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California junior welterweight Brandun Lee knocked out Philadelphian Samuel Teah with a thunderous right hand midway through the third round of their scheduled ten round main event at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. The bout was competitive in the first two rounds, but Lee's dynamic punching power was the difference in round three.
A previous right hand by Lee dropped Teah earlier in the third. Teah took an eight count on one knee, but returned to the fight dutifully. Lee poured on the pressure, landing several more blows, while Teah held on and tried to weather the onslaught. However, when the final punch landed squarely on Teah's jaw, the fight was clearly over before he hit the canvas. The moment Teah landed, referee Johnny Callas stopped the fight, declaring a knockout without a count. The time was 1:43 of the third.
The win improved Lee's record to 22-0, 20 KOs, and earned him the vacant IBO Inter-Continental junior welterweight title belt. The exciting puncher also extended his streak of having never going beyond the fourth round. Teah fell to 17-4-1, 7 KOs, and thankfully, appeared healthy when he left the ring.
However, Hill, who took the fight on three weeks' notice, won rounds five and six by out-working Ortiz, who suddenly looked complacent. Ortiz rebounded in the seventh to extend his lead, but Hill edged a close eighth round to add some drama while the official scores were tallied.
All three judges scored the fight for Ortiz. Tom Carusone and Don Trella saw the fight 77-75, while John McKaie had it wider, 79-73. The victory improved Ortiz' record to 12-0, 3 KOs, and bolstered his status as one of Philly's best rising prospects. Hill, 14-1, 9 KOs, lost for the first time, but clearly still has a future. Ortiz was supposed to have fought fellow-Philly fighter Damon Allen. However, an injury to Allen's hand was the latest reason the two fighters failed to meet. Ortiz and Allen were originally paired by promoter Michelle Rosado to meet in a terrific South Philly showdown last March. But due to the COVID-19 lockdown, that show was postponed until later in the year, and eventually cancelled.
Rosado convinced DiBella Entertainment to stage the fight on this card, but Allen's injury prevented the ill-fated pair from crossing paths. It is starting to look like they may never meet - inside the ring anyway. But who knows? Maybe it will happen down the road with even more at stake than their rising-contender status. Personally, I'd like to see Rosado be the one pulling the strings if the fight ever does happen. Her cancelled card, which was loaded with strong local match-ups, had every Philly fight fan excited, myself included. So, I was extremely disappointed when it didn't happen.
Velasquez won the first three rounds with good, smart boxing before Padilla surged in round four. In that round, Padilla's power emerged and suggested that the momentum was shifting.
In round five, Padilla turned up the heat. He attacked Velasquez' body and began hammering hard shots to the head. Padilla was relentless. Suddenly a right hook staggered Velazquez and had him wobbly. He tried to hold on but Padilla peeled him off and kept punching. A volley of punches, punctuated with a hooking left, put Velasquez down on the seat of his pants. This was the first knockdown the Philadelphian ever suffered. Velasquez rose to his feet, but Padilla was waiting. He continued to throw and land punches while Velasquez did his best to remain standing. At one point, Velasquez slipped to the canvas, lunging to hold on. When the action resumed, Padilla landed a four punch combination of power shots, and the referee stepped in. The time was 1:56 of the fifth.
Padilla remained undefeated, 10-0, 8 KOs, while Velasquez, 10-1-1, 6 KOs, lost for the first time. It was a good fight with a dramatic finish.
Brian Norman won by TKO over Benjamin Whitaker at 1:56 of round five of an eight round welterweight fight. Featherweight Diuhl Olguin scored a sixth round TKO over David Navarro in their six rounder. The event was promoted by DiBella Entertainment and the four main bouts, Lee-Teah, White-Lopez, Ortiz-Hill, and Padilla-Velasquez, were all televised live by Showtime, with recorded highlights of Norman-Whitaker also shown. |
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