Philly Prospects Headline Hard Hitting Promotions Show

By Frank Bartolini, Ringside

Philadelphia: This past Saturday Hard Hitting Promotions delivered a seven bout fight card filled with young Philadelphia prospects. 

Headlining the main event, Avery Sparrow, Philadelphia, dropped a very close eight round decision to William Foster III, New Haven, CT. The tides of momentum changed throughout this battle, due to Sparrow's ability to adapt. 

Foster's four inch height advantage made it hard for the usually counter punching Sparrow,129.1 lbs., to score. Utilizing his natural physical assets, Foster, 128.7 lbs., pumped his left jab while moving forward and snaking in right hands. After three rounds, Foster seemed to be in full control and was able to slip Sparrow’s attempts at counterpunching. Unable to close the gap, Avery did not get frustrated. Instead, Sparrow implored a new fight style by moving his head and being aggressive to get inside. Once Sparrow found himself inside Foster’s wheel house, he was more effective landing overhand rights to the head and blows to the body. Several times, Foster found himself in a corner or back to the ropes and could do nothing but grab his foe. 

Getting caught with punches moving inside, Sparrow did not relent and fought every second of the remainder of the contest, including very strong efforts in rounds six and seven when he snapped back Foster’s head with right hands. 

During the final three minutes, Foster committed to staying away from the shorter Sparrow and moved non-stop. Darting in scoring shots and running away, Foster won the last round and the fight on all three judges' scorecards 77-75. 

Foster remains undefeated 15-0, 9 KOs, while Sparrow drops to 10-4, 4 KOs. 

Sparrow had Foster figured out, but ran out of time. If a rematch was scheduled for ten rounds, this scribe would wager heavily on Sparrow. 

The semi windup matched two junior lightweights, Christain Tapia, Coamo, Puerto Rico, with completely outclassed late replacement Mario Sayal Lozano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Possessing too much talent and skill, Tapia,131.5 lbs., nearly pitched a shutout. Lozano, 132 lbs., was a tough opponent who never quit trying. 

The final tally favored Tapia 78-73 across the board. Tapia rises to 15-0, 12 KOs. Lozano is now 18-8-1, 9 KOs.

Stepping into the ring for the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic, Jeremy Cuevas, Philadelphia, did not miss a beat. Showing zero effects of being laid off for two years, Cuevas knocked the tar out of Nicolas Pablo Demario, Buenos Aires, Argentina, over six rounds. Punctuating a solid performance, Cuevas, 144 lbs., dropped Demario,143 lbs., with a right to the chin in round five. All scorekeepers saw it 60-53 for Cuevas. Cuevas is now 14-1, 10 KOs. Demario's heads home with a record 16-7, 10 KOs. 

Interestingly, Demario entered the ring to the theme of the movie The Godfather. In all my years around the sport, I have never heard that melody used by a boxer. Veteran cutman and mob historian, Joey Eye, also stated it was also a first for him. 

The event was held at The Fillmore Theater. The Fillmore is a small venue that has a balcony and two bars serving booze ringside. Roughly just over six hundred spectators wet their beaks and enjoyed the night’s festivities.

Hard Hitting Promotions Presents Friday Night Boxing - Friday, March 30th (Philadelphia, PA)

Hard Hitting Promotions returned to the Fillmore Philadelphia on Friday night for an action-packed night of professional boxing. The eight bout card featured a ten round, welterweight main event between Philadelphia's Raymond "Tito" Serrano (24-5, 10 KOs) and Baltimore's Malik Hawkins (13-0, 9 KOs). Serrano and Hawkins fought for the vacant WBA-NABA USA Welterweight Title.

Hawkins went on the attack early in the first round when he hurt Serrano with two right hands to the head. Serrano was in trouble again in the second round when Hawkins connected on a right upper cut to the jaw. Serrano remained behind on the cards through the first three rounds. As the end of the fourth round neared, Serrano attempted to rally by landing a multi-punch combo of punches to the head and body of Hawkins. In the seventh round, Hawkins controlled the tempo of the fight by landing a series of multi-punch combos that left Serrano dazed. In the eighth round, Serrano was in survival mode as he was stalked around the ring by his opponent. Despite appearing exhausted and hurt, Serrano demonstrated his toughness by staying on his feet. In the ninth round, Serrano landed two big left hands to Hawkin's head as the end of the round neared. These big shots allowed Serrano to win the round. At the outset of the tenth and final round, the two fighters exchanged body shots in the center of the ring. The two men brawled over the course of the round and fought aggressively all the way up to the final bell. The judges scored the bout 97-93, 96-94, and 98-92, all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Malik Hawkins.

In the co-main event of the evening, heavyweight prospect, Darmani Rock (11-0, 7 KOs) defeated Ronny Hale (4-12, 4 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled six round contest. The stoppage came at the 1:07 mark of the second round, when Rock knocked down his opponent with crushing left and right hands to the body. He followed these blows up with a right hand to the head that ended Hale's night. That was the Philadelphian's second straight, and seventh overall, knockout of his professional career.

Philly fan favorite, Branden Pizarro (9-1, 4 KOs) defeated San Diego's Pablo Cupul (9-24, 5 KOs) in a four round, lightweight contest. Pizarro, who is coming off of his first professional defeat, outclassed his tough opponent through all four rounds of action by landing several big shots to Cupul's head and body. In the third round, Pizarro flirted with a knockout victory when he pinned Cupul up against the ropes with a series of big left and right hooks. Cupul survived the beating to lose the fight on the cards, with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36 for Pizarro.

Sammy Teah (13-2-1, 6 KOs) made quick work of Nicaragua's Orlando Rizo (19-13, 11 KOs) on Friday night. The bout, which was scheduled for six rounds, only lasted one with Teah bullying his opponent from the opening bell. Rizo was knocked down twice in the first round by Teah multi-punch combos, before being kayo'd with a left hook to the head. Referee Ronald Ali Bashir stopped the fight at the 2:33 mark of the first round of the lightweight contest.

Philadelphia's Jeremy Cuevas (8-0, 6 KOs) squared off against Efrain Cruz (4-5-1, 1 KO) of Florida in a six round, lightweight contest. After winning the first round of the bout, Cuevas, who maintained a low guard throughout the contest, was knocked down in the second round with a Cruz right hand to the head. Cuevas was hurt after recovering from this knockdown, but managed to finish the round. By the beginning of the third round, Cuevas appeared to be more settled into the fight, and went on to pick apart his opponent throughout the final three rounds. In the final round, Cuevas snapped Cruz's head back with straight left and right hands. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Jeremy Cuevas.

Super middleweights, Ronald Ellis (15-0-2, 10 KOs) and Taneal Goyco (9-11-1, 4 KOs) fought in a four round contest. Goyco was the far less active fighter, who applied a defense heavy strategy to the bout. This strategy "worked" until the fourth round when Ellis sent Goyco to the canvas with a right hand to his head. The judges scored the bout 59-54 and 60-53, twice, for Ellis.

Roc Nation's Tramaine Williams (15-0, 5 KOs) defeated veteran fighter, Antonio Rodriguez (12-21-1, 5 KOs) in a six round, featherweight bout. Williams ended the first round with a big multi-punch combo that sent him to his corner full of confidence. In the second round, Rodriguez was stumbled with a Williams' left hand to the head. Rodriguez went on the offensive at the end of the third round when he threw a series of punches that connected to the head and body of Williams. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, he was unable to land the "lucky punch". When Rodriguez attempted to come forward on Williams in the fourth round, he was pushed back on his heels with an overhand left to the head. Williams went on to win the fifth and sixth rounds over Rodriguez, who had a cut appear on the side of his right eye in the final round. The judges scored the bout 58-56, 59-55, and 60-53, all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Tramaine Williams.

The opening bout of the card was a light middleweight fight between Joey Alday (7-0, 7 KOs) and Mike Crain (1-2). Crain was knocked down with a right-left hand combo in the second round. Crain was sent crashing to the canvas in the third round when Alday connected with a left hook to his jaw. Referee Shawn Clark stopped the bout at the 1:28 mark of the third round of a scheduled four round fight.

MW

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