Tonight's show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia was promoted by Peltz Boxing in conjunction with BAM Boxing, CES Boxing, Joe Hand, and Raging Babe. The nine bout card featured 46 rounds of professional boxing. The guest of honor was Philadelphia boxing legend, former WBA Bantamweight Champion, and International Boxing Hall of Famer Joltin Jeff Chandler.
The opening
bout of the evening featured junior middleweights Ishmael Altman (0-0-1) and
Tyree Crowder (0-0-1). Both North Carolina’s Altman and North Philadelphia’
Crowder made their professional debut in this contest. Altman, who had an advantage
over his opponent in both height and reach, appeared to hurt Crowder in the
first round with a series of left hands to the head, but could not capitalize
on this for a knockdown. When the final bell rang after the four round fight,
it was evident to many spectators, including the judges, that neither fighter
had done enough to capture a majority of the rounds. All three judges scored
the contest a draw, 38-38.
The second
bout featured welterweights Jamaal Gregory (1-1-0, 1 KO) and Marcel Rivers
(2-0-0, 1 KO). Rivers, a North Philadelphia native, landed a series of powerful
shots in the second round. In the third round, he knocked Gregory down with an
overhand right to the head. The Charlotte fighter was able to recover from this
knock down and finish the round. Both fighters fought a hard fourth round to
finish off the bout that ended in favor of Rivers. All three judges scored the
bout 39-36.
Lightweights
Marko Bailey (5-0-0, 3 KOs) of Durham, NC and Vinnie Denierio (1-2-0, 1 KO) of
Geneva, NY stepped into the squared circle next for a four rounder. Denierio, a
lengthy and somewhat awkward fighter, appeared to give Bailey problems in the
first round. However, as the contest progressed Bailey adjusted to his style
and began to land punches on his opponent. The fourth round was action packed
with both fighters exchanging blows throughout the round. In the end, the bout
went to Bailey via a majority decision. One judge scored the bout a draw, 38-38,
with the other two judges scoring the contest 39-37.
Local featherweight
fighter and fan favorite Crystian Peguero (2-0-0, 1 KO) took on New York’s Saquan
Felton (0-2-0) in the fourth bout on the card. Early on in the fight, Peguero landed
numerous hooks and upper cuts to his opponent, which continued into later
rounds. Felton appeared to never be able to defend against Peguero’s speed, and
the scorecards reflected that. After four rounds of boxing, all three judges
scored contest in favor of the Philly native (39-37, 40-36, and 40-36).
The fifth
contest of the evening was a much anticipated matchup between Rockledge, PA’s
Scott Kelleher (5-1-0, 3 KOs) and Newark, NJ’s Dion Richardson (2-1-0, 2 KOs).
The previously undefeated Kelleher, who weighed in at 139.3 pounds, stepped
into the ring looking for his fifth career victory over Richardson (137.4
pounds). Kelleher was knocked down three times over the course of the first
round. The first knockdown came after a Richardson barrage of punches that
appeared to break Kelleher’s nose. Kelleher was able to recover from the
knockdown as blood gushed out of his nostrils.
Kelleher, who was clearly dazed, was attacked yet again with a
multi-punch combo that sent him to the canvas. He recovered from the second
knockdown only to be TKO’d at the 2:19 mark of the first round of a scheduled
four rounds by yet another vicious series of punches to the body and head.
Germantown’s
Jaron Ennis (12-0-0, 10 KOs) faced veteran Nicaraguan fighter Wilfredo Acuna
(17-21-0, 13 KOs) in a six round welterweight contest. Ennis got to work early
by knocking his opponent down in the first round with a right hook to the bed.
The hurt Nicaraguan got up only to be knocked out later in the round by an
Ennis right hand to the body. The knockout came at the 1:23 mark of the first
round.
Junior
Middleweights Mark Daniels Jr. (3-1-0, 1 KO) of Wisconsin and North
Philadelphia’s Isaiah Wise (5-1-0, 3 KOs) squared off in the seventh match of
the evening. Wise controlled the tempo of the fight through all six rounds of action.
He landed numerous shots, especially in the later rounds, which appeared to
hurt his opponent. However, the Wisconsin native was able to absorb the blows
and make it to the final bell. Wise walked away with a lopsided unanimous decision
victory for his efforts in the bout. One judge scored the contest 60-54, with
the other two scoring the bout 59-55.
The main
event of the evening featured Hank Lundy (28-6-1, 14 KOs) and Ricardo Lara replacement,
Daniel Evangelista (19-8-2, 15 KOs). This eight round lightweight contest was
billed as the “Return of the Hammer”. Lundy did his part to not spoil his own
homecoming to Philadelphia by landing numerous big hooks on his Mexican opponent.
Evangelista proved his toughness by taking a number of powerful shots through
five rounds of boxing. The end came at the 2:53 mark of the fifth round after
Lundy connected on a brutal multi-punch combo. Evangelista was able to pull
himself up off the canvas but he was clearly badly hurt. Referee Gary Rosato deemed
him unable to continue and called an end to the action. As Lundy exited the
ring, he was overheard yelling, “I didn’t want to knock him out. But, he hit me
and that made me mad.”
The final
bout of the evening featured cruiserweights Juan Reyna (6-7-1, 2 KOs) and Alvin
Varmall Jr. (11-0-1, 9 KOs) in a six round contest. Varmall came out at the bell
the far more aggressive fighter, and scored two knockdowns from multi-punch
combos in the first round. The second knock down resulted in a TKO at the 2:02
mark of the first round.
MW
