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Southpaw Tevin Farmer cruised through his 8-round main event at the Armory Friday night to record his 13th career victory. His unanimous decision victory over then-undefeated Camilo Perez of Carolina, Puerto Rico, was his sixth straight win. All six of those wins have come in 2013, making Farmer one of the busiest Philly fighters of the year. In the fight against Perez, Farmer was busier and more accurate throughout, winning every round on my scorecard. However, the junior lightweight fight was a two-way affair. Perez was tough and stayed in the fray by landing some solid shots.
In round two, Perez attempted to slow Farmer's roll with a corking left hook. The punch slammed into Farmer's face, and he felt it. However, the whirling dervish fired right back, landing and regaining his momentum. Before the bell, Farmer drilled Perez with his own hard left that made him wobble, but the Perez wasn't going anywhere. The rest of the rounds unfurled in the same way as the second, with Farmer doing more and Perez trying to change the direction of the contest with his solo shots. The fourth round was particularly good, but Farmer claimed it on my card with his extra work rate.
By the end of the eighth (originally the fight was scheduled for 10 but was cut to 8 on Friday morning), Farmer had carved out a very nice victory. There could be no dispute that he had boosted his record to 13-4-1, 2 KOs, and this time it was against an undefeated foe with a good-looking 9-0, 4 KOs, record. So Farmer became the first to beat Perez. The official judges saw the fight much closer than my 80-72 tally, but still all of them voted for Farmer. Dewey LaRosa scored it 79-73, giving Perez one round. Dave Greer had it 78-54, and Dave Braslow saw it the closest at 57-55. That's one round away from being a draw. It was a nice scrap, with Farmer firming his reputation as a crowd pleaser, even though he doesn't punch that hard. When he fights, he keeps moving and keeps punching and the time just seems to zip by.
But Douglin kept tossing punches and began landing more frequently as the fight progressed. The second round saw a lot of good, back and forth action. Kennedy cracked Denis with a hard right which appeared to hurt Douglin, but he kept moving and cleared his head. Kennedy took the third round on my card as he pressed Douglin, trying to hurt him again. However, it was the slugger's last hurrah.
Douglin improved to 15-3, 9 KOs. Kennedy slipped to 7-7-1 with 3 KOs.
Gonzalez took round one after tagging Folly a few times with his hard punches. Folly wobbled from the shots, but held his ground by punching back. Folly was having more trouble in the second until he bombed Gonzales with a big right hand. A little later, he landed a left hook that backed Gonzales down and allowed Folly to take the round. In the third, Folly looked in control and won the round in clear cut fashion. He landed well took the lead in the fight. But Gonzales wasn't finished yet. The fighter from Bethlehem came back strong in the third, and looked to be on the brink of pushing the fight to a 2-2 draw. However, Folly dug down deep and secured the win with a hard right that dropped Gonzales near the end or the final round. When Gonzales got up, Folly swarmed him, but ran out of time for before he could put him down again.
When Folly, 2-0, 1 KO, made his debut six months ago, the most impressive thing about his performance was that his style seemed perfectly suited for the pro ranks. Although this fight with Gonzales, 1-3, 1 KO, was far tougher, Folly again displayed that professional style, which makes me extremely eager to see him fight again.
A good left hook landed
on Cartagena in the first. Moments later, Molina hit him
with a right. Miguel felt it but stayed out of further
trouble in the round. The rest of the fight was the same,
with Cartagena throwing and landing more, and Molina
However in the end, Cartagena clearly won the bout. Judges Dewey LaRosa and Dave Braslow gave Cartagena every round with their 40-36 scores. Joe Pasquale favored Miguel 39-37. My score was also 39-37. Cartagena improved to 9-0 with 3 KOs, and journeyman Molina fell to 32-26-3, 20 KOs.
In the opening fight of the night, Philadelphia southpaw Robert Sweeney (pink trunks) won his second pro bout, 2-0, with a four round unanimous decision over Nycholas Ellerbe of Manassas, VA. Sweeney hurt Ellerbe with a left in round two, and the Virginian began holding in an attempt to handcuff the Philadelphian. The tactic seriously cost Ellerbe in the third, when referee Blair Talmadge penalized him one point on two different occasions. The penalty points put the decision out of reach, but then again Sweeney won each of the four rounds outright, anyway. The shutout victory wound up extra wide on the cards. All three judges, Greer, Pasquale and Braslow all had the fight 40-34 for Sweeney. My score was the same. The show, which drew about 700 fans, was promoted by Greg Robinson's Power Productions. Renee Aiken was the matchmaker. Larry Tornambe was the ring announcer. Shawn Clark and Blair Talmadge were the alternating referees. Pasquale, LaRosa, Braslow and Greer rotated in the judges' chairs. The next Power Productions event is slated for January 31st at the Armory. |
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Farmer
jumped out to his typical quick start, zipping in and out in
his lefty stance, and fired piles of punches at whatever
parts of his opponent's body his gloves could find. Tevin
gets on a roll, which is often tough to stop. They say, 'an
object in motion tends to stay in motion', and this
definitely applies to Farmer. 
Perez
clobbered Farmer with a good right in the ninth, but once
again Tevin fought his way through it to win yet another
round. 
Denis
Douglin, of Marlboro, NJ, stopped rugged Julius Kennedy,
Windsor Mill, MD, in a middleweight bout scheduled for six
rounds. This fight was the most entertaining bout of the
night. The left handed "Mama's Boy" hurt Kennedy in round
one to set the tone for the fight. The action was lively,
with Kennedy, a veteran of two local bouts with Harry Yorgey
and another with Decarlo Perez, retaliating every time he
got hit. 
Douglin
came on strong in the fourth, and dropped Kennedy with a
left-right combination. Kennedy went down hard, but gamely
got back up to his feet. Douglin stormed in and unleashed a
series of punches that trapped Kennedy in his own corner.
Douglin fired away before referee Blair Talmadge stepped in
to stop it. The time was 1:47 of round four. 
Kensington
newbie, Emmanuel Folly won his second pro bout with a tough
unanimous decision over Jesus Gonzales, in a four round
junior lightweight fight. Folly, who was so impressive in
his debut in the same ring back in April, seriously
struggled in this fight. 
The
knockdown helped Folly to claim the challenging win on the
judges cards by scores of 40-35, 39-36 and 39-36. My score
was also 39-36. 
North
Philly's Miguel Cartagena won his ninth straight fight with
a unanimous decision over 60-bout vet Jhon Alberto Molina.
Cartagena jumped right on his opponent, but Molina's
experience began to show almost immediately. The Colombian
started landing hard potshots on Miguel, and even shook him
up a few times. 
swinging
for the fences. He never hit a homerun, but there were some
very nervous moments for Cartagena fans in this fight.
Further, with longtime trainer Javier Varela no longer in
Cartagena's corner, there was an air of upset during the
bout. 