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On Saturday night, Hard Hitting Promotions delivered a seven-bout fight card filled with young Philadelphia prospects. Headlining in the main event, Avery Sparrow, Philadelphia, PA., dropped a very close eight round decision to William Foster III of New Haven CT. The battle changed tides of momentum throughout, due to Sparrow’s ability to adapt. Foster's four-inch height advantage made it hard for the usually counter punching Sparrow, 129.1 lbs., to score.
Utilizing his natural physical assets Foster, 128.7 lbs., pumped his left jab while moving forward and sneaking in right hands. After three rounds, Foster was in full control and was able to slip Sparrow’s attempts at counterpunching. Unable to close the gap, Avery did not get frustrated. Instead, Sparrow implored a new fight style by moving his head and being aggressive. The adjustment allowed him to get inside. Once Sparrow found himself inside Foster’s range, he became effective, landing overhand rights to the head and body. Several times, Foster found himself in a corner or back to the ropes and could do nothing but grab his foe.
Although he was getting caught with punches while moving inside, Sparrow did not relent and fought every second of the remainder of the contest. He finished round six and seven very strong, snapping back Foster’s head with right hands. During the final three minutes, Foster committed to staying away from the shorter Sparrow and moved non-stop. Darting in, scoring shots, and running away, Foster won the last round and the fight on all three judges' scorecards 77-75 (Robert Rubnitz, Kevin Morgan, and Steve Weisfeld).
Foster remained undefeated, 15-0, 9 KOs. Sparrow dropped to 10-4, 4 KOs. By the end, Sparrow had Foster figured out but ran out of time. If a rematch were scheduled for ten rounds, this scribe would wager heavily on Sparrow.
Punctuating a solid performance Cuevas, 144 lbs., dropped Damario,143 lbs., with a right to the chin in round five. All three scorekeepers (Lundy, Morgan, and Rubnitz) saw the fight 60-53 for Cuevas. Cuevas is now 14-1 10 KOs, while Demario headed home with a record 16-7, 10 KOs. Interestingly Demario entered the ring to the theme music from the movie “The Godfather.” In all my years around the sport, I have never heard that melody used by a boxer. Veteran cut man and mob historian Joey Eye said it was a first for himself as well. The event was held at The Fillmore Theater. The Fillmore is a small venue that has a balcony and two bars serving booze ringside. Just over six hundred spectators wet their beaks and enjoyed the night’s festivities.
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