Hlatshwayo Captures Vacant IBF Welterweight Belt

In a rematch of their draw 9 months ago, welterweights Delvin Rodriguez and Issac Hlatshwayo both gave their all tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville Connecticut. It wasn’t surprising that both men left it all in the ring as this time, the vacant IBF welterweight title was at stake. The early rounds were close, with a slight edge to Rodriguez as he was the busier man. He was able to do good work both inside with short uppercuts, and outside where he fired off 3 and 4 punch combos which landed with regularity on Hlatshwayo’s chin. It was far from one-sided though as Hlatshwayo managed to land hard right hands, a few of which momentarily stunned Rodriguez and caused him to let off for brief periods of time. The turning point of the fight was in round 7, when Hlatshwayo managed to land a hard right that left Rodriguez reeling. Hlatshwayo was not able to effectively follow up but from then on, Rodriguez’s work-rate began to slowly drop. Each round as Rodriguez let up his attack, Hlatshwayo managed to be just a bit busier and caught the eye of the judges with good right hands and uppercuts on the inside. There was visible swelling on both fighters faces in round 9 but it finally became clearly evident that Rodriguez was running out of gas. He fought on valiantly to the final bell but didn’t capture enough early rounds to offset his fading down the stretch. When the scores were announced there was a moment of tension as one judge gave the fight to Rodriguez 115-113, but the other two judges correctly scored the fight for Hlatshwayo 116-112 and 116-113 and gave him a well deserved split decision win. The new IBF welterweight champion Hlatshwayo is now 29-1-1 1NC with 10Kos while Rodriguez, despite a gutsy performance, drops to 24-3-2 with 14Kos.

In the co-feature, former Olympian Demetrius Andrade continued his winning streak with a dominant performance over fellow jr.middleweight Chad Greenleaf. Right out of the Gate Andrade unleashed rapid fire combinations to the body and head of Greenleaf who seemed in a state of stunned disbelief at the relentless work rate of Andrade. Though Greenleaf managed to get out of the first round, a quick left uppercut in round 2 caused him to stumble backwards. Sensing the end was near, Andrade jumped all over Greenleaf and dropped him to the canvas with a barrage of shots. Referee Benjy Esteves didn’t even bother with a count and saved Greenleaf from more punishment, calling the bout at 1:38 of round 2. Andrade moves to 6-0 5Kos and Greenleaf drops to 11-13-1 5Kos.

Middleweight Tarvis Simms (tonight fighting close to the super middleweight limit of 168) took a lackluster split decision over unheralded Marcus Upshaw in an 8 round bout. Perhaps it was the near 9 month layoff or the extra 8 pounds, but Simms was reluctant to mount any sort of sustained offense against during the fight. Upshaw used a long jab to keep Simms at range and was effective in a number of rounds due mostly to Simms’ refusal to engage. Were it not for a fourth round knockdown which Simms produced with a well timed right hand, the fight would have ended in a draw. The extra point was enough to give Simms now 25-0-1 11Kos, the 77-74 edge on two judge’s scorecards. The third saw the bout for 76-75 for Upshaw who is now 11-4-1 1NC 5Kos.

Jr. Middleweight Raymond Serrano put his skill set on display as he dominated Jessie Davis over the course of three one-sided rounds. Serrano used a combination of crisp right hands and left hooks that from the onset, had the outgunned Davis searching for way to mount some kind of offense. Serrano never let Davis find a rhythm and in Round 3, caught him with a right hand followed by a left hook to the liver that put Davis on the mat. Showing heart, Davis climbed off of the canvas and continued but Serrano didn’t let up and prompted the referee to intervene. The bout was stopped at 2:02 of the third round. Serrano upped his unblemished record to 10-0 6Kos while Davis fell to 11-14 8Kos.

A cruiserweight matchup between Yathomas Riley and Tiwon Taylor was over quickly as the undefeated Riley steamrolled Taylor in only one round. Taylor was dropped with a barrage of punches mid round and despite getting up and trying to mount a comeback, was eventually dropped for good via a right hook. The hook landed high on Taylors head just as the bell rang and this time, Taylor was in no condition to continue. The bout was waved off at 2:59 of round 1. Riley remains undefeated at 7-0 1NC 5Kos while Taylor slips to 26-16-1 19Kos.

The only women’s bout on the card, a super featherweight fight between Maureen Shea and Lindsay Garbatt, saw Garbatt dominate Shea on her way to an impressive 6th round TKO. From the onset, Garbatt was simply the stronger, busier fighter. Her offense was centered heavily on a crisp right hand which regularly found the chin of Shea. Shea, over the course of several rounds, tried to implement a two fisted body attack but simply wasn’t strong enough to keep Garbatt off. By round 5, Shea’s face was swollen and red from numerous right hand and left hooks; the latter of which Garbatt had begun to use as a follow up to the right hand. The end came in round 6 when Shea, exhausted and pinned to the ropes, ate a left hook followed by a thudding right hand. Stunned, Shea began to drop and ate a right hand from Garbatt on the way down. There was no need for a count as Shea was clearly out and the bout was halted at 1:52 of round 6. Garbatt improves to 3-2 with 3Kos while Shea drops her second in a row to fall to 13-2 1NC with 7Kos.

A free swinging four round jr. welterweight bout between Dominic Desanto and Eliud Torrres opened the evening in exciting fashion. From the start, it looked as if it would be an easy night for Desanto as he floored Torres with a double jab, straight left hand combo early in round 1. Torres rose on unsteady legs but Desanto didn’t follow up and allowed Torres to escape the round. Torres used round 2 to regain his composure and then in round 3 managed to drop Desanto with a counter right hand as Desanto came forward. Torres then used his momentum to take a close round 4 and scrape his way to a deserving unanimous draw. Torres’ record now stands at 2-1-2 1KO while Desanto moves to 2-1-1 1NC 2KO