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Rising bantamweight
star Christian Carto was extended to the full limit for the
first time in his young career, but won every round of his
fight with Mexican Alonso Melendez, 14-2, 11 KOs, and took a
shutout unanimous decision at the 2300 Arena in South
Philadelphia. The landslide victory pushed Carto’s pro
record to 12-0, 11 KOs.
Carto peppered away
at his southpaw foe. This was the local fighter’s first
scheduled 8-rounder, but he kept his punches flying
throughout. Carto consistently attached the body and showed
a good jab. However, it was his right hand, a sledgehammer
that abused and halted all of his previous opponents, which
did most of the damage on this night.
Carto won round
after round, and the only question that stayed on everyone’s
mind was whether he would be able to stretch his knockout
streak to twelve straight. Melendez was tough and avoided
getting knocked out, or even being knocked down.
After eight full
rounds, Carto walked away with more valuable experience than
he had gathered in any of his previous bouts, and a
one-sided points win by three official scores of 80-72.
Carto’s 11-bout knockout streak matched the best consecutive
KO run by Philly legends Joe Frazier and Bennie Briscoe.
CONQUEST IMPRESSIVE AGAINST ROSARIO
In an entertaining lightweight fight for the WBF Junior
North American title belt, Philly's Jerome Conquest, 9-2, 1
KO, won a unanimous decision over Carlos Rosario of
Pennsauken, NJ, 7-3, 4 KOs.
There were many
exciting exchanges in the fight, but the liveliest round was
the fifth. During that hectic three minutes, Conquest
dropped Rosario with a left, and then Rosario, back on his
feet, pounded Conquest with a low blow, presumably to buy
himself some precious time.
The fight continued
at an exciting clip for another three rounds, and Conquest
went on to take the official decision by scores of 78-73 and
77-74 twice. The WBF strap that Conquest picked up for the
win was his first piece of professional hardware.
GONZALES VS ERVIN ENDS AFTER HEAD BUTT
Junior welterweights David Gonzales, 8-2-2, 2 KOs,
Philly, and Darius Ervin, 4-1, L.A., banged heads in round
two, and both came away with cuts. However, Gonzales' slash
was bad enough to prompt the ringside doctor to request that
the fight be stopped. Referee Eric Dali complied, and the
fight was declared a No Decision at 1:53 of the second
round. The result added the first “ND” to each fighter’s
record.
PRESCOTT BEATS SPRING
Junior middleweight Anthony Prescott, 7-7-2, Cherry
Hill, NJ, out worked Reading's Erik Spring, 10-2-2, 1 KO,
over six rounds to win a unanimous decision by official
scores of 58-56 and 59-55 twice.
ROBINSON STOPS SHEPPARD
In a super middleweight bout scheduled for four rounds,
Philly's Brandon Robinson, 7-1, 6 KOs, stopped George
Sheppard of Norfolk, VA, 1-3, at 1:20 of the fourth and
final round. Robinson swept all the rounds using a sustained
body attack and some hard rights to the head. Finally in the
fourth, he cracked Sheppard with a pair of right hands and
the visitor turned toward the ropes in resignation, forcing
referee Eric Dali to stop the fight.
IRIZZARY RETURNS WITH WIN
Featherweight Robert Irizzary, 4-1-1, Cherry Hill, NJ,
returned from a layoff of nearly two years to top Bryan
Perez, 2-8-1, 1 KO, Carolina, PR, by unanimous decision over
four rounds. All three official scores were 39-37.
RODRIGUEZ KOS ALLISON
In the opening bout of the evening, junior welterweight
Juan Rodriguez, 8-7-1, 6 KOs, Haymarket, VA, opened the show
with a TKO of Philly-based North Carolina native, Maynard
Allison, 9-2, 6 KOs. Allison won the first round, but
Rodriguez caught him with a right hand in the second round
that put him down. Allison struggled to his feet, but
referee Eric Dali stopped the bout. The time was 3:00 of
round two.
LAWRENCE SCORES KO IN FIRST
In the first of two walkout bouts, light heavyweight
Alan Lawrence, 2-0, 2 KOs, Newark, NJ, knocked out
Philadelphian Amir Shabazz, 4-2, at 1:24 of the first round.
Lawrence landed a left hook that sent Shabazz crashing to
the canvas. When he hit the floor, Amir's head slammed
loudly on the mat and referee Eric Dali stopped the bout
without a count.
JOHNSON KAYOS WILLIAMS
In the final fight of the night, a battle between two
Philly welterweights, Rasheed Johnson, 2-1, 1 KOs, dropped
Demetrius Williams, 1-4, with a single right hand in the
opening round, and the fight was stopped immediately by
referee Benji Esteves, Jr. The time was 56 seconds of the
first.
The nine-bout show
was staged by Marshall Kauffman's Kings Promotions.
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