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Kings Promotions packed the Sugar House Casino Saturday night, but the two main fights fell short of expectations. Luckily, a solid undercard saved the day sent the many fans home happy. In the main event, North Philly middleweight Tyrone “Young Gun” Brunson, 24-6-2 (22 KO), took a mauling split decision over Brandon “The Bulldog” Quarles of Alexandria, VA, 18-4-1 (9 KO), over eight dull rounds.
Although there wasn’t much action in the opening round, Quarles did the most work. In the second round, Quarles had Brunson on the ropes, only to be tied up by Tyrone. In the third, it was more of the same. With seconds to go in the round, referee Steve “SS” Smoger called time to allow Brunson’s corner could put his mouthpiece in. In the fourth round, Brunson landed his best punch of the night, a left hook to the chin of Quarles. Brandon came back and returned the favor moments later.
In the fifth round, Brunson started throwing bombs which sent Quarles into defensive mode. However, by the end of the round, Quarles started out punching Brunson. It was the first real fighting round of the fight. Things continued to heat up in the sixth, when Brunson finally put some punches together in one of the better rounds of the contest. In the seventh round, Brunson began holding on, but halfway through the session, the fighters decided to start fighting again. Brunson developed a welt under his left eye, as Quarles got the better of the mix.
In the eighth and final round, Brunson started moving around the ring and clowning like he had the fight won. After one more stretch of two-way fighting, this not so good bout finally came to a close.
The official judges turned in a split decision. Two judges scored the fight 77-75, one for each boxer. The third judge broke the tie with a 78-74 tally in favor of Brunson. This writer had it 77-75 for Quarles.
UNDERCARD BOUTS:
In the opening round, Gonzales used an effective double jab, while Rodriguez would land his punches and immediately tie up Gonzales. As a result, referee Eric Dali warned Rodriguez for continuous holding. In the second, Gonzales was very frustrated with Rodriguez’ holding, and threw little while Rodriguez continued to punch and grab. In the third round, an overhand right by Rodriguez hurt Gonzales and had holding on. Referee Dali issued a warning to Gonzales for holding. In the fourth round, Rodriguez seemed to try to break Andre Ward’s 46 unforced holds against Sergey Kovalev. Later, he tried bull rushing Gonzales and almost pushed him out of the ring.
In the fifth round, the fight turned into a UFC match, with both fighters holding a great deal. Gonzales finally got in a flurry of punches to end the round. In the sixth and last round, the wrestling match continued. Then referee Dali surprised everyone by taking a point from Gonzales and NOT Rodriguez for holding.
One judge scored it 57-56 for Rodriguez, while another had it 57-56 for Gonzales. The final judge gave the fight to Rodriguez with a 58-55 score. This writer had it 57-56 for Rodriguez due to the point taken from Gonzales, otherwise my tally would have been a draw.
In the opening round, Rosario went to the body, with Williams on the defense. In the second, a lead right to the chin by Rosario dropped Williams, but he was up immediately to take an 8-count from referee Smoger. Shortly afterward, Williams landed a right to the chin of Rosario that put him on the canvas. Rosario bounced up as quickly as Williams had, and after Smoger’s 8-count was back in the fight.
Finally in the third round, Rosario came right out and landed a smashing right to the chin of Williams, and down he went. Williams beat the count, but was in no condition to continue. So referee Smoger waved it off.
To the delight of the fans, both fighters went right at each other in the opening round. The action went back and forth with McLaughlin possibly holding an edge. In the second, a lead right by Robinson stopped McLaughlin in his tracks. Then a left hook knocked McLaughlin back several steps and into a corner. Both exchanged punches to the chin, one after the other, and the fans were on their feet. In the third round, Robinson had McLaughlin against the ropes, but both were throwing punches. In the fourth and final round, a combination from Robinson dropped McLaughlin, but he got up immediately. McLaughlin came forward, but walked right into a left hook. Still, McLaughlin came back and rocked Robinson with a lead left to the chin. The fans sure enjoyed this one. All the judges scored the fight 40-35 for Robinson, while this writer had it a point closer at 39-36.
The KO victim was unconscious for about five minutes before the EMT crew revived him. When the punch landed, referee Smoger stopped the fight immediately and called it a knockout at 35 seconds of the first round.
Talk about a feeling out round! The first truly was one. In the second round, Ortiz worked the body of Jones up against the ropes. Jones landed a nice three punch combination just prior to the bell. In the third, a fight broke out. Ortiz kept Jones on the ropes mostly going to the body, except on one occasion when a lead left from the southpaw rocked Jones on the chin. In the fourth and final round, Ortiz had Jones out on his feet. Jones kept trying to hold his way through the round, and referee Dail warned him on this. Two of the three judges scored the fight a 38-38 draw, while the third official and it for Ortiz, 39-37. This writer favored Ortiz by a score of 40-36. The Philly fans were not happy with decision, and showed support for the out-of-towner, Ortiz. |
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