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ENNIS & POWER TO RETURN AT ARMORY |
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Comebacks will be the motif at the National Guard Armory in Northeast Philly Friday night when Greg Robinson's Power Productions returns with the first boxing show of the 2012 fight schedule.
Greg Robinson's return promotion Friday night is a whopper with eleven fights scheduled (for a total of 54 scheduled rounds) to begin at 7:30 PM. However on this card, Robinson is not the only one with comeback on his mind.
The 8-round main event marks the return of Farah Ennis, who
has not fought since April when he suffered his first
professional defeat in an upset to Alexander
Ennis, 17-1 with 11 KOs, is a quiet and humble guy who carries the nickname "Quiet Storm", and does the majority of his talking with his gloved fists. Before the loss, he was on a good roll against decent opposition. He even won the NBAF title.
Ennis has a lot of power, which should endanger Grover
Young's streak of finishing fights on his feet. However, the
one red light for this fight is that it will go down in the
light heavyweight division. The concern is that Ennis -
normally a super middleweight in terrific condition - has
approached this fight with less than his usual work ethic,
or
There are other comebacks on the card - especially that of Philadelphian Brian Donohue (left) who returns to the ring after five years away. He'll face Randy Campbell in a four round light heavyweight preliminary.
Popular and undefeated heavyweight Joey Dawejko fights Corey Winfield on the card. Dawejko, 5-0 with 2 KOs, is coming off his best win, a TKO of then-undefeated John Lennox of Carteret, NJ in September. Dawejko was an amateur standout who won international titles as a teenager. Now 21, "The Polish Thunder" continues to progress after a slow career start. The fight will be his third in a year, as he tries to get things rolling again. Dawejko should have little trouble with Winfield, 4-8 with 2 KOs in the four rounder. However, Winfield at 6' 3", is several inches taller than Dawejko. But you know what they say, "...the harder they fall." Five more fights, all scheduled for four rounds, round out the card. (To see the complete bout sheet click here). The big boxing show Friday night kicks off what looks like a potentially busy 2012. Four local fights, four neighboring fights and four TV fights - all involving Philly boxers - fill out the schedule for the first quarter of the year. So the quantity is there. Let's hope that Friday's action delivers in the quality category and sets the tone for 2012. |
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Power's
last card was many moons ago at the same venue on January
28, 2011. That card disintegrated on fight day with the
majority of slated bouts scratched at the last minute. The
show went on but it was a shaky affair. Power Productions
did not even attempt to stage another show until now. 
Johnson
in Atlantic City. That surprise setback sent the 29-year old
Ennis back to the drawing board. After all this time, he's
ready to go again. He will face Grover Young. At 5-4-1 with
2 KOs, Young, at least on paper, looks like a classic
comeback foe - a professional with a pulse from the breeding
ground of easy opponents - the Southern United States. But
Young, of Tennessee, is a ripe 23 years old, a light
heavyweight, and all of his losses have been to undefeated
boxers. He also has never been stopped. So perhaps he can
serve as a moderate test for Ennis - at least for the
come-backing Ennis. 
that
the lay off has resulted in weight gain. But the weight
class of this bout may be the result of the sometimes
arduous task of landing the "right" opponent for a match
like this. Let's hope this is the case. All eyes will be on
Ennis' weight when he steps on the scale Friday morning, but
the truth is Farah should be okay regardless. 
Tim
Witherspoon Jr. (right) fights for the first time in a year
when he faces fellow Philadelphian Tevin Farmer in a 6-round
lightweight bout. Witherspoon, 6-1-1 with 2 KOs, was last
seen on Power's Armory show last January, but has been idle
ever since due to injury. Farmer is 3-2-1 with 1 KO. He
turned pro last February and was very active all year.
Friday's 6-round fight will be for something called the IBS
regional lightweight title. Luckily in this case, IBS stands
for Independent Boxing Syndicate. 
In
addition to these crossroad-comebacks, the card boasts one
bout that is shaping into an attractive grudge fight.
Undefeated lightweight Angel Ocasio, 6-0 with 1 KO, faces
Jason Sosa (left) in the 6-round "Co-Main Event". Apparently
no love will be lost between these two when their
Philly-Camden rivalry ignites in the ring. Ocasio (below) is
coming off the best win of his young career, a unanimous
decision over Rasool Shakoor last August.
He
looked like a real prospect in that fight and will try to
continue his advancement against Sosa, 4-1-1 with 1 KO. But
at the press conference Monday night, Sosa had that pissed
off look of a fighter who has been cast in the role of "the
opponent", contrary to his liking. He is not yet a
journeyman, so surely the role feels to him like a bad fit.
Hopefully the two fighters will clash hard when they meet in
the ring. 
The
other likely highlight of the night is the fourth
professional start of North Philly's Miguel Cartagena.
Miguel turned pro last year after a very successful amateur
run that included numerous titles. Cartagena shouldn't get
much resistance from the 1-5 Cuban Yuniel Ramos Friday
night, but we still want to watch Miguel's progress. He's on
a two-bout KO streak, and should add to it at the Armory.