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FLORES & HASSON SHINE Before Derek Ennis and Gabriel Rosado waged their memorable war at the South Philly Arena on Friday night (07/30/10), a bulging lineup of preliminary bouts featuring many of Philadelphia's most promising young bucks played out for the rowdy, near-sellout crowd. Standouts on the card included the always entertaining Anthony Flores and a new and improved Dennis Hasson.
With the evening running slightly ahead of schedule, one of the scheduled walkout bouts was swung in just before the main event.
The main event came next. The one remaining bout on the card started immediately after Ennis-Rosado and had the enviable job of following that great marquee fight. South Philly cruiserweight Garrett Wilson did the only thing he could to try to top it. He came out blazing and scored a quick knockout over Reshawn Scott of North Philadelphia. The time was 1:29. The win made Wilson 8-5 with 3 KOs, and snapped a three-fight losing streak. Scott, 2-5, lost his third in a row. Although they could never compare to the successful main event, this set of preliminary fights were well matched and very entertaining. The nice mix of three decisions and four knockouts kept the evening moving well and helped to build excitement for the main event. Overall card staged by Peltz Boxing Promotions was a very good show.
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The
evening opened with North Philly heavyweight Bryant Jennings
and Columbus, Ohio's Bernell Stewart clashing in a four
rounder. Undefeated Fred Jenkins protégée, Jennings got off
to a slow start. However, he woke up by the end of the
first, perhaps thanks to the smacks he received from his 1-1
opponent. Jennings hurt Bernell twice in the second and
assumed control of the fight. He went on to win a unanimous
decision (40-36, 40-36 & 39-37), but Stewart stayed in the
fight and provided a tough test that Jennings, now 4-0,
passed. The referee was Hurley McCall.
Up
second was the impressive North Philly lightweight Angel
Ocasio. The former two-time Philly Golden Gloves champ
improved his record to 3-0 and scored his first knockout
with his second round victory over Sidell Blocker of
Pleasantville, NJ. Ocasio dropped Blocker in the second and
the bout was abruptly halted by referee Gary Rosato at 1:24
into the round. The bout was scheduled for four rounds. Ocasio, 20,
sees action again at the same arena in two weeks. 
Pooh
Ennis' younger brother, Farah Ennis blasted out 48-bout pro
Demetrius Davis at :27 of the third round, after abusing the
Washington, DC journeyman in the first two rounds of their
scheduled six round super middleweight bout. Ennis dropped
Davis with a hard left hand and the fight was over. Referee
Blair Talmadge had seen enough. It was win number 15 without
a loss for Ennis, who scored his ninth KO. The shopworn
Davis fell to 20-24-5 (8 KO). 
Kensington
super middleweight Dennis Hasson fought for the first time
eight months against Alberto Mercedes of Milwaukee. The time
off spent rehabbing an injury apparently did Hasson some
good. He started his sabbatical with an often passive amateur-like
style, but came roaring out in this fight with a new and
improved aggressive method of fighting. He looked good and
swept all six rounds on my scorecard. One of the judges
agreed (60-54), while the other two gave him five of the six
(59-57). The unanimous decision made Hasson 10-0 with 3 KOs.
Mercedes left 14-16-1 (10 KO). Hopefully this new page
in Hasson's career will continue. The referee was Hurley
McCall. 
The
semi-windup pitted "Flawless" Anthony Flores of North
Philadelphia against West Philly's Gustavo Dailey in a six
round junior lightweight bout. Dailey had gone AWOL earlier in
the day and missed the official weigh in. However, he
surfaced later on and showed up for the fight on
weight. So their show went on. Flores looked great in the
bout, applying tons of pressure and landing heavy blows
throughout the fight. Flores hurt Dailey enough, especially
with his left hook, in the second round to earn a 10-8 score
on my card. He continued to batter his 4-8 foe until round
five when a big right hand dropped Dailey. Referee Blair Talmadge stopped the fight at 43 seconds of the fifth.
Flores pushed his record to 9-1-1 with 5 KOs. 
North
Philly's Andre Hemphill looked renewed in his six round
light heavyweight bout with Youngstown, Ohio's Tony
Pietrantonio. Having won just two of his last fourteen
bouts, Hemphill needed to win this one. He did so easily,
winning all but one round on my card and taking the official
votes by scores of 59-54, 59-54 and 60-54. The win raised
his shoddy record to 9-16-2 (5 KO). Pietrantonio lost his
fifth in a row, dropping his record to 6-6 (5 KO). 