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Top Rank Boxing returned to
Atlantic City this evening with a night full of fisticuffs action,
headlined by an entertaining fight between Philly’s Jesse Hart
(24-3, 20 KOs) and Long Island’s Joe Smith Jr. (27-2, 21 KOs) for
the NABO Light Heavyweight Title. The eight-fight card was featured
before a near capacity filled Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino. The card was televised on ESPN and streamed on the ESPN+
App.
Tonight’s action was the second straight night of boxing in a city
that appears to be in the early stages of a boxing renaissance. Last
night, Claressa Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) captured her third world title
in a different weight class with a victory over Ivana Habazin (20-4,
7 KOs) at the Ocean Resort Casino.
Jesse Hart stepped into the ring looking to not only get back into
world title contention, but to avenge fellow Philadelphian Bernard
Hopkins' 2016 loss to Joe Smith Jr. Hart was coming off a unanimous
decision victory over Sullivan Barrera, while Smith last fought and
was defeated by Dmitry Bivol last March.
Both men entered the ring to the roars of their fans. Smith, a blue
collar hero to Long Island boxing fans, immediately set his
aggressive tone for the fight in the opening frame, a style that
Hart, the son of Philly boxing legend Cyclone Hart, would have
difficulty adjusting to throughout the ten round bout. Smith struck
Hart's head with a hard left hand, and then opened up on his
opponent to the delight of the Smith faithful, who chanted "Joe
Smith." Hart wrapped up Smith to halt this offensive onslaught. In
the second round, Smith stalked Hart around the ring, initially
having difficulty cutting off the ring against his opponent. Smith
adjusted to this challenge by clobbering Hart with hooks to the
head. Smith later hurt Hart with a big right hand to his head.
In the third round, Hart came
out swinging, landing a powerful combo highlighted with a big
uppercut. Despite this offensive flash, Hart continued to have
issues with Smith's aggressive, "in your face" style. Hart responded
with good body work. In round four, both men fought hard in the blue
corner, as Smith kept coming forward on Hart. Smith landed a series
of big hooks to the head and body that put Hart on wobbly legs. Hart
answered with a straight right to Smith's jaw that snapped his head
back.
During the fifth round, Smith
appeared to slow his fighting tempo down. This would change in the
final 30 seconds of the round, when Smith hit Hart with a right hook
to the head. Hart, in survival mode, wrapped Smith up. In the sixth
round, Hart attempted to push the overly aggressive Smith back with
hard jabs. Smith responded by putting his head down and abusing
Hart's body with a variety of punches. Smith landed a hard right
uppercut to Hart's jaw as the round neared its end.
Smith hammered Hart with big
overhand rights during the seventh round. As the round neared its
end, Smith knocked Hart down with a big right hand. Smith, smelling
blood in the water, pressed the attack but was unable to finish off
the tough Philly fighter. The eighth round showcased more of the
same action, as Smith continued to walk down Hart around the ring.
In the ninth round, Smith
punished Hart with a barrage of punches that lifted his opponent up
on his toes. An accidental headbutt during the round provided Hart
with a brief break in the action. In the tenth round, it should have
been of no surprise to those in attendance that the two men did not
touch gloves at the beginning of the round. A Smith right hook to
the head sprayed sweat off of the head of Hart before the conclusion
of action.
In what appeared to be a clear
cut victory for Joe Smith, Jr. on national television, a poor
scorecard by veteran boxing judge James Kinney provided the sport
with yet another public black eye, and unnecessary negative
attention to the scoring system. Two of the officials scored the
bout 97-92 and 98-91 respectively for Smith, with Kinney scoring the
bout 95-94 for Hart. This writer has a lot of strong opinions
regarding the perceived recent surge in the poor quality of judging,
especially in nationally televised fights. That being stated, these
opinions will be reserved for another time and forum. It should be
noted that New Jersey Athletic Commissioner Larry Hazzard Sr. needs
to perform a thorough and fair review of this judges' scorecard
before allowing him to judge another professional bout.
NELSON REMAINS UNDEFEATED
The fun began when Steven Nelson (16-0, 12 KOs) walked to the ring
in a "The Grinch" mask and matching green furry shorts for his ten
round bout for the NABO Super Middleweight Title match against Cem
Kilic (14-1, 9 KOs). Both men entered the ring not only looking to
preserve their undefeated streaks, but continue a knockout streak
that was at two for both fighters. The opening round was highly
competitive, as both men, appearing to be evenly matched, exchanged
big shots. In the second round, Nelson landed a series of effective
body shots, followed by a series of big punches that Kilic had no
answer for.
In the third round, Nelson
picked apart Kilic with laser precision jabs. In the fourth round,
Nelson punished his opponent with a left hook to the head. Later in
the round, a Nelson left uppercut snapped Kilic's head back as the
round ended.
Nelson tee'd off on Kilic with multiple straight right hands to the
head in the fifth round. Nelson proceeded to bully Kilic with solid
inside fighting throughout the sixth round.
Kilic hit Nelson with a nice left hand to the head in the seventh
round. After a good start in the round, Kilic slowed down as the
round progressed. In the eighth round, Kilic, realizing he was
behind on the cards, fought well landing a straight left hand that
snapped Nelson's head back. Despite a valiant effort, Kilic's corner
had seen enough of the damage their fighter was taking over the
course of the contest and threw in the towel at the 1:44 mark of the
eighth round.
MAGIC HANDS ADORNO SWEEPS IBARRA
Jeremy Adorno (4-0, 1 KO) secured the lone victory for the Adorno
clan this evening with a unanimous decision victory over Fernando
Ibarra (2-3). The two super bantamweight warriors put their speed on
display in the opening round. In the second round, Adorno landed a
big left hook to Ibarra's head that sent him crashing to the canvas.
Ibarra pulled himself up from the canvas, dazed, but survived a
barrage of punches from his opponent as time expired in the round.
Adorno put his speed on display in the third round, peppering Ibarra
with a variety of shots to the head and body. Ibarra could not get
anything going offensively because Adorno danced away from all
pressure aimed in his direction. At one point, Adorno yelled at the
ESPN commentators, "you like that?"
In the fourth and final round, Ibarra connected with an effective
multi-punch combo that pushed Adorno into a neutral corner. Adorno
looking to end Ibarra's offensive rally, wrapped him up. Adorno
again went to his effective left hook in this round, connecting to
the head and body. Adorno, confident he was ahead on the cards,
cruised through the second half of the round. All three judges
scored the bout 40-35 in favor of the undefeated Jeremy Adorno.
THE BRONCO RUNS OVER HEAD
Sonny Conto (6-0, 5 KOs) cruised past Curtis Head (5-5, 3 KOs) in a
heavyweight contest that was scheduled for four rounds. Conto, the
Philadelphia fan favorite, dropped Head to one knee with a
left-right hand combo. Seconds later, Conto dropped Head again with
a left hook that barely grazed his head. After pulling himself up to
his feet for the third time in the round, Conto connected with a
right hand to the body that again sent Head to his knee. By this
point of the fight, referee David Franciosi had seen enough and
called an end to the action at the 2:08 mark of the opening frame.
Conto has now won five of his six professional fights by knockout.
TIME RUNS OUT ON BARBOSA IN
LOSS TO SANDMAN
Chris "Sandman" Thomas (14-1-1, 9 KOs), Toms River, New Jersey, made
quick work of Samir dos Santos Barbosa (37-17-3, 26 KOs), a veteran
of 56 professional fights, in the first round of a fight scheduled
for six rounds in the super middleweight division. Thomas crushed
Barbosa with a big right hand to the face that he followed up with a
big multi-punch combo that sent his opponent stumbling back into the
neutral corner. Despite appearing to still have some fight left in
him, referee Sparkle Lee stepped in and stopped the fight at the 47
second mark of the opening frame. As the final decision was
announced, the crowd expressed their dissatisfaction with the
premature stoppage by booing loudly.
ADORNO AND GARCIA BATTLE TO DRAW
The elder Adorno was the first one of the Allentown,
Pennsylvania-based brothers to walk to the ring this evening. He,
like his younger brother Jeremy, entered the ring to the roar of an
approving fan base. In the opening round, Joseph Adorno (14-0-1, 12
KOs) rocked Hector Garcia (14-7-4, 8 KOs) with big shots to the head
and body, highlighted by big hooks to the body that made Garcia
wince under the pressure. The two fighters had an excellent exchange
midway through the round. Garcia absorbed a big left hook to the
head and waived on Adorno for more.
Adorno fought more cautiously in the third round. Garcia tried to
press the attack during this round, but Adorno responded with
outstanding defense. In the fourth round, Adorno shook Garcia's head
with two big left hands. In close combat, Garcia threw hard
uppercuts, most of which were absorbed by Adorno's gloves.
In the fifth round, Garcia chased Adorno around the ring,
desperately trying to land an effective shot through the guard with
little to no success. In the sixth round, Garcia banged at Adorno's
body with multi-hand uppercuts and hooks, shots that Adorno
responded to with a big smile.
During the seventh round, Garcia broke down Adorno's guard with big
hooks and uppercuts to the head and body. Adorno returned to his
corner with blood streaming from his nose. By the eighth and final
round, it was not evident to anyone watching that Garcia had come to
fight. The round began with a big exchange of shots as both men let
their hands go. Adorno popped Garcia's head back with a hard right
hook. Adorno was on shaky legs as both fighters went shot-for-shot
as time expired. The fight ended in a split decision draw with the
judges scoring the contest 77-75 for Adorno, 77-75 for Garcia, and
76-76 a draw.
BUNCH WINS #6 BY TKO
Trenton’s Shinard Bunch (6-1, 4 KOs) halted Dennis Okoth’s (4-3-1, 2
KOs) two-fight winning streak with a unanimous decision victory over
the Kenyan. The first round of the welterweight contest was a
limited action affair, as both men felt each other out. With little
success, the fighters tried to pick up the speed of the action in
the opening seconds of the second frame.
To the displeasure of those in
attendance, the third round was another slow round for the men. The
fourth showed promise as Okoth answered the bell swinging wildly at
Bunch, looking for a quick knockout. Unfortunately, that was the
extent of the action in the round.
Okoth moved forward
aggressively in the fifth round, but Bunch answered by wrapping him
up. Halfway through the round, there was a good exchange between the
two fighters near the center of the ring. In the final ten seconds
of the round, Okoth slipped into Bunch, almost knocking him out of
the ring into the timekeeper’s table. In the sixth round, after a
brief exchange, Okoth walked to his corner and hung on the ropes.
Referee David Franciosi looked bewildered at the exhausted fighter,
and waived off the fight as the trainer, towel in hand, jumped up
onto the canvas to attend to his fighter. The action, or lack
thereof, was halted at the 2:40 mark of the sixth and final round.
ZAYAS BEATS A CHAMPION
In the opening bout of the evening, Xander Zayas (3-0, 2 KOs)
defeated Corey Champion (1-2, 1 KO) by unanimous decision in a four
round welterweight bout. Zayas, a high school senior, controlled the
bout through all four rounds. In the first round, Zayas landed
multiple right hands to Champion’s head, as Champion looked
intimidated by his taller opponent. Champion answered the second
round bell looking like a beat up man. Zayas stalked him around the
ring and worked his opponent’s body to slow down his efforts to
avoid him. As the round neared its end, Champion’s nose gushed
blood.
In the third round, Zayas
pinned Champion up against the ropes with a multi-punch combo.
Champion squirmed out from under the pressure, but was visibly
shaken from the onslaught. This round went on to be a shooting
gallery for Zayas as he landed shots at will, all while smiling from
ear to ear. The right hand was especially effective for Zayas during
this round. At rounds end, Champion walked back to his corner with a
crimson lower face. In the opening seconds of the fourth round,
Champion ate a hard right hand to the face. Champion was on shaky
legs throughout the round, and held on for dear life as the final
bell rang. The judges scored the contest 40-36 twice and 40-35, all
in favor of Zayas. |
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