Philadelphia's own
Christian Carto (14-0, 11 KOs) made a statement on
Friday night in front of a sell out crowd at the
SugarHouse Casino in
Philadelphia.
Carto, a
bantamweight prospect and local fan favorite, fought
Detroit's James Smith (12-2, 7 KOs), who trains out of the legendary
Kronk Gym, in an eight round main event. The 21-year-old
Carto effectively utilized his jab in the opening frame. In the second round,
Smith appeared baffled by
Carto's speed, as he continued to connect with jabs to
Smith's head at will.
Smith, frustrated by his opponent's skills, hit
Carto with a low blow in the third round. Before the low blow,
Carto had landed several crushing blows to the head and body of
Smith.
Carto's third round offensive explosion was highlighted with vicious left and right hooks that hurt his opponent. At the end of the fourth round,
Carto again hurt
Smith with a right hook to the head.
Smith, who demonstrated his toughness by absorbing dozens of big shots by
Carto, looked gassed by the sixth round. The young
Philadelphian bullied
Smith during this round, and hurt him again with a multi-punch combo.
Smith managed to stay on his feet and survive the round. A big
Carto right hand to
Smith's head in the seventh almost ended the night for
Smith, but the fighter wrapped up
Carto and stayed on his feet. In the eight and final round,
Smith, who realized he was behind on the cards, came out swinging for the fences. His wild punches did not find their mark and
Carto cruised through the round. The judges scored the bout 80-72 twice and 79-73, all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision,
Christian Carto.
The co-main event of the evening featured an eight round bout between two Philadelphia super middleweights, Christopher Brooker (13-5, 5 KOs) and Jamaal Davis (16-13-1, 7 KOs). Davis, who was making his first title defense, was hit with a Brooker left hand to the head in the first round. Davis spent the second and third rounds trying to keep the brawler Brooker from fighting him on the inside. During exchanges, Davis positioned himself close enough to Brooker to smother most of his punches. Brooker caught Davis with a series of big hooks at the end of the third round, but the defending WBF United States Super Middleweight Champion survived the round. To the crowd's delight, the two men fought a good exchange in the middle of the ring during the fourth round. Tempers flared at the end of the fifth round when Brooker hit Davis in the head after the bell rang. Davis responded with a punch of his own. Referee Blair Talmadge had to jump in between the two fighters to break up the post-bell antics. In the sixth round, Brooker trapped Davis and unloaded a series of punches on him. In the eighth and final round, Brooker, ahead on the cards, looked for a knockout. He hit Davis with a big big right hook, that he followed up with a left hook to the head. Davis was hurt in this round, but the veteran fighter fought valiantly to the final bell. The ringside judges scored the bout 79-73 twice and 77-75 for the winner by unanimous decision, Christopher Brooker.
Tyrone Crawley (7-1) and
Anthony Mercado (11-3, 10 KOs) squared off in a
super lightweight contest. This was supposed to be the first career eight round contest for
Crawley, who is the son of
Philly boxing legend
Tyrone "Butterfly" Crawley. The fight was a competitive contest from the opening bell.
Crawley caught
Mercado with a big right hand that hurt his opponent as the second round ended.
Mercado stumbled into his corner only to answer the bell dazed in the third round. The two men battled through the third round. Following this round,
Crawley's left hand was examined by his corner, which included
Ivan Robinson, and the ringside physician.
Crawley, who appeared to be in immense pain, refused to answer the bell in the fourth round. He later reported to his fans on social media that he had broken a bone in his left hand.
Mercado, who was behind on the cards at the time of the stoppage, won by
TKO and ended a three fight losing streak.
South Philly heavyweight Dominique Mayfield (0-1) had his professional debut spoiled in front of his hometown fans by veteran fighter,
Ronny Hale (4-11, 4 KOs) of
Austin, Texas. In the opening round,
Hale dominated his rookie opponent. He hurt
Mayfield with a multi-punch combo. He followed up this barrage with a big right hand to the head that sent
Mayfield to the canvas.
Mayfield pulled himself up off the canvas only to be knocked down again by a
Hale clubbing right hand to the head.
Mayfield, hoping to avoid the upset, rose from the ground dazed and badly hurt.
Hale, smelling blood in the water, went on to viciously beat
Mayfield with clubbing right and left hands to his head and body, that sent Mayfield crashing to the ground for the third time. Referee
Blair Talmadge stopped the bout at 1:40 of the first round of a scheduled four round contest.
New York's Victor Vazquez (10-3, 4 KOs) made quick work of
Philadelphia's David Gonzalez (8-3-2, 2 KOs) in a
super lightweight bout that was scheduled for eight rounds. From the opening bell,
Vazquez dominated
Gonzalez.
Vazquez TKO'd
Gonzalez with a left hook to the head at the 1:56 mark of the first round.
Rasheed Johnson (3-1, 1 KO) was scheduled to fight
Vincent Floyd (3-4-1, 2 KOs) in a four round,
welterweight bout.
Floyd came in overweight for the bout, and as a result, the contest was cancelled.
Johnson, looking to not disappoint his fans, fought
Rondel McGee in a three round exhibition bout.
Johnson totally outclassed his opponent, who appeared to be picked out of the casino lobby, over the course of just under two rounds of boxing.
Johnson landed numerous uncontested shots on his opponent in the first round. In the second round, referee
Blair Talmadge had seen enough when
McGee stopped fighting back against
Johnson.
The opening bout of the evening featured
super flyweights,
Jerrod Miner (1-1-1, 1 KO) and
Rondarrius Hunter (1-2-1, 1 KO).
Atlanta's Hunter hurt the
Philly native with a big right hand to the head at the beginning of the first round.
Miner responded by throwing big hooks at his opponent, that did little to no damage.
Hunter displayed great defense in the second round as he made
Miner miss on a series of right and left hooks.
Miner knocked
Hunter down with a right hand to the head in the fourth round.
Hunter recovered from the knock down and fought to the final bell. The judges scored the bout 37-37 twice and 39-35 for
Miner. The contest was ruled a split draw.
