|
A day/night doubleheader took
place Saturday night in South Philly, but Major League
Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies were not the featured attraction.
This doubleheader took place at the 2300 Arena and the participants
wore boxing gloves not baseball mitts. Marshall Kauffman's Kings
Promotions delivered a six fight appetizer in the mid-afternoon and
seven more bouts for an evening entree. The two fight cards were the
first since the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed full capacity and
liberated vaccinated fans from wearing masks.
In the main event, super
middleweights Brandon Robinson of Upper Darby faced off against Genc
Pllana of Hagerstown, MD in a scheduled eight round contest. It was
a good match up on paper that did not disappoint in reality, as
Pllana scored an upset eighth round knockout victory.
Strong and awkward, Pllana, 168
lbs., usually provides a difficult challenge for his opponents.
However, Robinson, 166.9 lbs., was able to successfully navigate
past Pllana’s uncourtly style early on, winning two of the first three
stanzas by staying more active. Further, Pllana was cut around the
right eye by an accidental head butt in the second round. Getting inside Pllana’s long arms, Robinson scored straight stiff jabs followed by
right hands during the first three sessions.
Fighting out of a conventional
stance, Pllana scored to the body with an awkward right
hook/uppercut just under Robinson's left elbow. These body blows by Pllana were accurate and produced a loud thud as they smacked
against Robinson's torso. Midway through the fourth, one such blow
backed up Robinson and Pllana unloaded a right to his jaw. Badly
wobbled, Robinson was saved when a Pllana uppercut went south of the
border. After taking time to recover, Robinson went on the attack
when the action resumed. He buckled Pllana’s knees with left hooks
to the chin. However at the bell, Robinson returned to his corner on
wobbly legs.
Appearing on his way to
victory, Robinson stuck to his game plan until Pllana landed a right
hook/uppercut to the body landed near the end of round seven. Backed
against the ropes, Robinson could not fend off Pllana’s barrage of
punches. A right to the jaw dropped Robinson. He was able to rise to
his feet, and was saved by the bell.
From the moment the gong
sounded to start the eighth and final round, Pllana was on the
attack. He landed a barrage of head and body shots before a solid
right to the jaw crumbled Robinson in his corner. Referee Shawn
Clark jumped in and called it off 33 seconds into the session.
Robinson stayed down for a few minutes as the ring doctors checked
him out. Robinson left with a record of 15-3, 10 KOs. All three
losses were by knockout. During the post-fight interview, Pllana,
9-3-1, 5 KOs, called out young super middleweight prospect Eric
Berlanga, with a loud cry of “Berlanga."
In the evening session’s preliminary bouts: Welterweight Rafiq
Muhammad stopped Rasheed Johnson in round four of their scheduled
six round bout. The time was 2:40.
Bantamweight Jonathan Rodriguez defeated Sebastian Baltazar by
unanimous six round decision.
Lightweight James Bernadin won a unanimous six round decision over
Osvaldo Morales. The scores were: 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56.
Middleweight Khainell Wheeler stopped Vincent Baccus at 2:46 of the
first round of a scheduled six round super middleweight clash.
Popular Trenton welterweight ticket seller Elijah Morales raised his
record to 8-0, 4 KOs with a unanimous four round decision over
Andres Abarca of Normandy Washington. All three official scores were
60-54.
Roudly Lolo stopped debuting Eric Monroe at 1:43 of round one in
their scheduled four round middleweight fight. All seats were filled in the
evening portion of the King Promotions’ double feature, with several
dozen more spectators standing around the perimeter of the arena.
In the afternoon, most of the
seats were filled to watch Devar Ferhadi of Frederick, MD outpoint
Blake Mansfield of Cary, NC in an eight round super middleweight
match up. Mansfield, 167.75 lbs., put forth a spirited effort, but
Ferhadi, 167.75 lbs., won the unanimous decision by scores of 80-72
and 79-73 twice. Ferhadi continues his career with a record of 9-0,
7 KOs. Mansfield dropped to 7-4-1, 4 KOs.
In other results during the afternoon show, junior welterweight
Andrew Rogers won by unanimous six round decision over Greg Outlaw.
Joseph Jackson scored a first
round knockout over Terrence Williams. The scheduled six round
junior middleweight fight ended at 2:42 of the first. (Photo by
Daniel Cork.)
Welterweight Kashon Hutchinson stopped Edgar Torres just 46 seconds
into the scheduled six rounder.
In another scheduled six
rounder, junior welterweight Christian Bermudez scored a technical
knockout over Lawrence Murtagh 47 seconds into round one. (Photo by
Daniel Cork.)
In a scheduled four round bout
between two debuting junior welterweights, Quadir Albright knocked
out Isaac Haynes at 1:05 of round one. (Photo by Daniel Cork.)
Both the matinee and evening shows were streamed live on Bxngtv.com
for $14.99 each.
|
