Golden Boy Promotions Returns to Atlantic City

By Luis A. Cortes III

Ocean Casino Resort played host to Golden Boy Promotions Fight Night Live.  Broadcasted live on Facebook Watch, this fight card was the opening event for the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame (ACBHOF) weekend.  With future International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Bernard Hopkins being honored by the ACBHOF this weekend, it only made sense for Golden Boy Promotions to feature a fight card in the city honoring one of their own. 

Ballard and Espadas have unfortunate No Contest 

With the first round looking like it would just be a feel out round, D'Mitrius Ballard (20-0-1) (13 KO's) and Elias Espadas (18-4-1) (13 KO's) clashed heads when they both lunged in to land a power shot.  It resulted in a cut over the left eye of Espadas and the urgency forced a fire fight.  It carried into the second round and as both men threw with bad intentions, however, it was Ballard who landed the stronger shots that also made blood fly across the ring. 

Doctors looked at the cut to start the third just as they did to finish the first and allowed the action to continue.  Thankfully that was the case since Espadas, who was losing the round, landed a clean hard right hand that buzzed Ballard who was on shaky legs for a bit.  Ballard was able to steady himself and regained control with thudding power hooks to the body and head.  Once the doctors checked on the cut again, the fight was called off in the third round, thus forcing a no contest.  

Eddie Gomez Destroys Corral 

A refocused and rejuvenated Eddie Gomez (23-3) (13 KOs) destroyed Saul Corral (30-14)(20 KO's) in just two rounds.  The fight was stopped after four knockdowns were scored by Gomez.  He landed good left hooks to both the head and body of Corral, who was tough, but couldn't take the pressure.   

Crews wins in her Golden Boy debut 

New to the Golden Boy stable, Franchon Crews (5-1)(2 KOs) blasted the tough Kayla Williams (0-3-1) out after five rounds.  Crews landed right hand power shots at will and worked the body early, until Williams seemed to run out of gas.  The fight was halted at the 1:40 mark of the fifth round.   

***

Raul "Chino" Rivas continues to have an impressive stable; this time it was local super middleweight Gabriel Pham (11-1)(5 KO's) using his southpaw stance, height, and reach advantage in order to frustrate Jaba Khositashvili (4-1)(2 KO's) over six rounds.  Khositashvili wasn't bothered by the size disadvantage early in the first round until Pham landed a straight left hand that dropped him to his knees.  

For the rest of the fight, it was Pham who controlled the pace and distance of the fight.  After the final bell rang, it was a matter of hearing just how wide the judges would score this fight in favor of Pham. Scores were 59-54 twice and 60-53 for Pham.    

Reed outworks the tough Hernandez over eight 

Mike Reed (25-2)(13 KO's) and Angel Hernandez (15-14)(9 KO's) had a real good eight round battle in the welterweight division.  Reed, the Washington D.C. native, boxed well out of his southpaw stance to easily win the first two rounds.  In the third, Hernandez landed a big right hand that got the attention of Reed, who elected to trade shots on the inside.  

Whenever Reed seemed to take a few too many shots from Hernandez, he was able to get on his toes and box well from the perimeter of the ring.  Reed had plenty of supporters in the crowd and they cheered him on as he battled with Hernandez in the final round.  Both fighters had their moments, but it was Reed who landed more consistently and with the cleaner shots throughout the contest.  Scores were 79-73 twice and 78-74 in favor of Reed.  Afterwards Reed stated the following about the fight, "this was a very tough fight,. It was exactly what I needed right now.  I'm looking for a world title at 135 or 140, I feel really good."

*** 

George Rincon (7-0) (4 KOs) of Dallas won in impressive fashion by knocking out the tough Greg Young at the 2:01 mark of round three.  Rincon is a good young prospect to keep an eye out for.  He works well with combination punching, has a strong frame, and has nice head movement which allows him to cut the ring off.  Also, he worked well to the body and then the head, which helped him score a knockdown in round one and eventually score the winning knockdown in the third.       

***

Dan Murray (5-2) won a unanimous decision over Leonard Kenon (3-6)(1 KO).  Murray was the more active fighter and landed the cleaner shots throughout over the game Kenon.   

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Farmer Punishes Carroll over 12 Rounds in St. Patrick's Day Showdown

By Luis A. Cortes III, Ringside

The opening two rounds between Tevin Farmer (29-4-1)(6 KO's) and Jono Carroll (16-1)(3 KO's) were a bit slow as Farmer tried to get a feel for the type of fighter Carroll was.  In the third round, both fighters opened up as Farmer started to counter punch Carroll moving from side to side in order to avoid the punches from Carroll's high work rate.  These heated exchanges continued into the fourth round, but Farmer started to move away from Carroll until they started to exchange on the inside again.  

Farmer had a big fifth round landing clean counter punches that were powerful.  At one point, Farmer knocked the mouth piece out of Carroll's mouth.  The follow-up rounds saw Carroll bring a lot of activity to the fight, but he was constantly getting hit by the more accurate counter shots from Farmer.  Round eleven saw Carroll get beaten up by Farmer around the ring.  A huge right hook that Carroll didn't see rocked him, and he was a few more shots from being dropped.  

After twelve rounds of action all three judges scored the fight for the champion Farmer, 117-111 twice and 117-110.     

Taylor adds another belt to her impressive resume 

Unified featherweight champion Katie Taylor(13-0)(6 KO's) of Ireland and Rose Volante (14-1)(8 KO's) started fast as Taylor was able to land a short straight right that dropped Volante.  Following the knockdown, Taylor was able to control the early rounds with her skillful combination punching and footwork.  She caused a cut on the nose of Volante and punished her to the body with a left hook that stopped Volante's movement.  

Taylor came out in both rounds eight and nine throwing fast combinations in order to put a hurting on Volante.  She kept landing a beautiful left hook to the body that clearly was taking a lot out of Volante.  At the 1:40 mark of the ninth round, the referee stopped the fight.  With the victory, Taylor is now the unified WBA/WBO/IBF Featherweight Champion, and continues to move up the pound-for-pound ranks.    

Sulecki beats Rosado after he wars back in ten round battle

Things started out slow between Gabe Rosado (24-12-1)(14 KO's) and Maciej Sulecki (28-1)(11 KO's), until Sulecki caught Rosado bending down with a right to the ear that dropped him and wobbled the Philly native.  Rosado rose to his feet and finished the round, but as was the case in the second round,  Sulecki controlled the tempo and range of the fight with the harder punches.  In round three, Rosado was able to find a home with an overhand right that allowed him to control the round. 

Several of the next set of rounds started off with both fighters trying to use their jabs to establish control.  With the fight getting close in terms of the fighters exchanging winning rounds,  Rosado came out in the eighth round to try and get control of the fight.  As he threw a pair of power shots, Sulecki countered with a powerful left hook right hand combination that dropped Rosado.  Although he got up, Rosado was dazed and wobbled into a corner where he did his best to avoid power punches and make it out of the round.  

Round nine set the Liacouras Center on fire, as Rosado connected with a huge right hand that dropped Sulecki.  Rosado jumped all over his hurt opponent and mugged him with punches until he went down a second time.  They both warred in the tenth round, but it was Rosado landing upper cuts in close range that came away with the last round.  Sulecki was awarded the decision 95-91 twice and 95-93.  It was a great fight, that once again showed Rosado's warrior heart by making it an interesting ending.     

2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Luke Campbell (20-2) (16 KO's) stopped Adrian Yung (26-6-2) (20 KO's) in the fifth round, after overpowering him with a great body attack.  

Former amateur standout Raymond Ford (1-0) won his professional debut over Weusi Johnson (3-11) with all three scoring the contest 39-36.  Ford landed a big left hand that floored Johnson in the first.    

Daniyar Yeleussinov (6-0) (3 KO's), the Olympic champion, remained unbeaten by beating rugged veteran Silverio Ortiz (37-24)(18 KO's).

Sparrow wins majority decision over Lundy in grudge match 

In the Philadelphia grudge match between lightweights Hank Lundy (29-8-1)(14 KO's) and Avery Sparrow (10-1)(3 KO's), it didn't take long for the action to heat up.  Lundy had a good first round, landing a big left hook that stopped Sparrow in his tracks and shook up his back leg to win the round.  Sparrow answered with a huge second round, by landing powerful over hand rights.  Lundy's glove touched the canvas for the first knockdown.  The second knockdown came from a fierce right during an exchange that dropped Lundy flat on his back.  He rose to his feet and finished the round.  

Rounds three, four, and five saw the pace slow down a bit, as Lundy turned a war into a boxing match.  It was back to exchanging bombs at the end of the sixth round, with both fighters landing big right hands.  After six rounds, the fight was close in terms of rounds won by each fighter.  However, Sparrow had the huge second round.  

Rounds seven and eight was a return to a boxing match.  With the fight entering the final two rounds, the fight was closer than the second round would have suggested it would be.  After the ten rounds of good action, the decision would be up to the three judges.  One judge scored the fight 94-94, while the other two scored it 96-92, and 95-93 in favor of Avery Sparrow.  

D'Mitrius Ballard (20-0) (13 KO's) stopped Victor Fonesca (17-10-1)(14 KO's) in the fifth round of a super middleweight fight to start the show.

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