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“The New” Ray Robinson returned
to the ring Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in the main event of an
eight-bout card promoted by Rodney Rice’s RDR Promotions, and made
relatively quick work of Silverio Ortiz of Yucatan, Mexico.
Nearly three years expired
since Robinson had entered a prize ring. Back on that night,
Robinson fought to a draw on the undercard of one of the greatest
heavyweight upsets ever – when a chubby Andy Ruiz dethroned champion
Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden. In the intervening
thirty-two months, Joshua regained and lost his crown, while former
Robinson opponent Yordenis Ugas ended the career of all-time great
Manny Pacquaio. Also in that time, fellow-Philadelphian Jaron Ennis
went from rising prospect to one of the top-rated welterweights in
the world.
The long layoff didn’t seem to
hurt Robinson at all. He easily handled Ortiz, a twenty-two year
veteran of over sixty matches. At 154 pounds, a bulked-up Robinson
looked fit and solid in his junior middleweight debut. Wasting no
time, he showed no signs of ring rust and went on the attack from
the opening bell. Just moments into the fight, Robinson’s blows
snapped back Ortiz’ head as Ray established control.
The pummeling continued for
three full rounds with Ortiz showing a freakish ability to absorb
punishment. When the brutality became too ugly, Ortiz’ corner showed
compassion by not allowing their willing fighter to come out for
round four. The referee was Shawn Clark.
The victory raised Robinson’s
record to 25-3-2, 13 KOs, while Ortiz returned south of the border
with a record of 37-29, with 18 KOs and a pocket full of change.
BARAJAS EDGES CONQUEST
Local favorite Jerome Conquest appeared to have done enough to
out-box Oscar Barajas of Mexico in their six-round lightweight bout.
However, the judges saw it otherwise. John McKaie had the fight a
57-57 draw, while both Lynne Carter and Robert Rubnitz favored
Barajas 58-56. This scribe had the fight 58-57 for Conquest. Barajas
improved to 17-8-1, 8 KOs. Conquest left 11-7, 1 KO.
CASON REMAINS UNDEFEATED
Las Vegan Muhsin Cason extended his undefeated resume to 10-0, 7
KOs with a fifth-round KO of Steve Lyons, in a scheduled six-round
cruiserweight fight. Cason dropped the Louisiana fighter for the
full ten-count with a combination in round five. The end came at
2:58 of the fifth. The referee was Harvey Dock. Lyons fell to 5-8-2,
2 KOs.
CAUDLE STOPS SABBAGH
North Carolina heavyweight Joel Caudle pounded away at
then-undefeated Brooklynite Robert Sabbagh for four rounds before
the New Yorker retired in his corner after the fourth round. The win
put Caudle, 9-6-2, 6 KOs, back in the win column after five straight
losses. Sabbagh, 3-1, 2 KOs, lost for the first time as a pro. The
bout was scheduled for six rounds.
MAYFIELD BEATS CLARK
In another heavyweight bout, Philly’s Dominique Mayfield, 1-1,
won for the first time with a four-round decision over Houston’s
Darryl Clark. Mayfield scored a knockdown in round two and won all
three official cards (Lynne Carter, Bernard Bruni, and Robert
Rubnitz) by scores of 40-35.
JOHNSON WINS IN ONE
Southpaw junior welterweight Isaiah Johnson, Philadelphia,
quickly floored journeyman Dieumerci Nzau with a hard left in round
one of their scheduled four-rounder. Nzau returned to his feet but
referee Harvey Dock stopped the fight moments later when Johnson
resumed his attack. The time of the TKO was 1:13 of round one.
CORTES WINS SECOND BOUT
South Jersey southpaw Edwin Cortes repeated a previous win over
Jerrod Miner with another four-round unanimous decision over the
Philadelphian. All three scores were 40-36 (Lynne Carter, John
McKaie, and Robert Rubnitz). Cortes left 2-0; Miner slid to 2-14-2,
1 KO.
NOBLE KOS SANTANA
Philly lightweight Jabril Noble jumped on Joseph Santana of
Providence, RI, in the first round and after hurting him with
several hard blows, won the scheduled four-rounder by TKO. Referee
Shawn Clark halted the fight at 2:01. Noble raised his record to
3-0, 3 KOs. Santana, 0-5, remained winless.
Approximately 1,000 fans
attended the show. RDR Promotions returns to the 2300 Arena on March
25th.
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