CRUZ WINS NUMBER FIVE
 
Story by John DiSanto
Photos by Kenny Ludwig
 

In a rare Tuesday evening boxing show, Marshall Kauffman’s King’s Promotions presented a five-bout card headlined by popular heavyweight Joey Dawejko. “The Tank” won his six-round main event with a blood-stained unanimous decision over Colby Madison of Baltimore.

Junior featherweight LeAnna Cruz won her fifth straight fight Saturday night (4/29/23) with a six-round unanimous decision over Simone da Silva in the main event at the 2300 Arena in South Philly. The five-fight show was promoted by Manny Rivera’s Hard Hitting Promotions.

Cruz, Allentown, PA, sailed through this test against the far more experienced Brazilian veteran da Silva, who entered the fight with 41 bouts on her resume, including cracks at world and regional championships and stints as the WIBA South American bantamweight champion and the Brazilian junior featherweight champion. However, lately, da Silva has been on a losing streak, losing her previous ten bouts before facing Cruz.

Cruz impressively won the decision by scores of 60-53 by the three official judges. The victory improved her record to 5-0 while da Silva continued her career slide and returned to Brazil with a 17-24, 6 KOs, record.

WEBSTER RETURNS WITH POINTS WINS
Super middleweight Derrick Webster returned to the ring after 16 months away to win a six-round unanimous decision over Christian Thomas of Michigan. The points win snapped a three-bout skid by Webster and put him back in the win column. It was only Thomas’ second fight in the United States with his first ten bouts occurring in Tijuana, Mexico.

In his last fight, Thomas fell to Philly’s Atif Oberlton in two rounds at the 2300 Arena. Webster scored a near-shutout against Thomas with two of the three judges seeing the fight a perfect 60-54 for the Glassboro, NJ fighter. The third judges gave Thoams one round and scored the bout 59-55. Webster left with a 29-4, 14 KOs, record. Thomas 11-2, 9 KOs, lost for the second time.

PRICE CONTINUES STREAK
Lightweight Devin Price won his second straight fight as a professional with a third round TKO of Abdiel Padilla-Borges, a Michigan-based Puerto Rican making his fourth appearance in Philadelphia. Padilla-Borges previously lost by stoppage to Branden Pizarro, Thyler Williams, and Axl Salgado.

Price took care of business in round three, stopping his opponent at the 1:58 mark. The referee was Shawn Clark. Price, who debuted in February, improved to 2-0, 2 KOs. Padilla-Borges, 1-5, 1 KO, lost his fifth straight.

ROSARIO UPSETS ORTIZ
In a surprise, Carlos Rosario of Winter Haven, FL, defeated Reading, PA’s Josh Ortiz in a six-round junior lightweight fight. Ortiz entered the ring with an undefeated record and twice as many fights as his opponent.

However, Rosario managed the surprise victory with a close split decision. The scores were 58-56 and 58-56 for Rosario and 58-56 for Ortiz. Rosario upped his record to 6-1, 3 KOs. Ortiz, 11-1, 5 KOs, 1 No Contest, lost for the first time as a professional.

MORALES KAYOS CLARK
In the opening bout on the card, Gustavo Morales knocked out Deion Clark at 1:31 of round one. This was Morales’ second pro fight. His first was a No Contest one month ago in Philadelphia. Clark was making his pro debut. The end came after Morales dropped Clark along the ropes. Referee Eric Dali signaled the end at 1:31 of the first round. Morales scored his first win, 1-0, 1 KO, 1 No Contest, while Clark went home 0-1.

John DiSanto - South Philly - April 29, 2023
 

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