ARLINGTON, Tex. – “The Event” was promoter Top Rank’s largest happening in years – a championship prizefight featuring the worldwide phenomenon of Manny Pacquiao in a breathtaking new edifice before the largest domestic boxing audience since 1993. So as one sportswriter thought to put it, “Joshua Clottey fought like a loyal Top Rank employee.”

Much to experts’ surprise and ringsiders’ chagrin, Pacquiao (51-3-2, 32 KOs) had no trouble whatever with the tense and tentative Clottey (35-4, 21 KOs), beating him to the punch roughly 1,200 times and cruising to a lopsided decision: 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109.

Clottey – who once changed his moniker from “Hitter” to “Grand Master” and might next try “Reluctant” – surprised even knowledgeable fans with his complete unwillingness to hit until conditions were perfect. It took no expertise to know Pacquiao would never grant him such conditions, and so, after some initial nervousness, Pacquiao spent the first round keeping Clottey uncomfortable.

Then in round 2, Pacquiao began to exploit the obvious disparity in the men’s reflexes, moving casually and snapping jabs and hooks to the body. An ill-advised retreat by Pacquiao, though – hands up, chin tucked – brought life to Clottey’s hands, which by then had been dormant for four minutes. Through the fight’s opening quarter, whoever was punching was winning. That happened to be Pacquiao most of the time.

Somewhat frustrated by his inability to hook around Clottey’s shell defense in the fourth round, Pacquiao – in an uncharacteristic bit of clowning – threw a hook with both hands at the same time, resulting in a warning from the referee. Clottey, on the other hand, was far too respectful, following Pacquiao around the ring as if waiting for the other man’s approval before throwing his next punch.

At the fight’s midpoint, it was a shutout: Pacquiao 6-0. A while later, it would be 12-0.

If Pacquiao felt any psychological pressure from being stalked by a bigger man, after the opening rounds he didn’t show it. Boxing confidently and discouraging Clottey whenever he had to, Pacquiao took rounds 7, 8 and 9 as easily as he’d taken their six predecessors.

In round 10, things got interesting for just that many seconds as Clottey landed four punches in-a-row for the first time in a half hour of boxing. Then Pacquiao got serious, came out his shell and took away Clottey’s spirit yet again. The championship rounds saw no new excitement. Clottey fought as if happy to have spent 36 minutes in a ring with Pacquiao, and nothing like a challenger should.

If there was suspense at the reading of the judges’ cards it was sparked by a doubt that all three judges would give Pacquiao all 12 rounds. They didn’t, of course. End of suspense.

“I can’t believe it,” Pacquiao (modestly) said of his victory after the fight.

Neither could the rest of us, Manny, unfortunately enough.

HUMBERTO SOTO VS. DAVID DIAZ
If Mexican lightweights Humberto Soto and David Diaz wake up feeling a wee bit cheated of due affection on Sunday morning, they’ll be well within their rights. Both men gave what they had to the crowd and judges, Saturday, though neither party was paying them much mind.

In a fight significantly closer than two judges had it, Soto (51-7-2, 32 KOs) defeated Diaz (35-3-1, 17 KOs) by unanimous decision – 115-111, 117-109, 117-109 – to become the WBC lightweight world champion.

A fine indication of the Cowboys Stadium crowd’s interest in fighters not nicknamed “Pacman,” though, came at the midway point of round 2 – just as Soto scored a flash knockdown – and continued for five minutes, as the capacity crowd invoked a part of eighties sports lore, doing the wave for 10 stadium-wide swells.

Unbeknownst to many of the wavers, though, a very good fight was going on before them. Despite being the slower, less technically sound man in the ring, southpaw David Diaz was handling everything Soto hit him with and still stubbornly marching forward. Diaz’s experience – comprising many more fights at lightweight than Soto – told, as he was undissuaded by the smaller man’s accurate counterpunches.

Round 9 featured especially feral action as Diaz blasted Soto with left crosses, and Soto fired back with left hooks and uppercuts. While Soto was landing the more accurate punches, Diaz was surely getting his money’s worth from each exchange.

The next round saw an ounce of give in Soto. Diaz’s relentlessness – probably his most distinguishing trait as a prizefighter – took a bit of resolve from Soto’s legs and some snap from his punches. Combined with Soto’s evident fatigue, Diaz’s constant hustle made the championship rounds extremely close.

After embracing before the 12th and final round, Soto and Diaz then committed to a mutually brutalizing finish, using shoulders, elbows, heads and low blows to wear one another out. Diaz’s legs gave first, though, tossing him onto his knees with 10 seconds remaining in the match. That knockdown, and the one that came in the second round, combined to give Soto a victory on the one card that properly captured the fight – judge Gale Van Hoy’s, interestingly enough.

ALFONSO GOMEZ VS. JOSE LUIS CASTILLO
Whatever motivation Mexican Jose Luis Castillo had for rising to 145 pounds and then fighting anyway did not sustain him for all of 15 minutes Saturday. So his corner wisely canceled the final five rounds of his fight with fellow Mexican Alfonso Gomez – waving things off after round 5. With any luck, they’ll cancel Castillo’s future hopes of fighting, next.

Meeting Gomez (22-4-2, 10 KOs) in “The Event’s” second televised match of the night, Castillo (60-10-1, 52 KOs) began in a way that looked initially tentative and then outright sluggish. He threw few punches with authority but seemed at least partially engaged in the fight’s opening three minutes.

An exchange in the next round spoke volumes about Castillo’s chances, though. Closing space against Gomez – who’ll never have the class Castillo showed in his prime (many years ago) – Castillo got a bit too close, and Gomez simply tossed him away, a welterweight throwing a lightweight. Then round 3 saw a clash of heads that sent Castillo spinning towards the referee as if already looking for an honorable discharge.

Rounds 4 and 5 saw Gomez land right uppercuts that took far greater effect than Castillo’s counter left hooks. After dragging his feet back to the corner at the end of the fifth, Castillo made no protest when his corner stopped the match.

While you never wish to speculate about a prizefighter’s financial well-being, today, Castillo – once marked by an obsessive will to win – appears to be going through the motions merely for a paycheck. Dangerous motions, indeed. You can no longer love boxing and still hope Castillo keeps fighting.

JOHN DUDDY VS. MICHAEL MEDINA
If you weren’t sure how things might go when Ireland’s John Duddy (29-1, 18 KOs) squared off with Mexico’s Michael Medina (22-2-2, 17 KOs) in “The Event’s” first televised fight, a 10-round middleweight match, you needed look no further than the color of both fighters’ gloves: Green.

That color said Irish, and so did two judges, scoring a split-decision victory for Duddy: 96-93, 93-96, 96-93.

After starting fast, seasoning his shamrocks with chile by putting left hooks on Medina’s body, Duddy collected a pair of right-hand counters in round 3 that slowed his attack and made onlookers think that if Medina were the larger man, Duddy might be in genuine peril.

After five rounds, both guys’d had enough of jabbing and commenced to swapping left hooks and counter right uppercuts, with Duddy winning most exchanges and Medina scoring with plenty of his own punches.

By the eighth round, the hooks each man had landed on the other began to tell on the fighters’ legs, as Duddy and Medina had both slowed considerably. But in an effort to sap Duddy’s reserves further with hooks to the liver, Medina’s left glove strayed south one too many times, resulting in a point deducted from the Mexican’s tally for low blows.

Befitting their proud fighting traditions – Irish and Mexican – Duddy and Medina closed the fight winging punches without regard for defense or respect for one another’s power. The luck of the Irish prevailed, though, and Duddy escaped with his split-decision victory.

UNDERCARD
“The Event’s” final off-television match saw Fort Worth’s Arthur Trevino (5-3-3, 2 KOs) wage a sustained four-round featherweight scrap with Arizonan Isaac Hidalgo (6-5-2, 1 KO). One ringside judge declared Hidalgo the winner of every round, 40-36, while the other two saw the rounds split, turning in cards of 38-38. The official result, then, was a majority draw.

Before that, California super welterweight Rodrigo Garcia (6-0, 5 KOs) walk directly through Calvin Pitts (5-12-1, 1 KO), needing until only 2:21 of the second round to stop the overmatched Texan. It was a very limited test for Garcia, whose unblemished record was never in danger.

Local interest was piqued when two super bantamweights from Dallas – Roberto Marroquin (13-0, 10 KOs) and Samuel Sanchez (4-2-1) – touched gloves and came out fighting in Saturday’s fourth undercard match. Local interest then reached a peak when a second-round left hook from Marroquin felled Sanchez with such violence that no count ensued. Marroquin was declared the winner by TKO at 1:36 of round 2.

The afternoon’s next fight was of patronymic importance to Mexican fans if no one else, as Salvador Sanchez (19-3-2, 9 KOs) and Jaime Villa (8-8-2, 3 KOs) made an enjoyable eight-round featherweight match that featured some hooks, some uppercuts, some fouling and plenty of misses. After scoring an early knockdown, the Mexican named after a famous prizefighter, Sanchez, stopped the Mexican named after a famous revolutionary fighter, Villa – throwing left hooks to the liver till 1:09 of round 6, when Villa could not continue and Sanchez became the victor.

Before that came a featherweight bout between the Philippines’ Michael Farenas (26-2-3, 23 KOs) and San Antonio’s Joe Morales (20-13, 4 KOs), ended as a no-decision at 2:25 of the second round when an accidental collision of heads opened a deep gash over Morales’ right eye, causing the ringside doctor to prohibit further action.

Saturday’s action began with an eight-round bantamweight slugfest between Filipino Eden Sonsona (19-5, 6 KOs) and Columbian Mauricio Pastrana (35-13-2, 24 KOs). After dropping Pastrana several times in the middle rounds, Sonsona brought the match to a sudden end at 1:33 of the final round – striking Pastrana with a left cross of such authority that no count was attempted.

Announced attendance was 50,994 – the largest American crowd to see a fight in 17 years.

First bell of “The Event” rang through Cowboys Stadium at 5:20 p.m. CT.

Photos by Chris Farina/Top Rank

New York State Heavyweight champion Darrel “King David” Madison is willing to fight anyone at any time, but has repeatedly been rebuffed. As a southpaw with good boxing ability and a strong amateur record, matchmakers have been heartbreakers, as Madison’s aspirations to fight the best is yet to come. After last night’s impressive performance at the Yonkers PAL Gym, it’s perfectly understandable why Madison has been turned down time and time again as an opponent.

Madison of Central Islip, improved to 15-1 (4 KO’s) after battering Providence, RI based gatekeeper Robert Wiggins over two one sided rounds. With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, Madison entered the ring in multi-colored checkered trunks and a brand new game plan. Madison previously boxed his way to skillful decision victories, which weren’t always entertaining, but the Irish style trunks seemingly turned him into a new fighter.

Madison came out unusually aggressive in the opening round, tagging Wiggins with a number of right hooks and body shots to take the first three minutes of the fight with ease. The former amateur standout went back to work in the second, buzzing Wiggins on a number of occasions with a heavy onslaught of punches. Madison was ready for more, with a group of his fans cheering him at ringside, but Wiggins wasn’t. The latter surprisingly remained on his stool after the second round and was met by a chorus of boos for doing so.

“I have been in the gym with him before and am surprised he quit”, Madison said after the fight. “Now I want a fight with (unbeaten Harlem based) Tor Hamer. He has a big mouth so let’s see if he can back it up!”

Wiggins falls to 20-8-1 (12 KO’s) with the defeat.

The co-feature pitted a counter puncher against an opponent who simply didn’t punch. O’Shea Brothers Boxing newly signed light heavyweight prospect Ronson “Perfectly” Frank scored an eight round shut out decision over Raynard Darden of Detroit, MI. Frank took his time in the early going, waiting for opportunities to counter, but Darden didn’t give him the chance simply because he didn’t move his hands.

Frank stepped up his punch output beginning in the third round, using a nice southpaw jab, body blows and right hooks. Darden was decked hard in the fourth with a nice check hook, but the hardcore veteran did a good job of surviving throughout the contest. Scores were 80-71 on all three cards.

Brooklyn’s Frank improves to 14-0 (7 KO’s), while Darden, who had longtime friend and Dibella Entertainment matchmaker Joe Quiambo assisting in his corner, falls to 11-22-1 (4 KO’s).

In the fight of the night, local featherweight Nydia Feliciano and Jennifer Han battled to an entertaining six round draw. Han, who entered the ring with a deceptive 0-1 record, had good ring generalship and worked behind a peppering jab. The hard charging Feliciano, who has a Juan Diaz type style, pressured Han, and found success with combinations in close quarters. Neither fighter cared much about avoiding punches, thus many clean shots landed in one of the most entertaining woman’s fights in recent memory. Scores were 59-55 Han, 58-56 Feliciano and 57-57, forcing the draw.

The Bronx based Feliciano remains unbeaten at 2-0-2. Han returns to El Paso, TX with a 0-1-1 record. 15Rounds scored the closely contested bout 58-56 for Han. On an interesting note, one of Feliciano’s cornermen shouted instructions while talking on his cell phone during the fourth and fifth rounds. Perhaps he was telling one of his confidants about the entertaining bout just inches away?

Crowd favorite Lambros “Linheart” Karaolides, 6-0 (4 KO’s) pounded out a one-sided six round decision over Medford, NY’s Ashantie Hendrickson in a junior middleweight contest. Karaolides, an Astoria based Cypriot outpunched his game opponent from bell to bell. Scores were 60-54 and 59-55 twice. Hendrickson falls to 1-6.

If boxing was UFC, Brooklyn light heavyweight Ariel Espinal would have received a nice bonus on his check for knockout of the evening. Espinal, a true fighter at heart, stepped into the squared circle on 24 hours notice with unbeaten Hajro Sujak. Espinal was less than two weeks removed from his last bout, a fourth round TKO over Anthony Pietrantonio, in Atlantic City and wasn’t in the best of shape. Like the majority of out of shape fighters, Espinal was looking to end the fight early. Success!

Espinal scored a jaw dropping second round KO over Sujak with a monstrous overhand right. Sujak crashed to the canvas and the referee Ricky Gonzalez took more time than necessary to direct Espinal to the neutral corner ala Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade. It made little difference. Gonzalez eventually began to count and Sujak bravely stood up, but only to fall a split second later. Time of stoppage was 2:59.

Espinal improves to 8-13-3 (4 KO’s), while The Bronx’ Sujak drops to 5-1 (2 KO’s).

Good looking bantamweight prospect Raul Lopez of The Bronx forced Puerto Rico’s Reinaldo Cintron to quit on his stool following the opening round. Lopez and Cintron mixed it up early, but the latter got dropped by a hard left hook to the body about 2:30 in. Lopez gunned for a knockout, throwing a terrific body combination, but his badly hurt opponent managed to get out of the round on his feet. Cintron’s corner threw in the towel shortly after the round ended, as their fighter had enough.

Lopez, who received praise as a sparring partner for world champion Carlos Tamara, ups his record to 3-0-1 (3 KO’s). Cintron heads home with a 1-2 professional ledger.

In the opening bout of the evening, former New York Golden Gloves champion Chazz McDowell shut out iron chinned Mexican Filberto Nieto over four rounds at junior lightweight. McDowell hit the defensively inept Nieto with everything he had, but Nieto had no quit in him. McDowell, of Yonkers, improves to 2-0 (1 KO). Nieto falls to 1-6.

The “St. Patty’s Day Brawl” was promoted by O’Shea Brothers Promotions, who have put together a string of scintillating club shows in recent months. Their next card is slated for April 2 at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn.

The first fight between Tony Grano and Mark Brown back in 2008 reminded me that heavyweight fights can be entertaining. It featured big punches, multiple knockdowns and a thrilling come from behind conclusion. It was in short, everything right about heavyweight boxing. The rematch between Grano and Brown, sadly, featured everything that is wrong with heavyweight boxing: Clinching, inactivity and the lack of drama that seems to permeate every fight over 200 pounds.

Instead of letting it all hang out as he did in the first fight, Brown came into the fight thinking he was Muhammad Ali circa 1974. From the first bell he covered up and invited Grano to come in and wear himself out, hoping that Grano would punch himself into exhaustion and an easy KO. Problem was, Grano wasn’t having any of it. No amount of posturing and chest beating would get Grano to lay down more than the occasional flurry. Grano was content to stay on the outside and use the jab, piling up points and ensuring that he avenge the loss to Brown nearly two years prior. Ironically when Grano did come in to open up, Brown would bear hug and attempt to toss Grano around the ring. As the rounds progressed, Grano began to retaliate and the grappling and wrestling began in earnest. Referee Joey Lupino spent at least 20 seconds of each round admonishing both fighters for their unsportsmanlike tactics. Though Grano was winning rounds, he wasn’t making it look pretty.

His best moment came in the 7th when he managed to get Brown to the ropes and give himself enough space to tee off with rights and lefts to Browns chin. Brown was shaken but not so much as he couldn’t simply resort to clinching again. The sole moment of drama came in the 10th as Brown finally put forth an effort to punch, unleashing a full power overhand right that landed as Grano was moving back. Grano fell sideways into the ropes in dramatic fashion but the second he rose it was clear he was more off balance than hurt. Oddly, Brown didn’t even try to jump on Grano and did more posturing than punching over the final 2 minutes. The scores were no surprise: 98-91 and 97-92 (twice) all in favor of Grano. As bad as the fight was, it was a good win for Grano who at 17-1-1 13KOs can now start thinking of taking on someone ranked in the top ten. For Brown his 41 years of age and 15-3 7KOs record would, in any other division, warrant retirement. But in the heavyweight division, it’s still possible Brown can land himself a significant fight in the near future.

Former super bantamweight prospect Mike Oliver climbed one step closer toward once again being a player in the division by dispatching former minimumweight titlist Kermin Guardia in 3 rounds. Oliver kept Guardia at bay for much of the first 2 rounds with a fast jab and the occasional straight left hand. Midway through the second Oliver began to mix in right hooks which the complacent Guardia seemed unwilling or unable to avoid. In the third, a right hook caught Guardia moving backwards and deposited him on the canvas where referee Johnny Callas reached the count of 10. The knockout was Oliver’s first since 2006 and a good way to get him back into the divisional mix. With the win, he’s now 23-2 8KOs. Guardia falls to 37-12 21KOs.

Local up and coming middleweight David Bauza was given all he could handle from Erix Quintros in a close and entertaining 4 round scrap. Bauza was bombs away from the beginning and rocked Quintros with left and right hooks as he regularly switched between the southpaw and orthodox stance. For the first two rounds Quintros had little to offer in return but in the third, he began to fight back and put together combinations that drove Bauza to the ropes. Quintros had Bauza in some trouble near the end of the third as he landed a 4 punch combo that caused Bauza to clinch simply to keep his balance. At the end of the fourth one of the judges scored the fight even at 38-38 but was overruled by the other two who favored Bauza by scores of 39-37 and 40-36. Bauza remains unbeaten at 4-0 3KOs while Quintros drops his second fight in a row and slips to 2-5 1KO.

2008 U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali may not have frightening power but what he lacks in power he makes up for in speed. Welterweight Jose Duran got a taste of that speed for two and a half rounds before finally succumbing to it. The bout was all Ali from the start as he flashed combinations from different angles, peppering Duran with shots to the body and head. Duran was simply too slow to mount any offense and the rare punches he landed had little effect on Ali. Midway through the third Ali shot a blindingly fast left hook to the head of Duran which sent him crashing to the canvas. Duran (now 6-5-2 3KOs) struggled but was unable to beat the count of 10 giving Ali (now 6-0 3KOs) the knockout victory.

In the most entertaining bout of the night, super middleweights Manuel Lopes and Greg McCoy fought to a highly competitive majority draw over 4 rounds. The bout seemed like it would be one-sided at the onset as Lopes used the ring well and pot-shotted the onrushing and wild McCoy to good effect. The first two rounds were all Lopes who began to get increasingly bold as the minutes ticked away. He began dropping his hands and trying to trade with McCoy which almost proved to be his undoing. McCoy took full advantage of Lopes bravado and dished out a number of overhand rights that began to fall with regularity onto the chin of McCoy. By the fourth, McCoy had the confidence he needed to rush Lopes and launch a determined assault. McCoy backed Lopes into his own corner and uncorked yet another overhand right, this time stunning Lopes badly. McCoy tried to follow up and finish the fight but Lopes clung on till the bell and narrowly escaped defeat. Scores were 38-38 (twice) and 39-37 Lopes. McCoy, who has yet to win as a pro, now stands at 0-1-1 while Lopes clings to his unbeaten record of 5-0-2 1KO.

A mere 43 seconds was all light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. needed to take the fight out of Carlos Adams. Smith dropped Adams with nearly the first left hook he threw and when Adams rose, Smith put an end to the fight with a single right hand. Referee Johnny Callas stopped his count at 7 when it was clear Adams wanted no part of the fight. Smith seems to have potential and will be an up an comer to look for in the future. He improves his record to 3-0 with 3KOs while Adams drops to 2-8.

The opening bout of the evening was a scheduled 4 rounder between junior welterweights Joey Ortega (2-17 1KO) and Edwin Soto (3-0 2KOs.) The fight was a mismatch from the beginning as Soto got right to work battering Ortega with 3, 4 and 5 punch combinations. The beating opened a cut on Ortega’s nose midway through the first and Ortega simply had no answer for the blows Soto rained down. Midway through the second Soto threw a right hand that caught Ortega flush and stunned him. The follow up barrage of 10+ unanswered punches prompted referee Dick Flaherty to call a halt to the bout. The stoppage was a bit premature but merciful to say the least. Time was 2:31 of round 2.

A heavy Pittsburgh contingency watched as undefeated welterweight and former IBF lightweight champion Paul “The Pittsburgh Kid” Spadafora 44-0-1(18KO) brought a throw back style and look to the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale while picking up a TKO8 win over Italian Ivan Fiorletta 24-6-2. The southpaw Spadafora controlled the entire fight with slick boxing excellent footwork, and brutal body shots. Spadafora had to fight through plenty off rough housing from Fiorletta throughout the fight, referee Frank Gentile had his hands full all night until he waived his arms in the 8th round. Fiorletta took a point in round six for throwing a couple knees to Spadaforas’ head, while throwing elbows and holding excessively throughout the fight. Spadafora looked much improved as the fight wore on gaining speed and accuracy. He often landed sharp three punch combinations mostly ending with a right body hook that connected almost always. The undefeated Spadafora ran off track and had a 32 month layoff and becoming incarcerated due to a string of drug, alcohol and weapon charges.

Local heavyweight and fan favorite Eric “The Viking” Leander 9-1(8KO) was violently knocked out by fomer amatuer standout Jason Barnett 12-10(6KO) in the Co-Main event of the night in front of a huge Viking crowd donned in horns cheering on their fighter. The first round started with Barnett catching the Viking with an array of jabs and setting up a booming right hand that sent the Viking to the canvas. The round ended with Barnett peppering the Viking with a four punch, right left combination that sent Leander to the canvas and was barely saved by the bell and staggered to his corner. The next round started with an exhausted Leander just able to muster a pawing jab and getting beat to the punch. A hard right hand into a solid left hook dropped Leander at :41 seconds in the second round giving Leander his first loss of his career. Leander brings no amateur experience and a very dangerous brawl and maul style that failed versus a skilled boxer, as the smaller Barnett proved tonight.

In the third fight of the night Willie Herring 12-6-3 pulled off another big upset with a second round KO over Dieuly “The Untamed Beast” Aristilde 7-2, who was coming off of the biggest win of his career, a KO over Elijah McCall just a few weeks ago in a war. Herring started the fight before the opening bell with some mental warfare playing to the crowd and mocking Aristilde. Which had its payday as Aristilde left his game plan of boxing and setting up punches in the corner. Instead he chose to engage in a power right hand contest. The Untamed Beast was knocked down in the first round and in the second with a great left hook that downed the Haitian fighter for good at 1:55. This was a tough loss for the proud Haitian, and a questionable one in regards to why his team would rush him into the ring just weeks after a war.

Rances Barthelemy 4-0 (3) defeated Robert Guillen 5-6-3 (1).Barthelemy and dominated the action in a four round jr lightweight fight. Both men traded some good body shots but Barthelemy was the clear winner of most of the exchanges. The cards read 39-36 40-35 40-35.

Light heavyweight Abdulah Dobey 4-0 (4) earned a big KO3 win over Gevonte Davis 4-6-1 (2). Dobey came out swinging hard to the opening bell and knocked Davis down in the 2nd with a stiff body shot and in the third with stiff right hands, doubled them up, staggering and dropping Davis to the canvas at 1:53 for the final count.

Yoelvis Gamboa improved to 4-0(2KO) with an excellent left hook KO over Milton Ramos 2-2-2. Gamboa showed improvement since his debut, however still very raw. Gamboa the younger brother of world featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamoa 17-0, slipped a big right hand and landed a crushing left hook that ended the bout at 1:42 of the third round.

Cruiserweights Sullivan Berrera 3-0(3KO) and Reggie Pena 6-3(1KO) rumbled in round one and exchanged wild shots on the way to an exciting first round. Pena got deducted one point for holding round 2. The fight ended with a perfectly placed left hook by Berrera on the chin of Pena dropping him to the canvas in a violent manner. The end came at 1:45 in the second round.

So, the Pittsburgh Kid is back, the Viking got mauled, the Beast tamed, and some great looking prospects showed their stuff in an exciting card in Fort Lauderdale tonight.

Notable fighters in attendance were Allan Jackson, Jameel McLine, Joel Julio, John David Jackson, Yorkis Gamboa and Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker…JSizzle and NYDanny Stasiukiewicz reporting ringside.

GRAPEVINE, TEX. – Tasty local appetizer cards have become a staple of promoter Top Rank’s superfight weekends, and Friday night’s fare at the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center – an opening course for “The Event” on Saturday – was no exception. Featuring a Filipino and a Mexican in the main event and crowd-pleasers from around the world in seven other matches, the card delighted its capacity crowd in a sweeping luxury compound northwest of Dallas.

Filipino flyweight Richie Mepranum (16-2-1, 3 KOs) and Mexican Hernan Marquez (25-1, 18 KOs) made a fantastic 10-round battle in Friday’s main event, one in which the light-hitting southpaw from the Philippines absorbed everything the Mexican could throw his way and hung on to win a unanimous decision: 99-91, 96-94 and 98-92.

After starting slowly before a suddenly quiet crowd, Mepranum and Marquez gradually increased their punch output through the next six rounds, turning the eighth into the beginning of a three-stanza crescendo in which both fighters threw knockout blows, while failing to finish – or even much hurt – the other man.

Though the fans in attendance were evenly split between Filipinos and Mexicans, there was little outrage expressed from the Mexican side over the judges’ awarding the fight to Mepranum.

SAMUEL PETER VS. NAGY AGUILERA

Friday’s co-main event saw a fit and fired-up Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) box, counter and then blitz Dominican Nagy Aguilera (15-3, 10 KOs), winning by technical knockout at 2:24 of the second round.

Clues to Peter’s newfound seriousness were in evidence at Thursday’s weigh-in when the “Nigerian Nightmare” – whose fitness and heart have been questioned in the past – tipped the scale at 237 1/2 pounds, his lowest weight since 2001. After that, Peter showed surprising patience and technique (and abdominal muscles), countering Aguilera whenever the Dominican hung his jab. One such counter, a patented overhand right from Peter, took Aguilera’s knees from under his thighs, dropping him early in round 2.

Peter, never a shy finisher, showed uncharacteristic finesse after that, taking his time and waiting for Aguilera to hang one more jab. Aguilera complied, hanging another left hand – and Peter blasted him with a right cross that sent Aguilera sprawling into the ropes where Peter assaulted him till the referee waved an end to the match.

JOSE BENAVIDEZ VS. BOBBY HILL

In a showcase bout to close the opening hour of Fox Sports Español’s telecast, undefeated Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez (3-0, 3 KOs) – a seven-time national amateur champion now fighting under the Top Rank banner – made decisive work of southpaw Mississippi lightweight Bobby Hill (1-4), stopping him at 2:59 of round 3. Benavidez, who at 6-foot-1 is an enormous 135 pounder, showed the joy of battle and willingness to exchange one hopes to find in a young prizefighter.

At times, though, that joy of battle led Benavidez to show the amateurish habit of dropping his lead hand to waist level while throwing the right cross. Under the watchful eyes of trainer Freddie Roach and mentor Jose Benavidez, Sr., however, that perilous habit should be eradicated soon.

“This was the first left-hander I’ve fought as a pro,” Benavidez said after the third opponent of his career. “But I had a lot of experience against them in the amateurs, and body shots always work.”

“After the second round, I was worried,” Jose Benavidez, Sr. said about a cold from which his son had been suffering all week. “But I told him to do what he had to do.” And that he did.

UNDERCARD

The night’s second televised bout saw super welterweight Houstonian Omar Henry (8-0, 7 KOs) race out his corner and ruin Mexican Francisco Reza (5-2, 4 KOs) in a half minute of relentless offensive assault. Henry dropped Reza 10 seconds into the match with lefts and rights everywhere. Reza rose and then dropped 10 seconds later. At 0:32 of round 1, the fight was over – Henry by TKO.

The evening’s final pre-television match saw Filipino welterweight Dennis Laurente (34-3-4, 17 KOs) decision Ghanaian strongman Ben Tackie (29-12-1, 17 KOs) in a competitive eight-round welterweight scrap. Though each round was close and Tackie clearly thought he’d won at least four, the official scorecards did not agree, unanimously seeing things for Laurente by scores of 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74.

Before that, Freddie Roach-trained Mexican heavyweight Andy Ruiz, Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) made quick work of Texan Luke Vaughn (0-2), stopping him with a textbook left hook to the liver at 1:55 of round 1. That was about the only thing that looked like it does in a textbook, as Ruiz – at 271 pounds of much more than striated muscle – wore a physique bearing no resemblance to that of his trainer’s most famous charge.

Starting the card was undefeated Washington D.C. lightweight contender Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KOs) in a 10-round bout with overmatched Puerto Rican Juan Ramon Cruz (16-8-1, 12 KOs). Peterson moved well, using his shell defense and waiting for openings, and did exactly what an undefeated contender is supposed to do with an eight-loss journeyman, off-television.

After felling Cruz in round 2, Peterson landed an impressive right uppercut/left hook combination in the third to begin the end of Cruz’s night. Dropped a second time, Cruz rose once more, got clipped with a right uppercut and dropped a third time. And so his night ended by TKO at 1:11 of the third round, preserving Peterson’s unblemished record.

The evening began about a half hour later than scheduled, as an ambulance had to be located before the card could commence. Attendance was good in the convention hall despite Friday’s card being made mostly for television.

Doors for Saturday’s fights open at 5:00 p.m. CT. 15rounds.com will have full ringside coverage of “The Event” in its entirety.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top rank

Manny Pacquiao 145 3/4 – Joshua Clottey 147

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley will make his first appearance on HBO on June 26th against Luis Carlos Abregu at the Agua Caliente resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

“Tim wants to fight the best 140-pounders in the world — Amir Khan, Devon Alexander, [Marcos] Maidana, you name it,” Said Cameron Dunkin swho is Bardley’s manager at the Gaylord Texan hotel, the fight headquarters for Saturday’s Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington. “Hopefully, this is the start of getting those big fights.”

“He’s a really strong guy with a good chin and he’s bigger than Tim. He’s physical and puts on great fights,” Dunkin said of the 27-year-old Abregu.

Said Sean Gibbons, Abregu’s agent, “It’s a great opportunity for Abregu to be on HBO. He’s a bigger, stronger guy than Bradley and he’s got nothing to lose by taking the fight. We can’t wait.”

“Timmy did not sign a thing with Showtime,” Dunkin said. “He certainly appreciates what they have done for him and he loves Showtime, but he has to take this opportunity.”

Dannon Svab, Owner of Explosive Fight Promotions, has told 15Rounds.com that he will be returning to Akron, Ohio for an evening of exciting MMA action along with two Championship fights. Caged Madness 15 will take place at the popular MMA venue Pronio Sports in Akron, Ohio. Pronio Sports is located at 2420 Wedgewood Dr. in Akron, Ohio.

Svab told us “When we last spoke about my January show, I told you that this was going to be our biggest event yet, I was wrong. The January show was amazing but this one will be even bigger. We have stepped up a few notches in our promotion and have secured top level local fighters for this card. We are almost sold out already and the event is still a few days away. Each show keeps getting bigger”

Popular ring announcer George Phillips will once again be the man with the microphone for Caged Madness 15. “George has been with me from day one, and he takes our shows to another level. George knows how to work a crowd and is a promoter’s dream because he does him homework prior to arriving at the fight” said Svab

If you are in the Akron area, this is a can’t miss show. “For the entertainment dollar you are not going to find a better place to be than Caged Madness 15” Svab adds.

Explosive Fight Promotions brings a positive outlook to the fight game by displaying integrity, honesty and hard work while providing fight fans great shows they will want to see again. Led by a promoter who still makes fight deals with a man’s word and a handshake.

Tickets are available at the door or visit www.explosivefightpromotions.com for more information.

Vic Darchinyan retained the WBA/WBC Super Flyweight championships with a twelve round unanimous decision over game Rodrigo Guerrero at The Agua Caliente Hotel and Resort in Palm Spring, California.

Drachinyan started early by showing some decent boxing skills by deviating from his usual “Seek and Destroy” style by landing shome nice body shots and right hooks. In round five, the effects of Darchinyan’s shots were showing as a small cut opened around the left eye of Guerrero.

In round seven, Darchinyan really turned up the gas as he landed several thudding left hands that would have knockoed most men out but Guerrero showed a granite chin and continued in attempt to come forward. In round, eight Darchinyan landed several more shots that drove Guerrero back for just a moment. Guerrero showed Grade A toughness as he ate shot after shot from the heavy handed Darchinyan. For good measure, Darchinyan landed four more big shots in the final seconds of the fight but yet he stood on his feet to hear the final bell.

Darchinyan, 115 lbs of Sydney, Australia won by scores of 118-110; 117-111; 120-108 and is now 34-2-1. Guerrero, 114 lbs of Mexico City is 13-2-1.

Lenny Zappavigna scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Fernando Angulo in a Lightweight bout.

Zappavigna controlled the early rounds as he worked the body well as he featured the left hook and added some nice right hands. The fight seemed to change in Angulo’s favor in round six as Angulo cut Zappavigna around the right eye from a punch.

In round eye, the blood became very prevalent as it started to stream out of the eyelid. Angulo landed the more telling blows. In round nine, Angulo was deducted a poing for hitting on the break. There wasnt much to choose from over the final rounds but it seemed that Angulo deserved better, especially since the verdict was unanimous by scores of 116-111, 116-111 and 114-113 for Zappavigna.

Zappavigna, 135 lbs of Sydney, Australia is now 23-0. Angulo, 138 lbs of Sucumbios, Ecuador is now 22-7.

After an evening of uninspiring undercard bouts, the main event between Devon Alexander and Juan Urango delivered in a big way. Two 140 pound titles were at stake: the IBF held by Urango and the WBC held by Alexander. The fight was competitive from the start as Alexander worked behind a crisp jab while Urango, in usual fashion, steamed forward headfirst throwing punches. What was surprising was how often Urango was able to land his sweeping right hook on the chin of the slick Alexander. Equally surprising was how little effect any of Urango’s punches, which are know for their power, seemed to have on Alexander. There was hardly a pause from Alexander when one of Urango’s rights connected and despite the frequency with which Urango landed, Alexander seemed determined to follow his gameplan of boxing from the outside. Initially, this seemed to be a bad strategy as Urango was able to get the best of the exchanges but as the fight unfolded, Alexander’s composure proved to pay off. He began to land jab straight right hand combos that kept Urango off balance and by the sixth, Alexander was unleashing 3 and 4 punch combos on the chin of Urango. By the 8th, the fight was very close and it seemed like it was going to remain that way for the rest of the fight as neither fighter was able to fully impose his will on the other. All that changed when Alexander was able to catch Urango with a perfectly timed right upper cut that punctuated a 3 punch combination. The upper cut put Urango down hard but in a scene reminiscent of Urango-Bailey, Juan was able to make it to his feet and continue fighting. Unfortunately for Urango, Alexander was a much better finisher than Bailey and dropped him with another flurry. Urango struggled to regain his footing and was wisely deemed unfit to continue by referee Benjy Esteves. The time of the stoppage was 1:12 of round number 8. Alexander is the division’s only unified champion and now stands at an impressive 20-0 13KOs. Urango’s record is now 22-3-1 17KOs but despite the loss, will no doubt still be able to land significant fights in a division that is beginning to make a serious case as being the best in boxing.

In a stunning upset, former super featherweight world titlist Steve Forbes (now fighting at welterweight) dropped an 8 round decision to journeyman Harrison Cuello. Forbes was simply outworked over much of the bout and seemed content to try and potshot Cuello with little result. To his credit, Cuello was there to fight and repeatedly hammered Forbes with left hands to the body and head. Forbes managed to pick up a few rounds with some body work and the occasional lazy jab, but Cuello was the busier fighter and his punches carried more steam. Thankfully the judges got it right and awarded the ecstatic Cuello the well deserved majority decision by scores of 78-74, 77-75 and 76-76. Cuello ups his record to 19-12-3 14KOs while Forbes, who should start thinking about retirement, drops to 34-8 10KOs.

Heavyweight Derric Rossy won a solid yet unspectacular unanimous decision over journeyman Zack Page and picked up the WBC USNBC title in the process. Rossy easily controlled the fight behind his jab and Page, who has scored a number of upsets in the past, seemed reluctant to offer up any kind of resistance. The sole moment of drama came in the sixth when Rossy stunned Page with a right upper cut and put him down moments later with a straight right hand. It was a hard knockdown and Page showed real determination to simply get up. It was to little avail though as Rossy continued to dominate the rest of the fight, claiming victory by scores of 117-110, 120-107 and 118-109. Rossy is now 25-2 14KOs while Page adds another L to his record which stands at 20-28-2 7KOs.

Contender alum Ryan Coyne kept his unbeaten record as he scraped by fellow crusierweight Paul Jennette over 8 rounds. Jennette took the first two rounds on activity alone as Coyne seemed reluctant to throw. Early on, Jennette simply walked in and banged away as Coyne did little to deter him from getting in close. By round three though, Coyne seemed to sense that he needed to pick up the pace and he began mount his offense in earnest. Coyne began to find a home for his straight left hand and staggered Jennette a number of times with it throughout the fight. Jennette fought back bravely though and managed to do enough to keep the fight close. Ultimately, Coyne was more effective and took the unanimous decision by scores of 77-75 (twice) and 78-74. He runs his record to 14-0-1ND 4KOs while Jennette falls to 11-3 8KOs.

Junior welterweights Andres Navarro and James Hope put on one of the most entertaining bouts of the evening as they slugged their way through all four rounds. Although both fighters threw with abandon, Hope was the busier and more effective fighter throughout. He managed to land a number of good left hook, right hand combos that caught the eye of the judges and the crowd. A left hook, right hand, left hook combo in round four staggered Navarro badly and put an exclamation point on Hope’s performance. He wasn’t able to finish Navarro but when the scores were handed in, they read 40-36 across the board in favor of Hope. With the win, Hope improves to 5-4 4KOs while Navarro slips to 4-3-1 4KOs.

Former Cruiserweight titlist Wayne Braithwaite made short work of his opponent Adam Harris, blowing him out in under a round. Braithwaite started slowly but upped the intensity mid-round, strafing Harris with body shots along the ropes. He then brought his attack upstairs, stunning Harris with a straight left to the head. Just before the bell, Braithwaite shot a left uppercut that dumped Harris to the canvas where he was counted out at 2:59 of the first round. Braithwaite improves his record to 24-4 with 20KOs while Harris drops his third in a row, falling to 10-3 7KOs.

The opening bout of the evening was a four round welterweight scrap between Angelo Santana (3-0 3KOs) and Darien Ford (11-19-2NC 4KOs.) Santana dominated the fight from bell to bell, dropping Ford twice in the third round and a final time right before the bell to end the fourth. Ford, more displeased than hurt, sat on the ground after the final knockdown while referee Arthur Mercante Jr. counted over him. Ford began to rise at 9 but was counted out before he got to his feet. Time of the stoppage was 2:59 of round 4.

Post-Fight Ring Quotes

Devon Alexander: “My coach told me to stay focused when Urango started bleeding [from the nose in the third round]. My coach said, ‘Don’t stand there and get hit.’

“His [Urango’s] punches did not hurt at all. I was surprised by that. Speed kills everything and that’s what I have.

“We trained all camp throwing the right uppercut.” Kevin Cunningham [trainer and manager] to Devon Alexander: “Did you hear me yell to you to throw the uppercut?” Alexander: “Yeah, I heard you!” Cunningham: “I told Devon to throw the uppercut, and he heard me. It was the magic shot. We trained all camp to throw that punch. We used speed to set up the power.”

Alexander: “I can beat anyone: Zab, Timothy Bradley, you name it. I want to come back to St. Louis and sell out the Scottrade center. I’m coming back to good old St. Lou with two world titles. This is very sweet.”

Juan Urango: “I’m very happy and satisfied with my performance tonight. Devon is a great champion and he came out and did his job. I performed well but Devon won tonight.”

Derric Rossy: “Page is a crafty, veteran fighter that can take a punch, no doubt about it. He knew how to take away the space I need to land my best shots. I dropped a big right hand on him in the sixth round and had him down and almost out. I think I tried too hard for the knockout instead of just letting it come.

“I could have let my hands go more in the closing rounds, but, like I said, he’s a crafty guy.”

Zack Page: “I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be tonight. I wasn’t in my best condition. I know that now. Rossy is a good fighter. He deserved the win tonight.”

Ryan Coyne: “I had him [Paul Jennette] hurt and almost out four of five times. I wish I could have knocked him out, but my power is getting better. I’ve been working with a strength and conditioning coach and it’s starting to come. I’m undefeated with 14 wins, so I’m happy.

“He [Jennette] came to fight, had a good chin and was in condition, but so am I.”

Former world title challenger Martin Honorio scored an easy unanimous decision over undefeated Wilton Hilario in a twelve round Super Featherweight bout at The Pechanga Hotel and Resort in Temecula, California.

Honorio dominated as it was easy pickings being that Hilario would come straight in without the showing of any type pf jab so Honorio was able to landed two and three punches to a squared up Hilario.

In round six, Honorio scored two big knockdowns from a hard right-left combination. With Hilario hurt, Honorio landed a similar blistering combination.

Honorio cruised down the stretch as Hilario gave little resistance even though he continued to come forward.

Honorio, 129 lbs of Mexico City won by scores of 120-106; 119-107; 119-107 and is now 28-4-1. Hilario, 128 1/2 lbs of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is now 12-1-1

Rico Ramos remained undefeated with a third round stoppage over former three-time world title challenger Cecilio Santos in a Super Bantamweight bout scheduled for eight rounds.

Ramos dominated the action as he scored hard with the left hand in round one. In round four, Ramos landed a perfect left hook to the body that caused a delayed reaction before Santos went down to both knees and took referee David Mendoza’s count of ten at 1:19 of round four.

Ramos, 123 1/2 lbs of Los Angeles is now 15-0 with nine knockouts. Santos, 122 1/4 lbs of Mexico City is now 24-13-3.

Michael Dallas Jr. scored a first round knockout over Fabian Luque at the end of round one of a scheduled four round Welterweight bout.

Dallas stepped to the side and landed a big right hand that sent Luque to the canvas. Luque got to his feet but very unsteady and referee James Jen Kin stopped the fight at 2:58 of round one.

Dallas Jr., 144 lbs of Bakersfield, CA is now 12-0-1 with three knockouts. Luque, 144 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico is now 21-10-4.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the April 10th co-feature bout between IBF Light Heavyweight champion Yavoris Clous and Glen Johnson is off citing a hamstring injury to Cloud plus the champion signing a promotional deal with Don King.

“I got a call at literally 10 at night [Monday] from a representative of King [Roy Langbord] saying King did a deal with the kid,”Said Lou DiBella told ESPN.com on Tuesday night from Miami, site of the Wednesday news conference. DiBella is promoting the April 10 double header that will also feature AndreBerto defending hs WBC Welterweight title against Carlos Quintana. “I told him that Richie Boy Promotions was the kid’s promoter of record and that I had made deal for the fight with Glen. [Langbord] said there were issues and that King did a deal with Cloud, but that King would talk to me about doing a deal for the fight. I already had a deal for the fight. So I’m sitting there — I have a show on April 10, a press conference on Wednesday and a flight to Miami in 12 hours. What the [expletive] is going on here? I told [Langbord] to tell Don I have nothing to talk to him about.

“Ten minutes later I get a call back [from Langbord] saying Cloud is hurt. I was on the phone with his lawyer, with his manager and with his adviser. They said they had no idea about him being with King. They were in the blind about him doing a deal with King and to their knowledge he was healthy. He must have gotten hurt walking up the steps to King’s mansion to sign that deal.”

“I don’t know anything about any of that,” King told ESPN.com when told of DiBella’s version of events. “All I know is that the guy came to me five weeks ago and him and his manager [Jerry Attardi] told me they had no deal with anybody and they asked me to help and I said, ‘OK.’ We finalized the details. He signed with me and I didn’t know nothing about any of this.”

“This guy is hurt. He can’t even fight if he wanted to,” King said. “I told Lou [through Langbord] I’d be happy to have him fight Glen, but he can’t do it April 10. We’ll jump through hoops to fight Glen Johnson. But we asked for a medical exception from the IBF, the IBF granted an exception. It’s just a postponement of the fight. With or without me, Cloud wouldn’t be able to fight on April 10. So he’ll fight Glen Johnson as soon as the doctor clears him.”

“I had to make a decision in the middle of the night on whether I could save this fight and I didn’t think it could, so I turned to the most meaningful thing I could do and something that would also work for HBO,” DiBella said. “I was on the phone with Caballero’s people and we were in touch with Yordan’s people in Indonesia.”

“They got back to me quickly and they weren’t interested in the fight in this time frame,” DiBella said. “I had already locked in a doubleheader with the site and the promotional materials were done. So we made Caballero-Yordan overnight and changed everything.”

“There may be some lawsuits. I suffered damages,” DiBella said. “I don’t like litigating, but what went down was wrong and the way it went down was wrong.”

Bayamón, P.R. – History was to be made when “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona of the Philippines fought Bayamón’s own Wilfredo “Papito” Vázquez Jr. for the WBO super bantamweight title. Sonsona was aiming to be the youngest two division champion from the Philippines while Vázquez Jr. was aiming to become part of the first father and son duo from Puerto Rico to be world champions. Apparently the near capacity crowd at the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum was aware of this as they went crazy when Vazquez Jr. entered the ring flanked by local hip-hop stars and his father, former three division world champion, Wilfredo Vázquez and again when announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. presented the boxers.

Vázquez jabbed and avoided most of Sonsona’s single shots in the first and both fighters landed their respective straights but neither scored with any significant punches. Vázquez landed a counter right hand off the ropes in the second that appeared to cut Sonona under his left eye and ended the round landing several jabs and powerful right hands. Sonsona seemed distraught by the end of the round. In the third, Sonsona landed a straight left that gave him some confidence as he let his hands go a little more. Still, the Puerto Rican managed to work the body and land rights of his own on the now swelling eye of Sonsona.

Vázquez went after his man in the fourth and pinned him several times against the ropes using his jab and straight right hand until one of those right hands broke through Sonsona’s defense and hurt him. A follow up left hook to the body put Sonsona down for the full count and tonight, it was the Puerto Rican who made history by becoming part of the first ever Puerto Rican father and son duo to win world titles.

With the impressive victory, Vázquez earns his first belt and improves his record to 18-0-1 15KO’s while Sonsona looses his first one and goes to 14-1-1 12KO’s. After the fight, Sonsona told the press he made the mistake of trading with the man he now knows to be a strong puncher. Still he insisted he would remain in the weight class where he says he feels strong.

The newly crowned champion was very thankful to his father Wilfred Vázquez, his promoter Tutico Zabala, to his fans and to God whom he says is the one who deserves the glory. As emotional as he was, he was still very clear in the fact that this is his job and his purpose in boxing is not to be famous but to make a living for his family. Regarding his future plans, he stated that he would most likely oblige with the WBO’s mandatory defense in ninety days.

The night started off with Osenohad “Cano” Vázquez (2-1), 141lbs. of Vega Baja, P.R. taking on Jorge Pérez Adorno (1-2), 140.2lbs. of Bayamón, at the junior welterweight division and set for four rounds. Round one lacked any significant action. The second one saw both fighters let their hands go with Vázquez landing more efficiently with his straight right and left hooks. Pérez Adorno tried to be more active in the third but was persuaded otherwise by several powerful left hooks. The fourth was a more even round where Pérez Adorno managed to make “Cano” fight going backwards at which he was still fairly effective. Scores were 39-37 for Vázquez on all three judge’s cards.

Next up and also set for four rounds was Marcos Adorno (0-2), 155.2lbs. of Vega Alta, P.R. against southpaw Giovanni “Tarantula” Rodríguez (2-0, 2KO’s) 154.8lbs., Trujillo Alto, P.R. Rodríguez quickly got to his over matched and visibly out of shape opponent with several lefts and put him down in the very first. The referee stopped the bout at 1:58 after seeing Adorno wasn’t up for it.

Lightweights Efigenio Pérez (0-1), 145.8lbs. of Aguada, P.R. and Luis Joel González (3-0, 2KO’s) 140.4lbs. of Bayamón were next in a fight originally set for the lightweight limit. Rounds one and two were slow in action and drew boos from the crowd even though González seemed to be boxing well and landing often but refusing to stay in the mix. Pérez managed to land some good shots in the third but not enough to dissuade his opponent who put him down in the fourth with a powerful one-two combination. Pérez got up but the referee stopped it at 2:47 of the final round.

Kicking off the televised portion of the card were José Angel Beranza (32-16-2 25KO’s), 121.4lbs.of Ciudad Mexico, Mexico and Jonathan “Polbo” Oquendo (17-2 11KO’s), 122lbs.from Vega Alta, P.R. fighting for the WBO Super featherweight title. In the first, Oquendo scored a flash knockdown and worked the body well. The second and third saw “Polbo” use good movement to evade Beranza’s punches and one-two’s to set up nice uppercuts. In the fourth Beranza landed solid counter punches and managed to open a small cut under Oquendo’s right eye.

In the fifth and sixth rounds, Beranza started pressing the action and stalking Oquendo who was breathing through his mouth and seemed tired. Both rounds provided good exchanges but Beranza showed better condition. In the seventh round, Oquendo tried to box a little more but ended up trading rights with his opponent and scoring a dubious knockdown. Going into the eighth, Oquendo seemed gassed but came back with powerfull rights that got the crowd to its feet.

Rounds nine and ten were dictated by Beranza who, even when missing, was pressing the action and stalking a tired Oquendo who seemed content with only landing counter right hands. In the eleventh Beranza tried to take his man down but was caught with several good counters and over hand rights. The final round was definitely a Beranza round as Oquendo didn’t want to trade or take chances and simply survived the round. Scores were 118-108, 114-112 and 117-109 all for Oquendo.

Former Puerto Rican amateur star McJoe Arroyo, 118lbs., of Fajardo made his pro debut against Giovanni Rivera (0-2),118.2lbs. of Arecibo, P.R. in a bout set for four rounds. Southpaw Arroyo made himself felt quickly scoring a knockdown halfway through the round with a solid left hook. After being warned for a borderline low blow Arroyo tried to finish the bout but Rivera’s holding gave him another round. In the second, Rivera tried in vain to run but was again caught by a left hand that ended the bout. Time of stoppage was 0:25 of the second.

Arroyo said he felt comfortable and was ready to go six rounds. He promised his fans he would give his best to please them and thanked the crowd for the massive support they showed. The future hopeful started his career with a sweet stoppage although against an overmatched opponent.

Up next was former Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Negrón, 186lbs.of Villalba facing Roy Ashworth (5-7, 1KO’s) 185lbs. of Louisiana in a bout set for six rounds. Negrón tagged Ashworth with a right hand and a left hook that sent the American down a minute and fifteen seconds into the fight. With 50 seconds left, Negrón again put his man down with a left to the body that made Asworth spit out his mouthpiece. With several seconds left in the round, two flush lefts to the chin ended the fight in spectacular fashion for the Puerto Rican who moves his record to 8-0 6KO’s. Negrón desperately needs better opposition and agreed with 15rounds.com when asked about it.

Next up was McWilliams Arroyo, 113lbs. brother of McJoe and the other half of the promising duo of amateur boxers from the island. He was set to face Eliecer Sánchez 114.1lbs of Corozal, Puerto Rico also making his pro debut for four rounds. Arroyo stalked Sánchez from the opening bell and eve though he missed several right hands, when two of them landed the bout ended. The referee called it off as soon as Sánchez went down as he appeared seriously hurt. Time was 1:45. Arroyo said he wanted to impress as much as his brother had two fights before and was happy with the outcome.

Mike Jones got off to a bit of a slow start but turned up the offense to cruise to a unanimous decision over Henry Brusles in a ten round Welterweight fight in front of a sold out crowd at Ballys in Atlantic City.

It was Bruseles who came out and boxed well in round one as he moved in and out and landed a couple shots to Jones’ 5’11” body. Jones started to get things going a little bit in round two when Jones started to land some quick shots inside. Over the next couple rounds, each man took turns controlling the action with Jones winning his round with the more emphatic punching while Bruseles would squeak by with by getting through using angles and pot shotting.

The fight clearly turned in round seven with Jones landing some quick lefts and then rocking Bruseles with a hard three punch combination. Over the final part of the fight, Jones was in control as he started pumping the jab two and three times to set up quick one-two combination’s and he began to pull away on the cards. Jones was very solid in the fight but probably wasn’t the dominating performance that many of the sold out crowd came to see.

Nonetheless, Jones won by scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93 (same as the 15rounds.com/gofightlive.tv ringside card).

Jones, 146 ¾ lbs of Philadelphia is now 20-0. Bruseles, 147 lbs of Guarbo, Puerto Rico is now 28-4-1.

In the television co-feature, Gabriel Rosado and Saul Roman hooked up in an entertaining ten round Jr. Middleweight clash.

Rosado and Roman fought very hard with Roman coming forward for most of the bout and Rosado doing a tremendous job of countering with the right hand.

The action really picked up over the last half of the fight with Rosado firing off right hands that caused a stream of blood from around the left eye of Roman. For his trouble, Rosado was cut from the forehead. This was a battle of geography as Roman wanted to make this an inside tussle while Rosado wanted and most of the time successfully had his way at distance. In round eight, Rosado landed countless counters to offset a big left hand that Roman got through at the beginning of the round.

The last two rounds did not provide as much action as the previous entertaining eight frames but Rosado’s out was more than enough for Rosado who won the bout by split decision.
Scores were 96-94 on two cards for Rosado (15rounds.com/gofightlive.tv liked the counterpunching Rosado to the tune of 99-91) while a third card read 97-93 for Roman.

Rosado, 155 ½ lbs of Philadelphia is now 14-4. Roman, 155 lbs of Tijuana, Mexico is now 32-6.
The opening bout of the night could have been the end of the line for former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Kendall Holy as Kaiser Mabuza bludgeoned him over six rounds of their scheduled twelve round IBF Jr. Welterweight elimination bout.

Holt actually had a decent first round as he landed some body shots and combinations. After that it was a downhill freefall for Holt as Mabuza would just walk Holt down and pound away on the ropes for the next five rounds. Holt began to bleed from the nose in round three. If one saw round two, then he saw all rounds after that as Holt did next to nothing basically let Mabuza have his way. The sixth round was a bad round for Holt as he spent nearly the whole round eating punches and swelling around the left eye was starting to form.

Holt’s corner decided to save their man from any more damage and called a halt to the action before round seven could commence.

Mabuza, 140 lbs of Johannesburg, South Africa now awaits the winner of next Saturday’s Juan Urango – Devon Alexander unification battle with a record of 23-6-3 with fourteen knockouts. Holt, 139 ½ lbs of Paterson, NJ is now 25-3.

Ariel Espinal landed two big rights in round three to drop Anthony Pietrantonio and in round four Espinal finished the job by landing four big head shots that forced referee Benji Estevez to call a halt to the action at 1:38 of round four of their scheduled six round Light Heavyweight bout.

Espinal, 181 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 7-12-3 with three knockouts. Pietrantonio, 171 lbs of Youngstown, OH is now 6-5.

Local favorite (and 15rounds.com blogger) Troy Maxwell made his large local throng of fans happy by scoring a four round unanimous decision over Todd Erkisson in a Super Middleweight bout.
Maxwell landed some big right hands and kept Eriksson at bay to cruise to the decision via 39-37 on all cards.

Maxwell, 168 lbs of Galloway, NJ is now 2-0. Eriksson, 166 ½ lbs of Dover, NJ is 0-3-1.
Good looking nineteen year-old prospect Glen Tapia scored a vicious knockdown just seconds into his scheduled four round Jr. Middleweight bout with Tyrone Miles and finished him off with a series of power punches that forced Esteves to stop bout just seconds into the fight.

Tapia, 152 lbs of Passaic, NJ is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Miles, 153 lbs of Camden, NJ is now 1-3.

Rugged vet, Ossie Duran scored a four round unanimous decision over Jamaal Davis in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Duran, 155 lbs of Paterson, NJ and is now 24-8-2. Davis, 156 ½ lbs of Philadelphia is now 11-6.

Photos by Tom Brigila/ Top Rank

Antonio Escalante scored a ten round unanimous decision over Miguel Roman in a thrilling fight at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

Escalante showed his class throughout as he brawled very nicely against the tough as nails Roman, who kept coming forward. Escalante consistently landed combinations andwas especilly effective with the left hook. He mixed up his shots evenly to the head and body. The two engaged in many exchanges where Roman would come forward winging wide shots and Escalante would get through with crisper punches.

Escalante continued to land flurries and that did not deter Roman from coming forward. In round eight, Escalante landed a body shot that was followed by a leaping right hand that sent Roman to the canvas which thrilled Escalante’s hometwon fans. All that work briefly fatigued Escalante because over the next four minutes, Roman had his best output of the fight as his aggressive nature was not met with the same resistance of the previous eight rounds. The one minute respite in between round’s nine and ten seemed to do the trick for Escalante as he finished strong as he and Roman battled all the way to the bell.

Escalante (Ranked # 8 by 15rounds.com at 122 lbs) 126 lbs of El Paso, Texas won by scores of 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93 to raise his record to 22-2. Roman, 126 lbs of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is now 28-7.

Unbeaten Jr. Welterweight prospect Danny Garcia was in with his toughest foe to date and his fight with Ashley Theophane but Garcia hung on to win a split decision in a ten round bout.

This fight was about what the judges liked between Garcia’s punching in and out with some solid counter punching or Theophane’s awkward style. Garcia was a bit more active and landed the more telling blows and got the nod despite being docked a potentially critical point in round nine for a low blow and won by scores of 96-94, 95-94 while Theophane took a card 95-94.

Garcia, 141 lbs of Philadelphia is now 16-0. Theophane, 140 3/4 lbs of London, UK is now 25-4-1.

Carlos Vinan scored a debatable split decision over local favorite Victor Vazquez in the six round Lightweight main event at The Arena in South Philadelphia.

Vazquez came out early firing some solid combination’s and punctuated round one with a nice uppercut at the bell. Vazquez landed some nice right hands in round two. He was getting through with the over hand right and seemed to be finding a home for that punch. Vinan finally started getting into the fight as he started to be effective with shots to the body. The action really picked in round four as both landed some good shots before a furious final half minute where the two stood toe to toe that delighted the Pro-Vazquez crowd.

Over the last two rounds, Vinan landed several solid straight right hands down the middle as the tough veteran continued to press the action. The rounds were very close and the fight could have gone either way but it felt like Vazquez did a little more for the victory.

When the scores were read, it was surprising to hear that Vinan took two cards by scores of 59-55 and 58-56 while a third card was almost as absurd as it was ruled that Vazquez took every round via a 60-54 tally. 15rounds.com/gofightlive.tv card saw 58-56 for Vazquez.

Vinan of Newark, New Jersey scored his second upset in The Arena (he previously beat undefeated Featherweight Prospect, Eric Hunter in the same venue) and is now 9-8-3. Vazquez of Philadelphia falls to 11-4.
In the co-feature, Kareem “Cool Breeze” Cooley took the decision out the judges hands as he scored a third round stoppage over Sidell Blocker in their scheduled four round Lightweight bout.

Cooley moved well and was effective the right hand. In round three, Cooley landed a perfectly timed counter right over the top that dropped Blocker. Blocker got to his feet but the fight was waved off at 1:12 of round three.

Cooley of Philadelphia, trains out of the Joe Hand Boxing Gym and is now 1-0. Blocker is 0-2.
Juan Rodriguez scored a third round knockdown en route to a four round unanimous decision over Dontre King in a Welterweight bout.

Rodriguez dropped King with a flurry of huge shots to the head and never looked back as he win by scores of 40-35 on all cards.

Rodriguez of Union City, NJ is now 2-0. King of Cumberland, MD is 1-6-1.

In a female four round Featherweight bout, Elizabeth Sherman scored a four round unanimous decision over Karen Dulin.

Sherman, 124 lbs of Philadelphia is 2-0. Dulin, 126 ½ lbs of Mystic, CT is now 1-5.

Anthony Yoder Jr. scored a four round unanimous decision over Francisco Portillo in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 for Yoder, 134 lbs of Vineland, NJ to win his pro debut. Portillo, 132 lbs of West Virginia is now 0-2.

Bryan Jennings made a successful pro debut by outpointing Zeferino Albino over four rounds in their heavyweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Jennings, 218 lbs of Philadelphia. Albino of Philadelphia is now 3-10-2.

Lavarn Harvell made quick work of Randy Campbell by scoring a first round stoppage in their scheduled four round bout featuring undefeated fighters.

Harvell dropped Campbell early in the round from a straight right hand. Harvell then jumped all over Campbell and landed a barrage of punches that forced referee Blair Talmidge to call of the bout just 1:52 into the fight.

Harvell, 173 lbs of Atlantic City, NJ is now 5-0 with two knockouts. Campbell, 171 lbs of Bowertown, OH is now 3-1.

In an action filled four round Lightweight bout, Angel Ocasio remained perfect on the strength of a second round knockdown to score a unanimous decision over Osnel Charles.

Ocasio dropped Charles in round two from a solid left hook. Charles showed a lot of moxey as he came on strong and was involved in some nice exchanges but Ocasio’s work rate combined with the knockdown were the catalysts for the unanimous decision by scores of 39-36, 39-36 and 38-37.
Ocasio of Philadelphia is 2-0. Charles of Atlantic City is now 1-2.

Boxing returns to Philadelphia on Friday night April 2nd with a big night of action presented by Vernoca L. Michael and Blue Horizon Boxing Inc. at The Legendary Blue Horizon

The following week, Greg Robinson’s Power Productions returns to The Arena on Friday Night April 9th

WBO Super bantamweight title
MARVIN SONSONA – 121.4 lbs. VS. WILFREDO VÁZQUEZ JR – 122 lbs.
General Santos City, Filipinas (14-0-1, 12KOs) Bayamón, Puerto Rico (17-0-1, 14KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

WBO Latino super bantamweight title
JOSÉ ÁNGEL BERANZA – 121.4 lbs. VS. JONATHAN OQUENDO – 122 lbs.
Ciudad México, México (32-16-2, 25KOs) Vega Alta, Puerto Rico (17-2, 11KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

6 rounds 185lbs.
ROY ASHWORTH – 185 lbs. VS. CARLOS NEGRÓN – 186 lbs.
Louisiana, USA (5-7, 1KOs) Villalba, Puerto Rico (7-0, 5KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

4 rounds 112lbs.
ELIECER SÁNCHEZ – 114.25 lbs. VS. MCWILLIAMS ARROYO – 113 lbs.
Corozal, Puerto Rico (PRO DEBUT) Fajardo, Puerto Rico (PRO DEBUT)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

4 rounds 118lbs.
GIOVANNI RIVERA – 118.2 lbs. VS. MCJOE ARROYO – 118 lbs.
Arecibo, Puerto Rico (0-2) Fajardo, Puerto Rico (PRO DEBUT)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

4 rounds 135lbs.
EFIGENIO PÉREZ – 145.8 lbs. VS. LUIS GONZÁLEZ – 140.4 lbs.
Aguada, Puerto Rico (PRO DEBUT) Bayamón, Puerto Rico (2-0, 1KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

4 rounds 154lbs.
MARCOS ADORNO – 155.2 lbs. VS. GIOVANNI RODRÍGUEZ – 154.8 lbs.
Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, (0-1) Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, (1-0, 1KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

4 rounds 140lbs.
OSENOHAD VÁZQUEZ – 141 lbs. VS. JORGE PÉREZ ADORNO – 140.2 lbs.
Vega Alta, Puerto Rico (1-1) Bayamón, Puerto Rico (1-1, 0KOs)
TRUNKS: TRUNKS:
CORNER: CORNER:

Victor Ortiz scored a stoppage win in the tenth and final scheduled round over Hector Alatorre in a Welterweight bout at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, CA.

Ortiz dominated the bout as he systematically won every round from the tough Alatorre.

In the final round, Ortiz came out “Guns A Blazing” as he landed some hard left hands that set up a big right that floored Alatorre. Alatorre reached his feet but the fight was waved off fifty-one seconds into the final round

Ortiz, 143 3/4 lbs of Ventura, CA nowwill look for a May 15th fight with Nate Campbell with a record now that reads 26-2-1 with twenty-one, CA. Alatorr, 143 lbs of Tulare, CA was stopped for the first time and is now 16-9.

Charles Huerta scored a six round majority decision over Guadalupe De Leon in a Featherweight bout.

De leon was tough and kept coming forward but Huerta landed the more telling blows and won by scores of 59-55, 58-56 and 57-57.

Huerta, 125 3/4 lbs of Paramount, CA is now 13-1. De Leon, 126 1/4 lbs of Mission, TX was coming off an upset win over Derrick Wilson who ironically was the only man to defeat Huerta and is now 8-10.

Luis Ramos Jr. remained undefeated by scoring a four round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Walter Estrada.

Ramos had a little difficulty adapting to the lanky southpaw of Estrada but won all scores by shutout 40-36.

Ramos, 135 lbs of Santa Ana, CA is now 14-0. Estrada, 135 1/4 lbs of Barranquilla, Colombia is now 35-12

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, top U.S amateur Frankie Gomez has signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions.

Gomez, 18, was a 2009 U.S. national champion at 141 pounds, defeating highly touted Top Rank prospect Jose Benavidez 11-9 in the final. Gomez also received a silver medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy, in September. He lost an 8-2 decision to Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in the gold medal match, but was the only American to reach the finals, quite an accomplishment considering it was Gomez’s first open tournament.

“It’s really exciting that we signed him. Now I have to break it to my wife that we will be spending birthdays with him,” joked Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya, who won his Olympic gold medal the year Gomez was born and De La Hoya shares a February 4th Birthday with Gomez.

The 5-foot-8 Gomez is scheduled to make his professional debut on April 3 on the undercard of the Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins rematch at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. After that, De La Hoya said Gomez would fight roughly once per month with regular appearances on Golden Boy’s “Fight Night Club” series at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles.

“I believe a perfect fit for him will be the ‘Fight Night Club’ shows,” De La Hoya said of the series, which begins its 2010 schedule on Thursday night. “We’re there once a month and we can also have him fight on whatever other big shows we have. But we want to build him up in Los Angeles.”

“I saw him spar about three weeks ago and I haven’t seen something like that in a long, long time,” De La Hoya said. “This kid was in control. This kid just has it. You can feel it in the air. He has that explosiveness, that ring generalship. I haven’t seen it in a long time. I am very happy we signed him.

“He sparred 12 rounds with three different pros, not anybody known, but he just impressed me. It reminded me of myself. I used to spar pros all the time. That’s how I made the transition from amateurs to the pros. He is so strong and fast.”

Gomez will campaign at 135 lbs.

“He said he can make 135, so what we discussed was if he can make 135 with no problem, why not shoot for a title at 135 when the time is right and then go up to 140 and 147,” De La Hoya said.

“He is the No. 1 amateur in the U.S. and one of the best in the world and as such, he deserved a package in line with what his credentials are,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. “Golden Boy is the leading promoter and when we see talent, we have the financial resources to pay for it and we do. He’s a very, very talented fighter and I think there are tremendous opportunities for Frankie to make a name for himself as a pro.”

This Saturday’s bout between Rochelle Park, NJ’s Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn (21-4-1 18 KO’s) and Nigerian Bash Ali has been canned due to multiple difficulties. The bout, which was to be promoted by the Nigerian government, was initially scheduled for December.

Many doubted that the bout would ever take place due to the fact that Ali tuns 54 on Saturday and in addition to not fighting since August 2004, but Gunn was set on taking it due to a handsome payday. Gunn, who made a name amongst locals for his brave performance last July against Secaucus’ Tomasz Adamek, now has his sights set on landing a bout with unbeaten Ran Nakash later in the year.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBC Welterweight champion Andre Berto will defend his crown against former WBO champion Carlos Quintana on April 10th in Sunrise, Florida.

“Andre is energized and ready to fight again,” said Berto’s promoter Lou DiBella. “The working title of the card is ‘Fighting for Haiti.’ There will be a lot of charitable elements to the event.”

In the televised co-feature, light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud (20-0, 18 KOs) will make his first defense against mandatory challenger and former champion Glen Johnson (50-13-2, 34 KOs), who is also from South Florida.

“Cloud and Johnson, stylistically, can’t miss,” DiBella said.

“Obviously, Mosley being the huge name that he is presented a big opportunity for Andre, but I believe this is a good test for him,” said DiBella, who promotes Berto and Quintana. “He is fighting a guy who is 1-1 with Paul Williams and who is clearly one of the 10 best welterweights in the world. Quintana is an excellent fighter. This fight is no walk in the park. People want to see Berto with a real quality welterweight. This guy is a real quality welterweight. It’s a difficult fight. Quintana is a tough fighter. Just ask Paul Williams.”

“Carlos is very slick and capable of being an excellent offensive fighter,” DiBella said. “He’s got a good skill set and he’s tricky. I don’t think there is a welterweight out there who would view Quintana as a day at the beach.

“Quintana has wanted a big fight for a long time and Berto has been a guy who has always come up as a possibility because he views fighting Berto as a big fight. So I am happy for Carlos that he is getting the opportunity. I think Berto knows he has to focus on the fight and be at his best because he’s fighting a damned good fighter,” he said.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBA Featherweight champion will take on undefeated Argentinean Jonathan Victor Barros (28-0-1, 16 KO’s) March 27th in Germany.

The card will take place in Hamburg and will be the first show of Gamboa’s co-promoter, Arena-Box deal with German television network SAT.1

“We don’t know a lot about him, but any time you fight a fighter from Argentina, you’ll probably get a crude guy with a decent chin who is a wild puncher, so there is always some danger,” said CarlMoretti of Gamboa’s co-promoter Top Rank. “I know Gamboa is an excellent talent and this is another step as we move forward.”

“This will be our special highlight for our new TV partner,” said Ahmet Öner of Arena Box. “Of course, it is not easy to bring a superstar like Gamboa to Germany, but he is my fighter so I am very proud to bring him back to where his pro career started three years ago. When Gamboa will be back in Hamburg it will feel like a circle is complete.

“I know that he has lots of friends here and is happy to return to Germany. But this will be an exception. Gamboa’s main market is in the USA now. He will be in Germany for this one fight only and then continue his great career in the big venues in the States.

“This will be our biggest show in Germany so far,” Öner said. “With SAT.1 we have finally found a major TV partner who helps us to bring great fights to a big audience. Of course, a German TV station wants to present German fighters. That is why we have decided to feature the heavyweight clash between Steffen Kretschmann and Denis Bakhtov as one of two main events.”

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Sparta, NJ based junior middleweight Chris Murphy, 3-0-1 3 KO’s, notified 15Rounds that he is retiring due to a reoccurring retina injury. Murphy first hurt his eye three years ago and after multiple surgeries, re injured it sparring with contender Alfredo Angulo a few months back.

Murphy, a pressure fighter who loved to brawl, will remembered among most locals for his scintillating four round draw with Abe Torres, which will likely go down as one of the most entertaining club show fights in North Jersey history.

“I am blessed because I have a year left in school and aspirations to get a higher degree when I am done with that” said Murphy, a student at Sussex County College who also played professional hockey. “I am looking to follow in my brother’s footsteps (who graduates from Georgetown law in the spring).”

Although he will no longer be fighting, Murphy vows to support his stablemates as they develop.

“Glen Tapia, Jeremy Bryan, (Bobby) Rooney, Jorge Diaz, Pat Farrell, Danny McDermott and the rest of Pound 4 Pound (promotions) are my family for life. It was great to work with them as well as trainer Mike Skowronski.”

15Rounds wishes Murphy the best of luck in his future outside of boxing.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to gardenstatefightscene.com

Sources notified 15Rounds that Carlstadt, NJ’s Vivian Harris, (29-4-1 19 KO’s), will be granted a rematch with Lucas Matthysse April 2 on ShoBox due to a controversial stoppage. We were unable to find footage of the bout, but multiple media sources reported that Harris’ night was cut short after taking a right hand in the fourth round.

“He threw two punches, I blocked them and the referee stopped it”, Harris angrily told us. “The whole crowd was booing and you will all see (that the ending was a joke) when it is on youtube. This guy used to getting people out of there early and that wasn’t happening against me!”

With many still insisting that he retire, Harris is excited about getting back on track in the rematch.

“I am going to try and get him out of there early next time. I have to throw more punches in the first few rounds in the rematch.”

Team Harris claims that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya and Matchmaker Eric Gomez personally mandated a rematch immedately following the fight. They are also hoping for the official result to be changed to a no contest.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to gardenstatefightscene.com

Giovanni Segura scored a third round stoppage over Walter Tello toretain his WBA Light Flyweight title in a wild brawl in Acapulco, Mexico.

the two traded shots from the start of the fight with the much shorter Tello showing no fear by throwing wide shots in an effort to work his way inside. There was no gameplan from either guy as one could not tell if Segura or Tello was orthodox or southpaw as they just squared up and whaled away at one another for basically the whole seven minutes of action with Segura landing the harder shots.

Segura landed a bout six straight hard shots that forced referee Luis Pabon to jump in at 1:51 of round three.

Segura, 108 lbs of Bell Gardens, California made the third defense of his crown and is now 23-1 with nineteen knockouts and he expressed interest in fighting WBO champion Ivan Calderon.

Tello, 108 lbs of Panama is now 14-4.

Urbano Antillon scored a third round technical knockout over Luis Antonio Arceo following an accidental headbutt caused a cut over the left eye of Arceo in round three of their scheduled ten round Jr. Welterweight bout.

The bout was action packed from the outset as the two stood toe to toe with Antillon landing the harder shots with left hooks to the head. The two fighters clashed heads in round three that caused the cut and that forced the referee Juan Jose Ramirez to stop the bout at 2:25 of round three.

Antillon, 136 1/2 lbs was coming off his first defeat when he was stopped by Miguel Acosta last fall gets back in the win column and ups his record to 27-1 with twenty knockouts. Arceo, 136 1/2 lbs falls to 22-10-2

Son of the Legend, Omar Chavez remained undefeated by scoring a one-punch knockout over Eugenio Lopez in round one of a scheduled six round Welterweight bout.

Chavez caught Lopez with a leaping left hook and the fight was stopped without a count at 1:44 of round one.

Chavez, 147 lbs is now 20-0-1 with fifteen knockouts. Lopez, 145 1/2 lbs is now 12-16-1.

In an exciting slugfest, seventeen year old Adrian Young remained perfect as he notched his sixth knockout in as many fights as he stopped Orlando Garcia in round three of a scheduled four round Featherweight fight.

Young controlled most of the fights except a few instances when the shorter Garcia landed wild shots for which it drew a large response from the crowd.

The end came when Young landed a short to the siude of the face that froze Garcia on the ropes and referee Juan Jose Ramirez stopped the bout at 2:39 of round three.

Young, 125 1/2 lbs of Los Mochis, Mexico is now 6-0 with all wins coming early. Garcia is now 3-12

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

15Rounds was informed that John Lynch’s Pound 4 Pound Promotions will return Thursday March 25 at the elegant Schuetzen Park ballroom in North Bergen, NJ.

In state prospects slated to appear on the card are lightweights Chris Green (3-1 one KO of Asbury Park), Danny McDermott (North Bergen – 8-1-1 3 KO’s), cruiserweight Patrick Farrell (5-0 3 KO’s – Jersey City), featherweight Victor Valenzuela (7-0 1 KO – Passaic), super middleweight Jason Escalara (7-0 6 KO’s) and junior middleweight Abe Torres 1-3-2 1 KO, each of Union City. Bronx NY’s Steven Martinez, a highly touted junior middleweight with a 3-0 (3) record will be on the card as well.

McDermot and Green each had good amateur backgrounds and are fixtures at Schuetzen Park. Farrell, a rapidly improving prospect, is coming off an impressive four round unanamous decision over The Contender’s Jon Schneider February 6. Valenzuela and Escalara are two highly touted local prospects. Martinez won the 2007 National Golden Gloves welterweight title, while Torres is best remembered for a thrilling August 09′ draw against Sparta’s Chris Murphy in what will go down as one of the most entertaining four round fights in North Jersey history.

Tickets will be available on location and at the majority of North Jersey’s boxing gyms.

For more New Jersey boxing news, go to www.gardenstatefightscene.com

Shawn “Showtime” Porter was crowned the new NABO Jr. Middleweight Champion with a 10 round decision over Russel “Spiderman” Jordan. Many at ringside belived that this would be a easy knockout for Porter although Jordan saw it differently. Jordan rocked his smaller oppenent at times with Porter’s eye being left eye bloodied from an accidental head butt in the fifth round. A tactical fight and a great test for the new champion.
Tom Miller and Phil Rogers each had it for Porter, 97-92, with Gene Glen calling it a shutout, 100-89. Porter improves to 13-0, 10 KO’s and Jordan dropps to 15-7, 10 KO.

*Referee Randy Jarvis took a point away from Jordan in the 9th round as he lost his mouthpiece for a second time in the round, judging it a delaying tactic.*

Lanard “The Fireman” Lane improved to 11-0 (7 KOs) with an eight-round unanimous decision against welterweight Martin Tucker (7-5, 3 KOs) of Toledo.

2008 Olympian Gary Russel Jr. remined at 7-0 4 KO with a 1st round knockout over Jario Delgado 3-5 3 KO

In the night’s opening bout, 200-pounders Brian Cook from Northfield and Justin Riegle from Orrville put on a four-round slugfest. What it lacked in style was made up for in tenacity as neither man would give in to some heavy punching. Cook (3-4, 2 KOs), went down twice in the third round. Riegle (3-3, 1 KO) got the unanimous decision.

William Gonzalez used the strength of a second round knockdown to score a unanimous decision over Jesus Vazquez in a twelve round Bantamweight fight at the Micccosuke Gaming Resort in Miami, Florida.

In round two, Gonzalez dropped Vazquez with a straight left hand. Vazquez was competitive but seemed to lose most of the rounds with some of the rounds, especially the ninth providing solid two way action.

Gonzalez a former world title challenger from Managua, Nicaragua won by scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 117-110 to raise his ledger to 24-3. Vazquez, of El Dorado, Mexico is now 19-4-1.

In a mild upset, Edel Ruiz scored a fourth round stoppage over former 122 lb champion Clarence “Bones” Adams in a scheduled twelver round Featherweight fight.

In round two, Adams landed a good over hand right but that was the high point for the former champ as he was rocked in round three from a hard right on the ropes. In round four, Ruiz landed a clipping right on the jaw that “short circuited” Adams that led to another right that sent Adams stumbling into the ropes that referee Frank Santore ruled a knockdown. Ruiz scored a second knockdowns another right to the top of the head put Adams in the canvas. Adams fought on only to eat a few more shots before Santore stopped the fight at 1:55 of round four.

Ruiz of Los Mochis, Mexico scored his fourth straight knockout and is now 34-22-4 with twenty-five knockouts. Adams of Las Vegas had not lost in eight years (just 3-0-1-1 in that span) is now 44-7-4.

Shawn Porter 152 vs. Russell Jordan 152

NABO Jr. Middleweight Title

Lanard Lane 144 vs. Martin Tucker 144

Gary Russell, Jr. 125 vs. Jairo Delgado 128

Jake Giuriceo 144 vs. Sam Gibson 145

Justin Riegle 201 vs. Brian Cook 201

Venue: Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Promoter: Prize Fight Promotions & Warner Promotions

Venue: Cleveland State University Wolestein Center

TV: ESPN 2 Friday Night Fights 9pm est.

Miami’s DJ Laz got the party started for the Clash of the Heavyweights Tuesday Night Fights at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood Florida. An energetic musical intro got the crowd ready for a great night of showcasing talented raw young heavyweights.

Boxings’ glamour division has always been the heavyweights, home to such icons as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, and Mike Tyson. The Heavyweight Factory has come to resurrect the heavyweight division. What they have done is taken the finest athletes in the nation, young men who have succeeded in other sports, put them in the gym with trainers who have been to the top before. Such as, former heavyweight champions Michael Moore and Oliver McCall. And now they unleash their talents in the boxing ring.

In a wildly exciting main event Dieuly “Untamed Beast” Aristilde 6-1 scored a big upset knockout win over Elijah McCall, son of former Heavyweight Champion Oliver McCall. Dieully barely made it out of round one when McCall knocked him down 3 times. Dieuly landed huge right hands and left hooks from the opening bell proving McCall to have a sturdy chin but was floored by big right hands from McCall who easily won the first round 10-7. The second round and third rounds were a crowd pleasing brawl of heavyweight proportions which saw both fighters landing big shots but the Beast getting the better of the exchanges. Dieuly answered the fourth round bell possessed and landed several huge left hooks and right hands finally put McCall down at 1:13 of round 4. This fight was an amazing brawl and Aristilde showed unbelievable heart by getting off the canvas to score a monstrous knockout. This fight gave the fans their money worth which is ironic because most people paid money to see McCall’s father who was scratched from the card due to a recent drug possession incarceration.

Miami native and Florida State University graduate Michael Mitchell 1-0 made a successful debut with a hard fought UD win over Robert Turner 0-2. The former ‘Noles safety Mitchell’s raw talent was evident as he controlled the pace and stalked Turner during the entire fight. The 6’3” 215# Mitchell won all three cards at 39-37.

Former University of Miami fullback James Bryant was very impressive and showed great natural ability with a big knockout at 2:00 of round 1 over Roy Boykins 1-4. Bryant a 6’ 3” 245 pound banger showed great form while easily taking out Boykins.

Heavyweight Factory’s Roger Pinckney made a successful professional debut as he knocked Sean McPhee down in a quick manner with a stinging uppercut in a fight that was a bit sloppy from the opening bell. The end came quickly at 1:20 of round 1.

In the second fight of the night Cuban defector Luis Ortiz handily disposed of Lamar Davis (4-2) by first round TKO. Ortiz had an extensive amateur background in Cuba including a loss to Odlanier Solis. The end came at 1:28 of round one.

Cuban Yasmay Consuegra 1-0(1KO) dismantled Curtis Harper 0-1 with a barrage of punches all started with a big right hand that buckled Harper and sent him for a chicken walk across the ring. Referee Frank Gentile ended the bout 1:40 in the 1st round. Harper was another product of The Heavyweight Factory. Both fighters were making their respective debuts.

Former University of Miami and NFL running back Quadtrine Hill earned a big 1st round knockout over Vashawn Tomlin 0-2. Hill a southpaw, rocked Tomlin with a early straight left hand which was a very quick start to a very quick finish. Tomlin was mercifully counted out at 1:50 of round 1.

Notable attendees- Evander Holyfield-Shannon Briggs- Zuri Lawrence-Dyah Davis- Micheal Moore, Bubby McGirt and Dj Laz