Inside the Ringside with Frank Bartolini

By Frank Bartolini

With holiday celebrations behind us and decorations being stored away in attics, I traveled to Washington, D.C. for the first of two shows I attended in January. Boxing began in a big way in D.C.

1/7/23 - Washington, D.C.:

Nearly twenty thousand fight fans filled the seats at the Capitol One Arena to cheer on every punch the World Boxing Association Lightweight King Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Baltimore, MD, threw. Appearing to be a bit distracted at times, Davis, 134 lb., did not seem to be in top condition going into his title defense against Hector Luis Garcia, San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic.

This evening was about the excitement “Tank” creates. Gates opened at 4 pm, and soon afterward, the fighters on the first undercard bout were being called into the ring by announcer Mark Fratto. Seats remained empty as the corridor was packed with revelers until around 9 pm.

Once the semi wind up ended, the house heated up in anticipation to see the tatted Davis throw his gloved fists. An explosive roar rocked the house when Jimmy Lennon, Jr. announcing the boxers' names and particulars.

Both boxers launched their arsenal of punches from a southpaw stance. Bumping up a weight class, Garcia, 134 lbs., won the WBA Super Feather Championship in his last fight. Fighting to the top of his ability, Garcia landed to the head and body. After three rounds of feeling his opponent out, Davis opened up in round four exploding bombs to Garcia’s midsection and head. After the halfway point in the seventh stanza, Davis, 134 lbs., unleashed his fury, smacking punches off of Garcia from the outside. Davis countered well with a straight left to Garcia's chin.

The eighth round proved to be the last one of the fight, but not before drama outside the ropes interrupted and stopped the action. It turned out Gary Russel, Jr. and his brothers Gary Antonio and Gary Antuane got into a verbal scuffle with rapper Meek Mill. Both combatants paused to check out what was going on. Once the action resumed, Davis tore into Garcia. As the bell rang to conclude the session, Garcia returned to his corner complaining he could not see out of his right eye and did not come out for the ninth round.

This was the first loss of Garcia’s career; his record dips to 16- 1, 10 KO’s. By representing himself well in this title challenge, Garcia's stock may rise regardless of this loss. With his skill set, Garcia will find success defending on to his super featherweight belt.

Garcia did a great WWE impersonation after the stoppage of the contest by doing a backflip off the top rope and landing perfectly on his feet as the audience roared. At the young age of twenty-eight years old, Davis has ten years' experience and an impressive resume that includes titles in three different weight classes. Tank’s record stays perfect at 28-0, 26 KO’s.

Immediately in the days following the event, talks between PBC head honcho Al Haymon and Oscar De La Hoya, CEO of Golden Boys Promotions, on pairing Davis and Golden Boy promoted Ryan “Kingry” Garcia for a super fight this spring. As of this writing, De La Hoya states he has the contract in hand.

De La Hoya may be trepid as he holds out for a larger percentage of the split. “Tank” has become a legitimate superstar who drew the largest monetary gate for an event in the history of The Capital One Arena. Paid ticket receipts totaled over five million dollars, and it has been reported pay-per-view proceeds added another twenty million dollars to the gross earnings. Another large source of revenue is the celebratory disposition of Davis's fan base transfer into the arena as patrons at the concessions stands. Add a few million bucks more to the proceeds from that revenue. Hence, De La Hoya has few bargaining chips at the table and will try to squeeze PBC for all he can without blowing the deal. April 15th is the projected date for the matchup, but no venue has been selected.

1/20/23 - Bethlehem, PA:

Two weeks later, I found my way to the Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem, PA. Wind chills had the temperature in the teens. Entering the casino portion of the former Bethlehem Steel Mill, I saw a lively night brewing as the gaming house was filled with patrons.

The Wind Creek Event Center was packed with close to fifteen hundred fight fans that came to watch a Kings Promotions fight card that was part of The Showtime Network SHOBOX The New Generation fight series. Kings CEO Marshall Kauffman filled the card with first rate local talent.

Undefeated super middleweights Sean Hemphill, New Orleans, LA, fought David Stevens, Reading, PA, in a scheduled eight round bout, a ho hum affair that was even after six rounds. Midway through round seven, Stevens',165 ¾ lbs., constant forward pressure was squeezing the strength out of Hemphill, 166 lbs. Battling aggressively until the end, Stevens pressed ahead in the last round. Then with seconds left in the fight, Stevens pummeled a cornered Hemphill. After absorbing a pounding, Hemphill slumped to the canvas. Using very questionable judgment, referee Shawn Clark let the action go on. Brutally aspiring to finish off his foe, Stevens assaulted Hemphill with three bombs to the head. As referee Clark stepped in to call a halt at 2:58 seconds while Hemphill collapsed to the ring apron. Stevens' record stays perfect at 12-0, 9 KO’s. Hemphill suffered his first blemish to his record and slides to 14-1, 8 KO’s.

Philly Fighters Shine in Latest Installment of Xcite Fight Night

By Matt Ward, Ringside

Joe Hand Promotions in conjunction with Peltz Boxing Promotions and BAM Boxing Promotions returned to the Xcite Center at Parx Casino for the sixth installment of Xcite Fight Night. The full house of fight fans were treated to an entertaining night of boxing featuring a number of Philadelphia area boxers.

The main event featured an eight round bout in the lightweight division between Victor Padilla (8-0, 7 KOs) and Israel Suarez-Olmeda (4-8-3, 1 KO).  This fight failed to live up to expectations as Suarez-Olmeda did not survive the first round of the contest. Suarez-Olmeda, who fought Gervonta Davis in 2015, was knocked down by Padilla, a southpaw prospect from Camden, in the opening frame. Despite recovering from this early meeting with the canvas, Suarez-Olmeda looked like a scared and dazed man for his final seconds in the bout. Another hard left hand to the head by Padilla ended Suarez-Olmeda's night at the 2:46 mark of the first round. Referee Gary Rosato, seeing the writing on the wall, stepped in to prevent any further damage to the Puerto Rican southpaw who has now not won a fight since 2011. Padilla has now won two fights in a row by technical knockout.

Wise Came to Fight

In the junior middleweight division, Isaiah Wise (8-2-2, 5 KOs), Philadelphia, faced off against Enver Halili (10-3, 3 KOs), the Bronx, in a bout that was scheduled for six rounds. Both men looked to bounce back in their professional campaigns with a victory on Friday night, however, it was Wise who got the "W." Wise, who looked to be in excellent fighting shape, landed big left hands to Halili's head and body in the opening round. A hard Wise left hand to the head scored a knockdown against Halili during this frame. As the round neared its end, Wise landed hammering right hooks to Halili's head. Halili stumbled backwards, but managed to stay on his feet as the bell marking the end of the round rang. A brutal right hand from Wise at the 1:27 mark of the second round sealed the TKO victory for the 27-year-old Philadelphian. 

The Fight of the Night 

Those who witnessed the spectacle of fisticuffs that was Christopher Burgos (3-4-1, 1 KO) vs. Sheldon Deverteuil (2-1-2) last night should all agree that this was the fight of the night, and a clear front runner for "Philadelphia Fight of the Year." In this bout, two journeymen caliber fighters stepped into the ring to put on a show full of offensive fireworks for an appreciative crowd. As soon as the bell rang starting the six round lightweight contest, Burgos moved forward aggressively, effectively using the right hand to pound away at Deverteuil. Despite walking down and landing big shots on Deverteuil throughout the first and second rounds, Deverteuil refused to play the part of the victim in this all-North Philly classic. As Burgos landed punches, Deverteuil fired back on all cylinders in what became a slug fest from start to finish. 

At some points in the third round, it appeared that the fighters were going punch-for-punch. Deverteuil lost his mouthpiece twice during this round as his momentum appeared to slow down. In the fourth, Burgos was again Deverteuil's stalker. As Burgos landed shots on Deverteuil, he became the recipient of effective counterpunches from his opponent. 

The fifth round was highlighted by big right and left hands to the body by both fighters. The round ended with both men putting their heads together, in a telephone booth style exchange, to pound away at one another's heads and bodies. To the amazement of this writer, both men stayed on their feet! The sixth and final round opened with a continuation of the close combat that ended the fifth. The only pause to the action in this contest came in the final ten seconds of the bout when both men coasted to the final bell. Rightfully so, the crowd roared with approval as both men and their corners embraced following the ring war. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 for the winner by unanimous decision, Christopher Burgos.

Tyhler Emerges Winner of All-Williams Bout

In an all-Philly and all-Williams matchup, Tyhler Williams (4-0, 3 KOs) continued his winning ways as a professional by defeating the 45-year-old Demetris Williams (1-7) by TKO. In the opening round, Tyhler put his speed on display. Demetris, overwhelmed by a barrage of straight right and left hands, desperately tried to escape the onslaught by backpedaling into the ropes, but was unable to escape the non-stop pressure. The referee saw enough of the junior welterweight beat down at 1:48 of the first round. 

Son of a Philly Legend Wins Pro Debut

Charles Brewer, Jr. (1-0, 1 KO) and Kyl Fritz (0-1) both made their professional debuts last night in Bensalem. Brewer, the son of former middleweight world champion Charles Brewer, was escorted to the ring in front of a roaring crowd by his father-trainer. Fritz, of Phoenix, AZ, landed two nice straight right hands to the head of Brewer in the first round. Brewer, clearly having a case of the butterflies, fought very cautiously in the first round against his awkward stanced and taller opponent. Appearing more comfortable and adjusted to Fritz in the second round, Brewer pummeled his opponent into a neutral corner with multiple left and right hooks. Referee Shawn Clark saw enough of the beat down at 1:17 of the second round, and waived off the fight to the protest of Fritz, who at this point, appeared to still have some fight left in him. 

Taylor Sent to the Showers Early by Stevens 

In cruiserweight action, David Stevens (3-0, 2 KO) made quick work of Tahlik Taylor (3-13-1, 1 KO). Taylor was down early in the first round after being slammed by a Stevens' left hook to the head. Taylor recovered from the knockdown but was on very shaky legs. Stevens, smelling blood in the water, used the same punch he had success with seconds earlier to end the evening's work early at 1:02 of the opening frame. 

Atoev Cruises to Four Round Victory

The card opened up with a four round super featherweight bout between Shakhzod Atoev (1-0) and Juan Ibarra (0-3). Atoev answered the bell teeing off on Ibarra, who was visibly hurt from the shots. Atoev landed a hard right uppercut that snapped Ibarra's head back. Despite Atoev's low guard for most of the fight, Ibarra was unable to land any meaningful shots. As the second round progressed, Atoev pushed Ibarra into a neutral corner with hard straight right and left hands

In the third round, Atoev continued to control the pace of the fight, but was unable to land the big punch that would have honored the repeated requests of his corner to "finish him." Atoev landed several big left hands to the head and body of Ibarra in the fourth round. Ibarra responded by pushing Atoev into the ropes with shots that had little to no effect on his opponent. Atoev, confident he was ahead on cards, began to deliberately wind up on uppercuts as the fourth round neared its end. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Atoev.  

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David Stevens Interview

By Luis A. Cortes III

During Friday night's Joe Hand's Xcite Fight Night 6 from the Xcite Center at Parx Casino, I had the opportunity to speak with Reading's David Stevens (3-0, 2 KOs) following his first round KO victory over Tahlik Taylor (3-13-1, 1 KO). Following a highly successful amateur career, Stevens looks to find similar success as a professional in the cruiserweight and light heavyweight divisions. 

You can stream our interview on both SoundCloud and iTunes.

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