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Hard Hitting Promotions’ Will
Ruiz and matchmaker Manny Rivera put on a spectacular night of
fights at The Fillmore this past Saturday July 23rd. The seven-bout
card featured a main event between William Foster III and Avery
Sparrow, along with some other exciting prospects including Juan
Davila, Christian Tapia, and Philadelphia favorite Jeremy Cuevas.
This report was written after watching the BXINGTV.com broadcast
hosted by Marc Abrams and Stephen “Breadman” Edwards.
The main event of the night featured an eight-round junior
lightweight contest between Philadelphia’s Avery Sparrow (11-4, 4
KOs) and undefeated William Foster III (15-0, 9 KOs) of Connecticut.
Foster made his presence known in Philly prior to this bout when he
defeated hometown favorite Donald “No Love” Smith in a unanimous
decision victory at 2300 Arena in 2021.
In the opening rounds, the
forward-moving Sparrow occasionally backed up Foster. Foster was
able to use his slick jab to keep his distance, and followed up with
his right, landing shots on top and to the body. Foster seemed to
come out of the gates with confidence, using his length to jab at a
slow-starting Sparrow.
Round three gave the fans a taste of how the rest of the bout would
play out. Sparrow looked to brawl, and Foster accepted the
invitation to a fire fight. Foster backed up Sparrow, landed clean
counter hooks and dominated most of the round. Sparrow, displaying
his Philly grit, responded with a hard right hook to end the round.
Rounds four through six were a
Philly fight-fan’s delight, with the brawl continuing. Neither
fighter backed down and displayed respectively tough chins. Foster
frequently got the better of the exchanges with cleaner boxing,
while Sparrow connected on sharp counter punches making the fight
“highly competitive” as Philadelphia boxing icon Marc Abrams said in
his broadcast commentary.
Sparrow landed quite possibly the biggest shots of the night to end
the seventh round, with a hard right followed up by a flurry that
wobbled Foster. The final round saw Foster work from the outside on
Sparrow. In a familiar trend throughout the fight, Sparrow was able
to end the round with a barrage.
In an extremely tight contest featuring a clash of styles, both
fighters came for their respect, and earned it. All three judges
(Robert Rubnitz, Kevin Morgan, and Steve Weisfeld) scored the bout 77-75
in favor of William Foster, who remained undefeated. Despite the
unanimous decision for Foster, Sparrow won over the crowd and showed
his heart and true toughness throughout the scrap. Official weights:
Avery Sparrow 129.1 - William Foster III 128.7. The referee was Eric
Dali.
TAPIA WINS UNANIMOUS DECISION
In the co-feature of the night, undefeated lightweight Christian
Tapia (15-0, 12 KOs), of Puerto Rico took on Argentine Mario Sayal
Lozano (18-8-1) in an eight-round bout. Lozano took the fight on
short notice, stepping up to the challenge to fight a dangerous Hard
Hitting promoted Christian Tapia.
After a slow starting first round that saw Tapia control the pace,
the short notice Southpaw landed a shot of his own. Lozano countered
Tapia with a left to the temple that put the favorite down in the
second round. After the flash-knockdown, Tapia shifted into second
gear and dominated the rest of the fight. Tapia won via an
impressive unanimous decision victory with official scores of 78-73
across the board (Tony Lundy, Rob Rubnitz, and Steve Weisfeld). The
referee was Shawn Clark. Official weights: Christian Tapia 131.5 -
Mario Lozano 132.
RIVERA BY UD OVER PEREZ
Puerto Rican born Philadelphian Jan Carlos Rivera (6-1, 4 KOs)
squared up against fellow countryman Nelson Perez (5-1, 2 KOs).
Rivera displayed quick hands, and outboxed Perez en route to a
six-round unanimous decision victory with the judges scoring the
bout 59-55 (Tony Lundy), 60-54 (Kevin Morgan), 60-54 (Steve Weisfeld).
The referee for the contest was Eric Dali. Official weights: Jan
Carlos Rivera 130.8 - Nelson Perez 140.4.
CUEVAS CRUISES TO VICTORY
Philadelphia favorite, southpaw Jeremy Cuevas (14-1, 10 KOs) faced
outsider Nicolas Pablo Demario (16-7-3, 10 KOs) of Argentina in a
six-round lightweight bout. Cuevas did not disappoint the hometown
crowd, pounding on a willing and tough opponent throughout the
contest. Cuevas scored a knockdown in the final round of the bout
after landing an onslaught of blows. Cuevas broke down his Demario
and won the contest by unanimous scores of 60-53 across the board
(Lundy, Morgan, and Rubnitz). The referee for the bout was Shawn
Clark. Official weights: Jeremy Cuevas 144 - Nicolas Demario 143.
LUCAS RETIRES SOSTRE AFTER TWO
New York’s Dezmond Lucas (6-1) won by TKO after three rounds over
Daniel Sostre (13-21) in a four-round junior middleweight clash.
Lucas put down Sostre in the opening round and clearly controlled
the short-lived contest. Sostre’s team ended the bout in the corner
after the second round. The referee was Eric Dali. Official weights:
Dezmond Lucas 151 - Lucas Sostre 155.2.
ROSARIO STAYS UNBEATEN
Carlos Rosario (4-0, 2 KOs) of Winter Haven, FL, fought Puerto
Rico’s Jonuel Ramos (Pro Debut) in a four-round lightweight contest.
Despite an aggressive approach by Ramos, Rosario was able to outbox
Ramos winning a unanimous decision victory with judges scores of
40-36 (Tony Lundy), 39-37 (Kevin Morgan) and 39-37 (Steve Weisfeld).
I personally scored the bout 39-37 giving all but the opening round
to Rosario. Rosario remained undefeated. The referee was Eric Dali.
Official weights: Carlos Rosario 136.9 - Jonuel Ramos 136.
DAVILA SHINES IN DEBUT
18-year-old Philadelphia lightweight Juan Davila made his pro debut
against Puerto Rican Joshua Maldonado (1-2). Davila looked
impressive in his debut, displaying a strong jab, and controlling
the pace of the fight. Davila walked down Maldonado, and eventually
wore him down to score a third round TKO. The time of the stoppage
by referee Shawn Clark was 1:29 of the third round. Davila moves to
1-0, 1 KO. Official weights: Juan Davila 137.5 - Joshua Maldonado
136.
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