On
Friday, February 3rd, I had the opportunity to cover live boxing ringside from the
SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia. The card was part of
Hard Hitting Promotions’ “Friday Night Boxing” series, and featured seven professional bouts in the lighter weight classes of boxing.
The card opened up with a four round super flyweight bout between
Harold Lopez of Philadelphia and
Argenis Armando (aka Lugo Perez) of Puerto Rico. Both fighters were making their professional debuts. Lopez knocked out Armando/Perez with a left uppercut 57 seconds into the first round.
In the second bout,
Victor Padilla (2-0, 2 KOs) of New Jersey squared off against
Tony Wilson (0-2) of Virginia. Padilla finished off Wilson with a combo that sent him to the canvas in the first round of a scheduled four round lightweight matchup.
The third bout featured super featherweights
Joseph Adorno (2-0, 2 KOs) of Allentown, PA and
Jonathan Hernandez (0-4) of Puerto Rico. Eighteen seconds into the first round of a scheduled four rounds, Adorno made quick work of Hernandez by landing a right hand that sent him face first into the canvas. Paramedics were called to the ring to check on the fighter, who remained lying on the ground for about two minutes after the hard right hand. Hernandez later left the ring under his own power.
Super featherweights
Hairon Socarras (15-0-2, 10 KOs) of Miami and veteran Mexican fighter
German Meraz (55-41-1, 32 KOs) faced off against one another in the fourth bout of the evening. In a fight that many believed would end with a knockout victory for Socarras, this six round match ended up going to the cards. Socarras scored an early knock down in the first round, but was unable to score the knockout on the veteran in the next five rounds. All three judges scored the bout 60-53 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Socarras.
Branden Pizarro (3-0, 2 KOs), a 17-year-old Philadelphian, knocked out
Abdiel Padilla (1-1, 1 KO) of Puerto Rico at the 2:42 mark of the first round of a scheduled four round fight. Pizarro landed a powerful body shot on Padilla that sent him to the canvas for the referee’s full ten count.
The co-main event of the evening featured Philadelphia’s
Christian Carto (7-0, 6 KOs) and Tijuana, Mexico’s
Sergio Najera (12-29-2, 6 KOs). The veteran Najera gave Carto a test through two rounds of action, by land several good shots. Carto effectively used his left jab throughout the fight, and in the third round landed a series good punches forcing the referee to put a halt to the match.
The main event featured popular Philadelphia fighter the
New Ray Robinson (22-2, 11 KOs) and Nicaraguan fighter
Edwin Palacio (12-5-1, 8 KOs). Palacio was knocked down in the first and second rounds, before being knocked out with a left hook to the head at 2:39 of the second round. Robinson has now won 11 straight fights.
Check out my
post fight interviews with Philadelphia bantamweight boxing prospect
Christian Carto and legendary Philadelphia cut man
Joey Eye on
SoundCloud and
iTunes:
Bonus Round with Bantamweight Boxer Christian Carto and Cutman Joey Eye on SoundCloud
Bonus Round with Bantamweight Boxer Christian Carto and Cutman Joey Eye on iTunes
MW
