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Hard Hitting Promotions
capped off Philly’s busy, two-night, weekend boxing schedule
with an eight-bout card at the 2300 Arena. After a delay of
more than one hour, while the full house waited for the EMS
crew to arrive, the show finally got started about 8:20 PM.
In the main event,
Glassboro, NJ super middleweight Derrick Webster, 27-1, 14
KOs, trotted out his usual somnambulistic style for the
overheated packed house, and for seven rounds, produced not
a single moment that made the crowd thankful to have come to
see him fight. Activity in the bout was low and excitement
was nil. As usual, Webster possessed all the advantages in
the bout, but was stingy in exercising them. Rather, he
hovered in his southpaw stance and waited, instead of making
something – anything – happen.
His opponent,
Australian Les Sherrington, looked capable but he was over
matched and not so willing to take many chances. So for
seven rounds, the pair circled each other, occasionally
tossing a punch or two. In each round, Webster consistently
did a little more (which isn’t saying much), and won all the
rounds.
Finally in round eight,
Webster cracked Sherrington with a right that hurt him
badly. Webster followed up and landed a few more shots
including another hook that put Sherrington on the canvas.
The Australian got up, but Webster, suddenly motivated,
dropped him again with a series of punches. Referee Gary
Rosato halted the fight and Webster added another victory –
and splintered regional title belt – to his resume. The time
of the TKO was 1:32 of round eight.
PIZARRO WINS BY TKO
Local lightweight Branden Pizarro, Philadelphia, 11-1, 5
KOs, dropped Hector Marengo of Puerto Rico, 7-13-4, 4 KOs,
once in round one and again in round two, en route to a
second round TKO. Pizarro entered the ring with his familiar
sunglasses, mile-long entourage, and party-like atmosphere.
When the bout began, he took immediate control, scoring
sharp jabs and solid power punches right away. Pizarro
landed a good left that toppled Marengo. He got up and made
it to the end of the first round, but it was clear that his
time was just about up.
Pizarro went back to
work in the second, and dropped Marengo with a right hand.
When he hit the canvas this second time, referee Steve
Smoger stopped the bout. The time was 1:32.
TEAH SCORES QUICK KO
In a quick lightweight fight, Philly’s Samuel Teah, 14-2-1,
7 KOs, smashed Zack Ramsey of Springfield, MA, 8-4, 4 KOs,
with a right uppercut in round one. The punch landed along
the ropes sent Ramsey down, and from a kneeling position, he
took the full ten-count from referee Gary Rosato. The time
was 2:49 of the opening round.
CUEVAS BRAWLS TO TKO
In a wildly entertaining lightweight brawl, Philly southpaw
Jeremy Cuevas, 10-0, 8 KOs, stopped DC’s Deo Kizito, 3-4, 2
KOs, at 2:02 of the sixth and final round. Cuevas dominated
the action, but there were numerous extended two-way
exchanges between the pair. The best round was the third,
when the two battled back and forth, landing freely and
driving each other across the ring. Battle was exchanged
along the ropes and in every corner. At one point, Cuevas
staggered Kizito with his wilting punches, and referee Steve
Smoger almost stopped it. He reached in and even put his
hand on Cuevas’ chest, ready to pull him off. However, as we
all know, Smoger loves to let fighters fight, and just
couldn’t bring himself to end it. Cuevas complained to
Smoger, eager for the TKO, but the action continued.
Cuevas took the fourth
and fifth, extending his clean sweep of the rounds. Then in
the final round, just when it seemed the fight might go the
full limit, Kizito went low twice on Cuevas. Smoger warned
him the second time, but the infraction gave Cuevas the push
he needed to finish the show. A hot-headed Cuevas responded
with an all-out attack that culminated with a vicious
combination that finally toppled his though opponent. As
Kizito sagged down against the ropes, referee Steve Smoger
stopped it without a count.
ROSA STOPS ALBELO
In a junior lightweight bout scheduled for six rounds
between two Floridians, Gadwin Rosa 7-0, 6 KOs, stopped
Angel Albelo, 4-10-3, 2 KOs, in round five. After winning
the first four, Rosa dropped Albelo with a right. Angel beat
the count, but as referee Rosato finished his mandatory
count, Albelo walked away. Rosato followed him but when
Albelo shook his head “no”, Rosato waved the fight off. The
time was 2:05 of the fifth.
LOPEZ AND CRUZ DRAW
Junior featherweights Jose Lopez, 0-0-1, New York, and
Philly’s Rommel Cruz, 2-0-1, 1 KO, fought to a majority draw
in their four rounder. It was a heated match with both
boxers having their moments in the bout. Cruz took the close
first round on my card, but the debuting Lopez rebounded in
the second and seemed to have the better of the final three
rounds. The third featured the best action, with both
fighters slamming home hard rights. A right uppercut by
Lopez staggered Cruz, and was probably the best punch in the
entire fight.
The final round was
telling in the ultimate scoring of the fight. Lopez appeared
to have control and was well on his way to winning the final
session. However, as the round was winding down, Cruz hurt
Lopez to suddenly turn the tide. Lopez held on for dear
life, and when Cruz tried to rip himself free from the
clinch, the two tumbled to the canvas. Referee Smoger got
them up and the action resumed briefly before the final bell
ended it.
Scoring the last round
was tricky. Lopez won most of it, but Cruz nearly floored
him before the end. I gave the round to Cruz, making the
fight a draw on my card. Two of the three officials (Ron
McNair and Lindsey Page) agreed and scored it 38-38. The
third judge, Marc Werlinsky, favored Cruz 39-37. So, a draw
it was.
TAPIA BEATS
SUAREZ
In a four round junior lightweight fight between two boxers
from Puerto Rico, Christian Tapia, 5-0, 4 KOs, topped Israel
Suarez, 4-6-2, 2 KOs, over the four round distance. Tapia
hurt Suarez in round three, but was unable to finish him.
Tapia swept all four rounds on my card, and coasted to a
unanimous decision win by scores of 40-36 (Steve Weisfeld)
and 39-37 twice (Lindsey Page and Ron McNair).
CRUZ DEFEATS BADI
In the opening bout, cruiserweight Kenny Cruz of Bayamon,
PR, 3-2-1, 2 KOs, defeated ancient former contender Prince
Badi Ajamu, 29-5-1, 15 KOs, by six round unanimous decision.
Badi, 46 and well past his prime, offered very little
offense in the bout, and Cruz ran the tables through all six
rounds. Although, I found it difficult to give Ajamu a
round, the official judges saw it a little closer. Marc
Werlinsky scored it 58-56, while McNair and Weisfeld had it
59-56.
The show drew a full
house of about 1,000 fans, despite the loss of two key bouts
scheduled, but scratched the day before. Eric Hunter’s
opponent allegedly pulled out due to injury, while debuting
Benny Sinakin was unable to fight due to a medical snag.
Sinakin says that his debut will now occur in October. |
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