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Story by John DiSanto |
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In the first half of a busy boxing weekend in Philadelphia, Kings Promotions served up a nine-bout boxing card at a packed Sugar House Casino Friday night (attendance 1,172) that featured upset-minded visitors in the two main bouts, a pair of newly minted local hopefuls, and an overall good night of fights. In the main event, Dominican Ricardo Garcia, 14-3-1, 9 KOs, and North Philly’s Tyrone Crawley Jr., 7-1-1, fought to an eight round draw in their junior welterweight contest for the WBF title belt. Although two of the three official cards had this one even (76-76), from my ringside perspective, I found it difficult to give Crawley a round. The action was consistent in the fight, but it was Garcia who pressed and landed more consistently. Crawley moved a lot, but he did not get involved enough to validate the tie.
Garcia started fast, winning the first two rounds with his steady pressure. Crawley returning from his first loss, a TKO defeat five months ago, warmed up and boxed from his southpaw stance. He jabbed, but was not particularly effective during this six minutes.
Crawley took the third round, finally jabbing and landing better. It was more of the same in the fourth. However, Garcia landed his own shots and made the round a toss-up. Beginning in the fifth round, Garcia began a roll that collected round after round on my scorecard. The action was not one-sided, but Garcia was the more effective puncher and maintained an edge until the final bell.
However, when the decision was announced, only judge Dewey LaRosa favored Garcia (79-73). Both Alan Rubenstein and David Braslow scored the fight 76-76, or four rounds apiece, making the contest a majority deadlock. My score mirrored LaRosa’s. With the stalemate, no one left the Sugar House with the WBF belt, but this was, for all intents and purposes, still and upset.
In round two, Moon wobbled Brooker again. This time the Philly fighter smiled slightly after the exchange, but he was clearly hurt with much of the round – and a lot of the fight – still before him. Brooker dug in, but Moon remained in control.
The third round was closer. Brooker began landing as he pressured Moon to the ropes. However, Moon still edged the session on my card. But Brooker’s awakening in the round gave Philly fans the hope that he was turning the tables. Brooker’s best round came in the fourth when he took control and banked a round for the first time. But Moon was tough and showed a great deal of skill.
In the fifth, Moon began backing – or allowing Brooker to back him – to the ropes. There, he counter punched well and regained control of the fight. From this point in the fight, the action and along with it the rounds all began breaking Moon’s way. Brooker remained in the fight, providing sturdy and willing opposition to Moon, but his chances of willing – and of perhaps landing a rematch with Brandon Robinson – slowly evaporated with each round that passed. In a last-ditched effort to salvage the night, Brooker took the final round, but he couldn’t back-fill the points deficit in his column.
After eight gritty rounds, Moon took the decision – but by a much closer margin than I had seen. David Braslow scored the bout for Moon, 78-74. But Dewey LaRosa and Rose Lacend each scored the fight for Moon by a rather tight 77-75. My score was also 78-74. With the loss, Brooker continued his gradual skid. He’s gone just 2-5 in his last seven bouts. He remains a fighter learning on the job, but his career needs a turnaround. His performances are always full of effort and usually bring a lot of excitement, so he’ll always get fights. However, his coveted date with Robinson may now go to Eric Moon. Robinson-Moon looks like a winner.
In round five, southpaw Knight finally caught Young with a perfect right hook that dropped undefeated fight. However, Young popped right up and continued to make life difficult for Knight. Poindexter fired a storm of punches at Young, but to no avail. Young survived the attack and lasted the round. Knight dominated the final round, but never had Young on the brink again. It was a troublesome evening for Knight, despite registering a clear-cut, shutout victory. All the official scores (Alan Rubenstein, Rose Lacend and David Braslow), as well as mine, were 60-53 for Knight.
MARTIN LOOKS
STRONG
The Sugar House was once again packed for this solid, sellout night of fights by Kings Promotions. Kings Promotions returns on September 14 at the 2300 Arena. |
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