouts (6-1 / 3 KOs). Dawejko now has
four fights tentatively scheduled before the end of the
year, all in North Bergen, NJ. I couldn't think of a better
schedule for the young prospect who has had a rather
inactive 2011 thus far, after a couple of late cancellations
slowed his year. If he can log even just one of those
four proposed bouts, it will turn 2011 into the busiest year
of his career (2009 - 1 fight, 2010 - 2 fights, 2011 - 2
fights so far).
Also on the Newark card, Thomas Lamanna beat Josh Williams
by unanimous decision over four rounds. Tyyab Beale
decisioned Taffo Asongwed in four (unanimous). Carlos
Vinan and Wanzell Ellison fought to a six round split
decision draw, and Michael Torres won the eight round main
event with a unanimous decision over Mark Alexander.
Super
middleweight Dhafir "No Fear" Smith (24-21-7 / 4 KO) fights
Marco Antonio Periban 14-0 / 10 KO) on the undercard of this
weekend's Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz mega show in Las
Vegas. So it's another killer for road warrior Smith, who
scored the Philly Upset of the Year last December when he
beat former champ Jeff Lacy in his own backyard. Smith
should have his hands full on Saturday, but to him it's just
another day at the office. Fights like this are what
his career has been all about. They are "no sweat" for "No
Fear".
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