Judgement Day in Bethlehem

By Chris Mealey

Describing the atmosphere and overall vibe within The Sands Casino boxing event would be similar to the weather surrounding the venue that night. A consistent display of thunder and lightning. The Weigh-In, along with the numerous fans in attendance were thrilled from start to finish. This is a recap of "Judgement Day" and each fight will be given a brief summary, starting from the first bout 

[Fight 1] Radzhab Butaev vs Silverio Ortiz 

This 6-round contest between welterweights started off with outside fighting, as Butaev established his jab early. Possibly the most fouls/warnings called of the night, followed by one rabbit punch that costed Butaev one point on the cards. Despite the deduction and some successful right hands by Ortiz, Butaev continued to win rounds through back peddling and fighting off the back foot, earning a unanimous decision (judges scored 59-54 and 58-55 on two cards).

[Fight 2] Khainell Wheeler vs George Sheppard 

"Thunder and Lightning" was the vibe and that electrifying energy was brought on early through Wheeler's pro debut. From controlling the ring with great generalship and  huge body shots that forced Sheppard into putting the ear muffs on. The fight ended up getting stopped early at 2:47 into the first round and with that a big debut for Wheeler.

[Fight 3]  Janelson Bocachica  vs Garbor Gorbics 

Boacachica engaged by keeping Gorbics on the ropes, landing combinations. A comfortable first round would set the tempo for even more dominance by Boacachica, landing at will round after round, though Gorbics showed much heart and took every punch well. The punishment by the end of round three would be too much for Gorbics' cornermen, as they would stop the contest before opening the next round.

[Fight 4] Yeuri Andujar  vs. Edgar Cortes

There's always at least one fight that is difficult to score due to close rounds by two aggressive boxers. The fight between Adujar and Cortes would be the first bout of the night to fit that category.  Round number 1 bounced between outside boxing and then with combination punching by both men, suddenly Andujar went down from a a mix of bad footing and a punch landing, hence a legit knockdown getting scored. Yeuri charged in round 2, scored a big right to put Cortes down, making up for the last round. Cortes looked for the lefts and was smothered at times, then Cortes found the left to get a knockdown of his own. This was arguably fight of the night and from round 3 onward, there was success in both boxers that led to a majority decision. One judge scored it a draw at  56-56 and  two had scored 57-56 declaring Yeuri Andujar the winner.

[Fight 5] Ricky Nuno vs. Rasheed Johnson 

Tactical first round and start to this fight. Both boxers felt the jab out and then changed tempo in round 2 after Johnson landed the first big right hand.  Johnson found rhythm from round 3 onward, jabbing the nose causing Nuno to bleed, occasionally dropping his hands. Johnson charged in round 5, landing BIG shots as the blood poured from Nuno's nose got worse. Huge heart shown by Nuno, but the fight would be stopped before the next round - earning Rasheed Johnson a victory

[Fight 6] (ABO championship bout) Martino Jules vs. Danny Flores 

Possibly the 'boxing clinic" of the night. The intellect and overall ring IQ the flashy Martino Jules was astonishing to say the least. Round 1 can actually describe the majority of the fight by Jules, as the southpaw landed significant left hands at will, utilized eye friendly footwork and defense, and simply dominated. Jules must really love this sport, because the boxer was full of smiles even during the few times he was hit flush.  A clear unanimous decision was earned for Jules, as all three judges scored the fight 60-54.

[Fight 7] Fight 7 Jonathan Torres vs. Jerrod Miner

Round 1, the boxers were feeling their jabs out. Good counters by Miner at the start of the bout, Torres answered back each time with strong combos. This was the tempo set for the rest of the fight, more counters by Miner, but slightly more pressure and effective punching by Torres. Miner appeared desperate for a knockout in the final round, as he charged in throwing everything he had forcing Torres to use his defense and footwork. A strong finish by Torres would lead him to a unanimous decision victory, earning scores of 39-37 and 40-36 by two judges.

[Fight 8] Erik Spring vs. Nicholas Hernandez 

This writer emphasized "fight of the night" with a previous bout, but as the co-main event, the clash between these skilled jr. middleweights proved to have the most energy as well as entertainment. Both southpaws measured their jabs from the opening bell with Spring landing combos, Hernandez pressured well, but also fought effectively on the outside. Body work by both boxers turned into long exchanges until the end of the first round. The tempo was set from that point on, and the crowd roared for the rest of the fight. When Hernandez, or Spring looked to be struggling, the thunderous chants of "Nikki!" Or "Erik!" appeared to wake up the fighters, seemingly giving them extra stamina and punch output. Each round was similar in that sense and the boxers had spent a lot of time fighting in the pocket, landing stark punches until the final round. The fans around me all had mixed opinions on who won, some even calling it a draw. It would be Spring who acquired the unanimous decision with all judges scoring the contest  77-75.

[Fight 9] Frank De Alba vs. Ruben Dario Lopez

The main event of Judgement Day may not be the highlight for most fans who were in attendance, considering there were hours of intense action prior. A somewhat slower start by the boxers, not wasting any energy and picking their punches carefully, Lopez "wore the ear muffs" as he spent a lot of time trying to block De Alba cutting corners with more aggression. De Alba banging the body, then came up top in what could best be described as the early rounds and overall, his aggression was the highlight of the entire fight. Lopez had some flashy footwork in the final rounds, but it was questionable as to why he didn't engage more to win rounds. It was a decisive performance by De Alba and three judges scored the fight 80-70, a clear sweep.

Another one in the books, and overall, a great night of boxing presented by Kings Promotions and Titian Boxing Promotions. Kings will have their next event in Philadelphia, at the 2300 Arena on May 10th for another night of action. The Weigh-In is looking forward to more intensive boxing bouts to come and we can only hope they continue to keep up with the potent atmosphere Judgement Day presented at The Sands Casino.

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Philly fighters battle for title, but Brunson beats Davis via TKO

By Steve Peacock, Ringside

Tyrone Brunson as early as the first round appeared poised to bring to an abrupt end his Jr. Middleweight State Championship boxing title-fight against fellow Philadelphia native Jamaal Davis. After Davis suddenly sustained a brutal right that surprised him (as well as the roaring South Philly audience), Davis attempted to step up his game against the clearly dominant Brunson. But Davis fell short of outperforming the more aggressive Brunson, who emerged victorious by way of TKO and retained his title just one round short of the scheduled 10-round fight.

This main-event contest—the last of 11 bouts on the King’s Promotions/Titans Boxing Promotions card—was one of several fights in which the corners as well as the crowd seemed to demand that the respective aggressor simply bring the match at hand to an abrupt end.

It may have been unwillingness to capitalize on otherwise stunning punches, or perhaps part of a personal strategy to gradually wear down his opponent. No matter what justification might be offered, from an outside-the-ring-looking-in point of view, it seemed logical—or maybe just selfishly preferable— that Brunson should instead leverage those intermittent moments of punch-induced unsteadiness that Davis displayed.

Indeed, by round three someone in the Brunson corner kept hurling a KO-tinged baseball metaphor to their man, repeatedly shouting, “Give me two jabs and a home run! Give me two jabs and home run!”

But such an outcome would not start to come until the end of the eighth, with the fruits of those efforts finally emerging in the ninth.

In the final seconds of round eight, a powerfully thrown Brunson punch planted Davis on his ass, causing referee Gary Rosato to initiate an eight count. The subsequent bell then saved Davis, albeit briefly.

Soon after the ninth had begun, Brunson dropped Davis to the canvas once again. Davis arose, his nose slightly bloodied, and Rosato stopped the fight at the 2:11 mark.

Brunson retains his title and now has a pro boxing record of 28-7-2 with 24 KOs. Davis’s record falls to 18-14-1 with 7 KOs.

In the co-main event of the evening, super-middleweights Joseph George of Houston, Texas, and Oscar Riojas of Monterrey, Mexico, battled it out in a largely lackluster contest that drew repeated groans from the 2300 Arena audience. George initially came out as the aggressor in this match as he landed a few hard shots that elicited a “Read him a bedtime story!” response from the crowd, eager to witness a quick KO.

But in what appeared to be a more egregious failure to capitalize on moments of wobbliness that he inflicted on opponent, George consistently did not follow up on those shots, resulting in many boos and a verbalized “Yawn!” from several hecklers. Riojas nonetheless remained competitive throughout the bout, which went the full eight rounds. The judges ruled unanimously in favor of George, 80-72.

SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS (2)

Nahir Albright (6-1; 1 KO) quickly caught the attention of his opponent, Roy McGill (6-2; 3 KOs), who in the first round remained undaunted by Albright’s swift attack. This attempted battering continued into the second, with Albright cornering and hurling a barrage of blows at McGill, who soon after was taken across the ring where Albright’s punches dropped him to his knees. At 1:10 of the second round, the bout was stopped and Albright declared victor by way of KO.

WELTERWEIGHTS (3)

Philadelphians Rasheed Johnson (5-2, 1 KO) and Vincent Floyd (4-6-1, 2 KOs) went toe-to-toe for all six scheduled rounds of the bout, with Johnson appearing to have the edge over Floyd for most, but not all of the contest. The judges’ scorecards—each 58-56—reflected that arguably uncertain dominance by Johnson, who won by split decision with two judges in favor of him and one against.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

Kendal Cannida (3-1, 1 KO) opened the bout with a sweat-spattering blow to the face of Angel Rivera (4-1, 3 KOs) that hopefully was captured by the multiplicity of photographers at ringside. But all observers of this match needed not to wait long for additional pugilistic and potentially photogenic drama; a Cannida left hook sent Rivera plummeting to the floor, where he had time to ponder his first pro-boxing loss —if, while on his hand and knees in a befuddled condition, he was even capable of such cognitive processing.  The bout was stopped 2:59 after it began.

WELTERWEIGHTS (2)

James Martin (4-0, 1 KO) and Rick Pyle (1-2) went the full four rounds of this bout, which at first seemed like it could go either way until the final seconds of the third, when Martin unleashed multiple shots upon a seemingly startled Pyle. Martin emerged the victor by way of unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring 40-36.

SUPER BANTAMWEIGHTS (2)

Rasheen Brown (3-0) took an early lead over Hugo Rodriguez (0-3), who sustained several powerful shots in the first and briefly was sent to the canvas in the second. In the third, Brown had notably connected eight consecutive shots—all right jabs—to the face of Rodriguez. After four scheduled rounds, Brown won by way of unanimous decision

SUPER BANTAMWEIGHTS (1)

Yueri Andujar’s entered the ring with a limited but perfect three-win, three-KO streak, which came to halt literally at the hands of Weusi Johnson (3-10). The bout was competitive, unofficially measured by the number of gold beads flying from Andujar’s braids that were dangling from the back of this head; in one instance, Johnson hit Andujar so hard that several beads went tumbling to the canvas, while later in the match Andujar hit Johnson with such force that additional beads went traveling, including a few that catapulted past the judge’s table.  Johnson, however, in the fourth and final round had dropped Andujar to his knees. Then, in the final seconds of the bout, Johnson (3-1, 3 KOs) blasted him with two stunning shots. After the bell Johnson was deemed winner by split decision.

SUPER FEATHERWEIGHTS

In the first fight of the event to make it past the first round, Antonio Dubose (10-2-1, 10 KOs) defeated Danny Flores (15-15, 8 KOs) by way of unanimous decision after six rounds, 60-53. The bout likely would have ended sooner had it not been for evasive tactics taken by Flores following multiple thrashings at the hands of Dubose in the second and third. Indeed, it was obvious that Flores purposely kept holding on to Dubose—rather than actually boxing with him—to stave off what otherwise would have been an early defeat. Flores was saved by the bell in the fourth, after Dubose dropped him to his knees as we approached the round’s closing moments. In the sixth, Dubose caused some blood to become visible around his opponent’s right eye, resulting in a brief inspection by the ringside physician. The bout went on briefly before the end of the scheduled sixth round, and Dubose emerged victorious.

SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS (1)

“No decision” (ND) was the outcome of the second bout of the evening, in which Shamar Fulton Banks (1-0-1) appeared to be making progress toward a potential victory over fellow Philadelphian Christopher Burgos (1-4-1, 1 KO). Referee Dave Franciosi called in the ringside physician at the 2:15 mark after Banks unintentionally crashed his head into Burgos and placed a gash in his nose. Ring announcer Mark Fratto explained to the audience that an ND ruling was required since the fight did not make it to the fourth round.

WELTERWEIGHTS (1)

In the opening bout of the night, Jerrico Walton (11-0, 6 KOs) seemingly out of nowhere landed an abrupt punch on Cesar Soriano Berumen (26-41-3, 16 KOs). That shot not only sent Berumen to the floor, but after lifting himself he noticeably limped back to his corner as if a knee or ankle had been injured from that brief journey to the floor.

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King's Promotions Presents Live Pro Boxing - Friday, March 2nd (Philadelphia, PA)

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. 

MW

King's Promotions Presents World Class Pro Boxing Featuring Tyrone Brunson vs. Manny Woods - Friday, December 1st (Philadelphia)

Friday evening's card opened up with a super bantamweight bout between Marcus Bates (8-0-1, 7 KOs) and Antonio Rodriguez (11-20-1, 5 KOs). Bates, an undefeated Philly boxing prospect, appeared to outclass the Mexican veteran throughout the six round contest. Bates landed several big right hands in the first round. Rodriguez attempted to change the momentum of the fight in the second round but Bates, the faster fighter, was able to effectively dodge these blows. Rodriguez, who was looking for a knockout against his opponent, threw and connected on several big hooks in the later rounds. Bates demonstrated his toughness by absorbing these shots and effectively counter-punching. Rodriguez was knocked down by a Bates' left hook to the body in the sixth round, a shot that he was unable to recover from. Rodriguez was counted out, and suffered a knockout defeat at the hands of the 23-year-old Philadelphian.

The second round of the evening featuring Philadelphia's Christopher Burgos (0-2) and Coatesville PA's Gerardo Tiburcio (Martinez) (2-0, 1 KO). The lightweights fought in a four round brawl that at times looked more like a street fight than a boxing match. Both fighters spent a majority of the fight head hunting, which eventually opened up a cut under Burgos' left eye. The matchup was action packed, and proved to be a true crowd pleaser. All three judges saw the fight 39-37, with two ruling in favor of the Phoenixville PAL product, Tiburcio (Martinez), the winner by split decision.

Philadelphia's Romuel Cruz (1-0, 1 KO), who made his professional debut, fought Georgia's Rondarrius Hunter (1-2, 1 KO) in a four round, super bantamweight contest. Hunter was knocked down by a hard left hand to the body in the third round. The bout was stopped at the 2:35 mark of the round, and ended in a TKO victory for Cruz.

The fourth bout of the card featured Colby Madison (5-0-1, 4 KOs) and Randy Easton (4-10-2, 4 KOs) in a four round, heavyweight matchup. In the first round, Easton knocked down his opponent with vicious combo that unfortunately for Easton, contained a low blow. Madison rose from the canvas only to fight for his life as the round came to an end. Madison regained control of the bout in the second round after Easton appeared gassed from over exerting himself in the opening round. A left to Easton's body sent the fighter to one knee in the closing minutes of the second round. The smoked fighter was unable to continue, and the referee called an end to the action at the 2:44 mark of the round.

Heavyweights, Joe Hanks (22-2, 14 KOs) and Joel Caudle (7-1-1, 5 KOs) fought in a six round bout. Caudle, who appeared soft in the abdomen, stepped into the ring looking to preserve his undefeated streak against the Newark, NJ native. Both fighters were hanging onto to one another by the second round, and appeared gassed from over exertion in the third round. Both fighters connected on clean punches, but lacked knockout power. The fighters continued to appear to slow dance into the final round, when Hanks tried valiantly to drop his opponent before the closing bell. Hanks was rewarded for being the more active fighter with a unanimous decision victory (58-56, 60-54 twice).

Wilmington, DE's Kyrone Davis (13-1, 5 KOs) squared off against Costa Rican veteran, Jaime Barboza (19-13, 9 KOs) in a middleweight bout. Davis who is 16 years younger than Barboza stepped into the ring looking for his third straight victory. Davis effectively worked the body of Barboza throughout the contest, but was unable to land the big knockout shot on his opponent, who smiled his way to a unanimous decision defeat. Kyrone Davis won 80-70 on all three judges' score cards.

Popular Philly boxing prospect, Jaron "Boots" Ennis (17-0, 15 KOs) fought Reading's George Sosa (15-11-1, 15 KOs) in an eight round, welterweight contest. Sosa tried to bully the smaller and faster Ennis in the first round to no effect. Ennis came out in the second round as the aggressor. He landed a vicious multi-punch combo that sent Sosa crashing into the neutral corner ropes. Sosa was able to recover from this brutal attack only to be knocked down again later in the round by yet another Ennis multi-punch combo, which included a left upper cut and right hook. The end came for Sosa at the 1:09 mark of the second round with Ennis winning by knockout.

Brandon Robinson (8-1, 6 KOs) fought Chris Brooker (12-5, 5 KOs) fought for the UBF All Americas Super Middleweight Title. This contest was a competitive fight from the opening bell. The two men felt one another out over the course of the first two rounds. Robinson controlled the fight in the third round by landing a series of combos, and pushing his opponent into the ropes. A Robinson left hook to the head appeared to stumble Brooker in the fourth round. The fifth round was marked by a brutal exchange that resulted in a cut under Brooker's left eye. Brooker fought back valiantly in the seventh round, but it was too little, too late, for the Philadelphian who was defeated by unanimous decision on the judges' score cards. (78-74, 79-73, 80-72)

The ninth fight of the card featured local fighter, Omar Douglas (18-2, 13 KOs) and Tucson's Martin Gonzalez (22-10, 14 KOs) in a six round, lightweight matchup. The fight did not last long... A right upper cut dropped Gonzalez in the first round. Gonzalez pulled himself up from the canvas only to be finished off with a Douglas left and right hook to the head and body. The knockout came at the 1:52 mark of the opening round.

Philadelphia's Rasheed Johnson (3-1, 1 KO) defeated Reading's Kashon Hutchinson (3-4, 1 KO) in a four round, welterweight bout. Johnson, who controlled the tempo of the fight from the opening bell, won on all three judges' score cards by a score of 39-37 and 40-36 twice.

The main event featured a super welterweight contest between Tyrone Brunson (26-6-2, 24 KOs) and Manny Woods (16-7-1, 6 KOs). The two men squared off for the vacant UBF International Super Welterweight Title. Brunson, who currently holds the Pennsylvania State Junior Middleweight Title, stepped into the ring looking for his 24th knockout victory. In round three, Brunson connected with a hard right hand to the head of Woods that appeared to stun the Floridian. Through five rounds, Brunson landed a number of big shots on Woods, who demonstrated his toughness by staying on his feet. In the eighth round, Woods was unable to withstand the Brunson onslaught. He was stumbled by a Brunson multi-punch combo, and later a left hand to the face. Woods was unable to answer the bell for the ninth round of a scheduled ten round fight. Brunson walked away the winner by TKO.

Sham Justice (2-0, 2 KOs) fought Jack "Shady" Grady (0-7-1) in the final fight of the evening. Grady who was a fill-in for Latorie Woodberry (1-5-1) was looking for his first professional victory. Unfortunately Friday night was not Shady's night. The referee stopped the fight after a dazed Grady was beaten against the ropes by Justice.

MW

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King's Promotions Presents World Class Pro Boxing - September 29th (Philadelphia, PA)

Friday evening's card opened up with a junior lightweight bout between Maynard Allison (9-2, 6 KOs) and Juan Rodriguez (8-7-1, 6 KOs). Philadelphia's Allison appeared to control the bout until the 3:00 minute mark of the second round, when Allison was struck by a straight overhand right, up the middle, to the head. The Virginian, Rodriguez, walked away the winner by technical knockout in the second round of a scheduled six round bout.

Camden's Robert Irizarry (4-1-1) fought Puerto Rico's Bryan Perez (2-8-1, 1 KO) in a four round, featherweight bout. The bout was highlighted by fireworks in the fourth and final round, when Perez answered the bell throwing a flurry of punches. Irizarry appeared unaffected by the barrage, and spent the rest of the round chasing Perez around the ring. All three judges scored the bout 39 to 37 in favor of the fan favorite, Irizarry.

Upper Darby, Pennsylvania's Brandon Robinson (7-1, 6 KOs) squared off against Virginia's George Sheppard (1-3) in a four round, super middleweight contest. Robinson landed a big shot as the bell rang at the end of the first round. Sheppard fought valiantly in the second round against Robinson, who landed a series of viscous hooks and right overhand punches to his head and body. An accidental collision of heads in the third round briefly stopped the action. Soon after the action resumed, Robinson threw an overhand right that connected with Sheppard's face at the 1:20 mark, which sent him stumbling into the ropes. Sheppard never recovered from the blow and referee, Eric Dali, stopped the contest. This was Robinson's second straight victory by technical knockout at the 2300 Arena. 

The fourth bout featured Erik Spring (10-2-2, 1 KO) and Anthony Prescott (7-7-2, 2 KOs) in a six round, super welterweight bout. Prescott controlled the first three rounds of the bout, and there was a good exchange of punches at the end of the second round between the fighters. Despite landing the more effective punches in the first four rounds of the scheduled six round contest, Prescott appeared to tire in the fifth round. This was not enough for Spring to turn the tide of the bout, and he went on to lose the contest by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the bout 59-55, with a third judge scoring the contest 58-56.

Super lightweights, Darius Ervin (4-1) and David Gonzales (8-2-2, 2 KOs) fought in the fifth contest of the evening. An accidental headbutt in the second round resulted in cuts above each fighters' eyes that required examination by the ringside physicians. The ringside physician who examined Gonzalez called an end to the action after examining the cut above the fighter's left eye. The bout was officially stopped at 1:53 of the second round, and declared a no decision due to an accidental headbutt.

Jerome Conquest (9-2, 1 KO) fought Carlos Rosario (9-3, 1 KO) for the WBF North American Junior Lightweight Title. Conquest scored a knockdown with a big, left upper cut in the fifth round of a scheduled eight round bout. Rosario got back up to his feet and delivered a hard low blow to Conquest, the Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia native. Rosario went on to control the sixth and seventh rounds. Conquest finished the bout with a strong flurry of punches to the head and body of Rosario. After eight rounds of action, Conquest was crowned the new WBF North American Junior Lightweight with a unanimous decision over the Pennsauken, New Jersey native, Rosario. The judges scored the bout 78-73, 77-74, and 77-74.

Christian Carto's (12-0, 11 KOs) knockout streak came to an end this evening in the main event. However, the Philadelphia bantamweight still shined in his first eight round professional bout. Carto faced Mexico's Alonso Melendez (14-2, 12 KOs) in a professional contest that went the distance, despite Carto decisively winning every round of the contest. Carto effectively landed a series of powerful punches to the head and body throughout the affair, but his southpaw opponent courageously absorbed the damage and stayed on his feet. Carto's solid performance in the bout was reflected in all three judges' scores of 80-72.

Following the concluison of the main event, there were two additional four round bouts. The first contest featured Amir Shabazz (4-2, 1 KO) and Alan Lawrence (2-0, 2 KOs) in a light heavyweight contest. In the first round, Shabazz was knocked out by a Lawrence left hook to the head at the 1:24 mark. The Philadelphia native hit his head hard on the canvas, and had to be attended to by a ringside physician. He was able to walk out of the ring under his own strength after being examined by the physician. The second contest featured Philadelphia welterweights, Rasheed Johnson (2-1, 1 KO) and Demetrius Williams (1-4). Johnson scored a knockout at the 0:56 mark of the first round after he connected with an overhand right to the head of his opponent.

MW

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