Sosa Impressive; Adan Gonzales Spoils Cuban Prospect Ramirez's Debut

By Matt Ward, Ringside

Top Rank professional boxing on ESPN+ returned to the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in North Philadelphia on Saturday night. The main event of this action-packed card pitted super featherweights Jason Sosa (23-3-4, 16 KOs) and Lydell Rhodes (27-4-1, 13 KOs) against one another in a ten round contest. Sosa, a former WBA Super Featherweight World Champion, made a big step on the trail to reclaim a world title by stopping tough veteran Rhodes at the 1:08 mark of the seventh round.

The two gladiators fought a close fight through the opening two frames. In the third round, Sosa opened up on Rhodes with a barrage of effective punches to the head and body. This offensive onslaught was highlighted by hard upper cuts that made Rhodes cringe under the pressure. Sosa again went on the attack in the fourth round when he connected with a left hand to the face of Rhodes. Rhodes rallied at the end of the round, landing a multi-punch combo that let Sosa know he was still in the fight.

In the fifth round, Sosa sent Rhodes crashing to the canvas with a left hook to the head. Rhodes managed to pull himself up from the mat, and fight on until the final 30 seconds of the round when Rhodes was punished with a series of Sosa punches to the head that again sent him down to the canvas. An accidental headbutt in the sixth round opened up a cut near Sosa's left eye. Fortunately, the location of this wound had little impact on the Camden native's fight plan and momentum going forward.

The third and final knockdown came in the seventh round when a well-placed Sosa right hand to Rhodes' head sent him crashing to the canvas. Rhodes recovered from the knockdown, but his corner had seen enough of the beat down, and threw in the towel. Referee Benjy Esteves honored the request by waiving off the fight. 

Gonzales Spoils Olympian's Debut

Denver's Adan Gonzales (5-2-2, 2 KOs) spoiled the long anticipated professional debut of Cuban Olympian Robeisy Ramirez (0-1) in a four round featherweight bout. Gonzales, fighting like a man looking for the upset, introduced Ramirez to a pro boxing canvas in the first round with a hard right hand to the head. Ramirez appeared to struggle with Gonzales in the second round, as he continued to apply pressure to the highly successful former amateur fighter. Ramirez, hoping to salvage his night, unloaded on Gonzales at the end of the third round, having to be pulled off of Gonzales after the bell rang. Ramirez fought hard in the fourth and final round, but it was not enough to salvage a win or draw. The judges scored the bout 39-36 for Gonzales, 38-37 for Ramirez, and 40-35 for the winner by split decision, Adan Gonzales. 

Berlanga Extends Kayo Streak to 12

"Knockout Artist" Edgar Berlanga (12-0, 12 KOs) won his twelfth straight fight by way of knockout over Gregory Trenel (11-5-2, 3 KOs) in the first round of a middleweight contest scheduled for eight. Berlanga answered the bell by landing crushing shots on his French opponent. Trenel hit the canvas after Berlanga, a native of New York, connected with a left hook to the head. Trenel hesitantly pulled himself up from the canvas only to be beaten into submission seconds later. Berlanga landed numerous left hands, at will, on the defenseless Trenel. Referee Benjy Esteves saw enough of the massacre at the 2:24 mark of the opening frame.

Philadelphia's Kroll Wins by UD 

Undefeated welterweights Paul Kroll (5-0, 4 KOs) and Shinard Bunch (2-1, 2 KOs) battled through a six round bout. The two men put on a display of speed throughout the opening frame of the contest in front of a crowd that roared with approval. As the first round ended, the referee had to pull Kroll away from the dogfight that was highlighted by great exchanges of multi-punch combos. In the second round, the two men slowed down the pace of the bout.

Bunch unloaded a three punch combo on Kroll in the third. The fourth round kicked off with a exchange of big shots near the center of the ring. Later in this round, Kroll put the pedal to the metal as he aggressively nailed Bunch with a series of multi-punch combos to the head and body, shots that made Bunch slump into the ropes. At this point of the fight, the advantage was seized by Kroll who landed big shots that were responded to by Bunch clinches and wrap-ups. This was especially the case in the fifth round when Kroll connected with a right hook to Bunch's head. Seconds later, Kroll tee'd off on Bunch with a series of shots, but Bunch managed to dance out of the trap on shaky legs. 

In the sixth round, Kroll went into knockout mode chasing Bunch around the ring and swinging wildly at his opponent, missing more than connecting. To the crowd's dismay, Bunch, clearly beat up from rounds of taking damage, managed to stay on his feet. Referee Gary Rosato had to pull Kroll off of Bunch as the bell marking the end of the round rang. The judges scored the bout 58-56 twice and 59-55 for Kroll. 

Conto Sweeps "Game" Del Rio 

Philadelphia's Sonny Conto (4-0, 3 KOs) defeated a tough opponent in Mexico's Guillermo Del Rio (2-3-1, 2 KOs) to the hometown crowd's delight on Saturday night. Conto went on the attack early in the first of this four rounder as he punished Del Rio with straight left and right hands to the head and body. Del Rio was rocked with a big overhand right to the head in the final 30 seconds of the first round, but showed his grit by staying on his feet and surviving the opening the frame. Conto had to deal with Del Rio's clinching and wrapping throughout the second round. As the round neared its end, this strategy turned into wild swinging at Conto that failed to hit its mark. A Conto left hook made Del Rio drop into the ropes, but the Mexican heavyweight again made it to the end of the round.

Sonny landed shots at will on Del Rio in the third which appeared to have a damaging effect on him. Again, to the frustration of Conto and the audience, Del Rio's body did not hit the canvas. The crowd roared "Sonny! Sonny!" in the final round as the Philly heavyweight clubbed Del Rio. Del Rio deaf to the chants of the Liacouras Center, valiantly fought on. As the round neared its end, Conto finally sent Del Rio crashing to the canvas with a left hand to the head. Del Rio, on wobbly legs, pulled himself up for the unanimous decision defeat. All three judges scored the bout 40-35 for the heavyweight prospect Conto.

Smith Dominates Abdullah in Six 

Philly's Donald Smith (10-0, 6 KOs) won his tenth fight as a professional over Colorado's Raheem Abdullah (3-3). Smith controlled the momentum of the featherweight contest throughout the bout, and answered all of Abdullah's attacks with effective multi-punch combos of his own. Smith closed out his dominant performance by hammering Abdullah with right hands to the body as the fight came to a conclusion. The judges scored the fight 59-53 twice and 60-52 for Smith.

Adorno Wins by Kayo

Jeremy Adorno (2-0, 1 KO) defeated Fernando Robles (2-2) by knockout victory in a super bantamweight bout that was scheduled for four rounds. The knockout shot came at the 2:01 mark of the third round when Adorno dropped Robles with a right hook to the body.

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“Hot Sauce” Henderson Harnesses His Dozenth Victory

By Steve Peacock, Ringside

Pro boxer Kalvin “Hot Sauce” Henderson returned to the City of Brotherly Love on Friday night to attain win #12, preserving an undefeated record by repeatedly knocking down and ultimately taking down Antowyan Aikens.  

Referee Benji Estevez stopped the bout at 2:14 of the third round after the Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Henderson (12-0; 8 KOs) sent Aikens (13-7-1; 1 KO) of Mays Landing, NJ to the canvas for the fifth time.

This successful contest was Henderson’s 2^nd consecutive match via King’s Promotions/Titans Boxing Promotions and likewise was his 2^nd consecutive victory at the 2300 Arena in South Philly.

At the start of this super-middleweight competition Henderson appeared to hold, at best, a slight advantage over Aikens. But by round two, “Hot Sauce” clearly established himself as the dominant pugilist.

A left jab by Henderson during the second round had hurtled Aikens to the mat—the very place to which Hot Sauce then returned him moments later.

Indeed, Aikens actually took a trio of trips to the canvas that round, including another one immediately prior to the bell bringing the 2^nd to its inevitable conclusion.

Henderson in the 3^rd once again downed Aikens with a left jab then dropped him to the canvas yet again before referee Benji Estevez stopped the bout, thereby giving the TKO victory to Hot Sauce.

Back in December, Henderson at this same arena had handed to Brandon Robinson only the second defeat of “B-Rob’s” career. Though Robinson in that bout fared slightly better—duration-wise, anyway—than Aikens on Friday, he nonetheless had received an eye-bloodying, mat-visiting loss at the hands of Henderson in late 2018.

Robinson likewise returned to South Philly this weekend to face a different opponent—and with different results as the following segment of this report will show.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Brandon “B-Rob” Robinson (13-2; 8 KOs ) of Upper Darby, Pa. in the evening’s co-main event emerged victorious over DeVaun Lee (10-6-1; 5 KOs) of Jamaica, Queens.

B-Rob soon after the bout had begun threw a right jab that stunned Lee, but by the end of the round Lee reciprocated, stemming his opponent’s brief momentum and momentarily causing Robinson to wobble.

Over the next two rounds B-Rob held the advantage, with Lee remaining in contention to say the least. Indeed, by the fourth a resilient Lee looked like he was gaining and not losing ground, though the fifth revealed—however briefly—that Lee could be in trouble.

A relatively even exchange took place between the two boxers in the last three. Robinson appeared to minimally maintain the edge in the sixth, but barely.

Notably, Robinson and Lee took turns connecting a hard right just before the 10-second warning at each of the final rounds, with B-Rob landing a furious fist at the end of the seventh and Lee similarly reciprocating prior to the timekeeper’s “clack” nearing bout’s end.

The judges scored 77-74 for Robinson, 76-75 for Lee, and 77-75 in favor of Robinson, who won by split decision.

SUPER BANTAMWEIGHTS

Raeese Aleem (14-0; 8 KOs) of Las Vegas quickly set Ramiro Robles (15-9-2) of Queretaro, Mexico on his ass. Upon standing, Aleem slammed Robles with a left uppercut and right jab. Moments later, after a brief respite thanks to an inquiring referee, Aleem leveraged that same combo and dropped Robles to his knees. The bout was over at 1:51, and Aleem won by way of 1^st round TKO.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

This match can be summed up in two sentences: Alycia Baumgardner (7-1; 5 KOs) of Fremont, Ohio quickly pummeled Gabriella Mezei (9-18-5) of Romania with multiple left-right combos, jabs and uppercuts. As a result, the bout barely made it past the one-minute mark (1:08) before being stopped, and Baumgardner by way of TKO was subsequently crowned USBF Women’s Silver Champion.

WELTERWIGHTS

Philly favorite Paul “The Punisher” Kroll (3-0; 3 KOs ) unleashed a combo of head and body shots against  Vincent Floyd (4-7-1; 2 KOs) in the first—that alternating barrage of rights and lefts quickly indicated the end was near for Floyd. Sure enough, the referee stopped the bout at 2:27, and Kroll was deemed victor by way of TKO.

MIDDLEWIEGHTS

The first of four consecutive 1^st round victories at this event, Ryan Umberger of Philly (2-0;  1 KO) just seconds into the match knocked to the mat a befuddled Daryl Fenton (1-5-1), who fights out of Washington, D.C.  “The Cockney Reject,” as the London-born Fenton is nicknamed, continued to sustain a battery of unrelenting Umberger shots until the ref jumped into to the stop this beating at 1:34. Umberger is now on a three-win, three KO streak.

FEATHERWEIGHTS

Antonio Dubose (11-2-1; 2 KOs) of Philly and Weusi Johnson (3-12-1) of Wilmington, Delaware went the full length of the scheduled six rounder. Dubose landed several left jabs that elicited responses from the audience throughout the first two rounds. At the very end of the third, Johnson was striking Dubose with significant force, and appeared further reinvigorated in the fourth.  Dubose at one point slammed an overhand right into the face of his opponent, but there was not much more to speak about either contender. Dubose emerged victorious by way of majority decision, with the judges scoring the bout 57-57, 58-56 and 59-55.

JR. MIDDLEWEIGHTS

First up was LaQuan Evans (1-1) out of Philly, facing Hector Mercado (3-10) of Puerto Rico. Evans started out literally on the wrong foot, nearly sliding a leg out of the ring, and Mercado wisely seized upon that error. Undaunted, Evans came back and mightily landed multiple shots that reminded his opponent that one slip does not make for a less formidable foe.  By the third, Mercado seemed fatigued, and could not get a break until Evans slipped to the canvas, albeit momentarily. Despite Mercado’s seemingly uncertain position, he landed enough shots to achieve a point advantage over Evans. The judges scored it 38-38, 39-37, and 40-36 for the majority decision in favor of Mercado. 

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