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The Philly fight year officially opened Friday night at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall in South Philadelphia with the inaugural offering by Cool Boxing Promotions. The card felt a bit shaky leading up to fight night, with the original main event falling out and the final lineup of bouts not firmly set until the 11th hour. However, the fight card, filled with seven 4-rounders, turned out to be an entertaining show and started the boxing year on a solid note.
This seems to have been Allen's M.O. in his last two bouts, as he clearly has become more aggressive as his career has unfolded. Linenfelser was there to he hit, but posed a difficult target, with his hands held high and much taller frame.
Allen continued his attack into the final round, and began landing with greater ease and frequency. Linenfelser was tough and took the shots. However, a little past the halfway mark in the round, referee Hurley McCall stepped in to shield Linenfelser from more punishment.
With the stoppage, Allen improved to 5-0 with 2 KOs, and still looks like a Grade A prospect. He was an amateur star and has tons of potential as a pro. Linenfelser slid to 3-6, 3 KOs. In the 4-round co-feature, Philly bantamweight Emmanuel Folly won the third straight bout of his promising young career when he pounded a game Angel Carvajal of Chicago for a third round TKO.
Folly, blasted his foe with powerful shots from the opening bell, nearly landing at will and looking impressive. But Carvajal was a tough battler and seemed to relish the punishment. After every Folly flurry, the Carvajal denied any affect and walked back into the fray. Folly was happy to keep dishing the leather and started landing some stunning shots. A potent left hook knocked Carvajal through the ropes. Tangled in the ropes, the Mexican never fully hit the floor, but referee Shawn Clark correctly called the incident a knockdown.
Carvajal was angry at the decision to stop the fight. He is a rugged warrior and would have kept fighting if given the chance. But he was a beaten fighter and the stoppage was the right move. The win kept Folly's reputation high. Like Damon Allen, Emmanuel is one of the best young talents in the City - and one of the best. Folly improved to 3-0 with 2 KOs.
Carvajal lost his third straight fight and went home with a record of 2-3. His previous losses were to hot prospects Rau'shee Warren of Cincinnati and Philly's own Miguel Cartagena. Add Emmanuel Folly to his list of possible future champions that have beaten him.
The fighters went right at each other in round one before an accidental clash of heads temporarily stalled the action. Ibraham had the edge in that first round, but Gooding battled back in the next two.
In the third, Gooding fell to the canvas after a shove and referee Hurley McCall called the trip to the floor a knockdown. From my vantage point, it was certainly a slip. Still Ibraham clearly won the round, the only one that I felt he took without a doubt. After four rounds, I scored the bout even at 38-38, or two rounds apiece with no extra credit given for the "knockdown". The official cards told a slightly different story. Judge George Hill gave every round to Rami, and gave him an extra point for the iffy knockdown. His score was 40-35. Lynn Carter gave the fight to Ibraham, 39-36. Pierre Benoist saw it the closest, but still favored Rami 38-37. The win made Ibraham 4-8-1, 1 KO. He enjoyed the win and revved up his ticket buyers after the verdict was announced. Gooding made a nice showing, but left 1-4, 1 KO.
Nelson Acevedo won his professional debut with a brutal beat down of Floridian Luis Claudio in a scheduled 4-round bantamweight bout. Southpaw Acevedo started landing his heavy shots early in the bout, and made it clear that he was out for the KO. Claudio was hurt in the first round and saw no relief in the second. Acevedo shifted to a body attack in the second, and everyone could see the end of the bout coming. After a series of Acevedo lead lefts thumped their way home on Claudio's chin, referee Hurley McCall called it a night. The time was 2:43 of round two.
It was a strong opening night for Acevedo (above left). Claudio, 1-2, 1 KO, lost his second straight (both by TKO).
He continued his work in round two, landing more good right hands that stunned Reece, and threatened to put him down. However, he remained on his feet. In the third, Reece lost a point for rabbit punching, which put his chances of winning a decision out of reach.
As the clock ticked down, Jajoute suddenly looked hurt and wobbly. Reece kept pressing and throwing, but Jajoute stayed strong. The bell finally sounded and ended the excellent fight. The judges all had Jajoute the winner. George Hill scored it 40-35, while Lynn Carter and Pierre Benoist had it 39-36. My score also read 39-36 for Jajoute, giving him the first three rounds and Reece that last. Reece fell to 1-3, 1 KO. Jajoute, also an MMA fighter, is now 1-0 as a boxer.
The show drew a crowd of about 500 on a rainy and cold Friday night. Promoter Humberto Perez plans to stage more shows in Philly this year. Let's hope he does. |
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In the main event,
Damon Allen started his second year as a professional with
his fifth straight victory and second career knock-out. His
opponent was the lanky and awkward Anthony Linenfelser, of
Rockford, IL. Allen swept through the first three rounds,
winning them all, and landing many wild potshots as he
clearly went for a stoppage. 
However, Allen kept
pressing all night long. He didn't look as smooth as he has
in some of his previous bouts, but his interest in
transforming himself from safety-first amateur to a more
forward-moving professional, is a welcome renovation of
style. 
It felt like he could
have lasted until the final bell, but he hadn't come close
to winning a round and was certainly getting hit more and
more as the 4th round wore on. 
Moments later, Folly
found the mark with a pair of swooping right uppercuts that
snapped Carvajal's head back violently. After another dose
of clean shots, Clark stepped in and halted the bout at 2:36
of round three. 
Welterweight
Rami Ibraham thrilled his big cheering section by scoring a
4-round unanimous decision over James Gooding, of Tampa.
However, the fight was a close one and Ibraham perhaps
escaped with a hometown nod. 
The second round was
extremely close and could have gone either way. However,
Gooding clearly took the third round on my card. 
Philly's
Eric Gonzalez made a successful pro debut, beating William
Harris, Darby, PA, by unanimous decision in their
featherweight bout. I had Gonzalez winning every round, as
did official judges Lynn Carter and Pierre Benoist with
their 40-36 scores. George Hill saw it a notch closer at
39-37. 
In
the most entertaining war of the evening, Johnson Jajoute
won his debut on points over Howard Reece of Belleview, FL,
in a junior middleweight contest. Jajoute jumped out in
round one, landing strong rights and a good left hook before
the session ended. 
In the last round,
Reece fought back hard, looking to win the only way
remaining. The two rumbled evenly before Jajoute hurt him
with a right. But the punch kicked Reece in gear and he
began throwing and landing punches. 
Atlantic City light
heavyweight Joel De La Paz returned after a four years away
from the ring, and remained undefeated with a unanimous
decision over Edgar Perez of Chicago. Joel looked a little
rusty at first, backing up when he should have been pressing
forward on Perez. However, after a couple of rounds, he
loosened up, kept his hands moving and walked Perez down. De La Paz won all four
rounds on all scorecards, 40-36. De La Paz upped his record
to 7-0, 4 KOs, while Perez fell to 5-8, 3 KOs. 
North
Philly middleweight Fred Jenkins Jr., 6-1, 2 KOs, was
scheduled to fight on the card, but his opponent fell out at
the last minute. Therefore, Jenkins had to settle for
participating in a 3-round exhibition with fellow
Philadelphian Lamont Rose.