King's Promotions Presents Premier Boxing Champions: Mario Barrios vs. Naim Nelson - Tuesday, September 19th (Bethlehem, PA)

Tuesday night's eight bout card from Sands Bethlehem Event Center kicked off with a four round, super lightweight bout between Jeffrey Torres (4-0, 2 KOs) and Latorie Woodberry (1-5-1). Woodberry, fighting out of Roanoke, was knocked down three times over the course of the first round of action by the Team DSG backed fighter, Torres. The first knockdown was the result of a devastating series of left hooks to the body. The second knockdown came after Torres connected on a left hook to the head of Woodberry. The TKO came at the 1:59 mark of the first round, after Torres landed a right hook to Woodberry’s head. Gary Rosato served as the referee for this bout.

Antuanne Russell (2-0, 2 KOs), of the Russell boxing family, came out at the opening bell swinging for the head and body of his veteran, Mexican opponent, Jesus Lule (11-24-1, 2 KOs). Lule took a great deal of damage from the Russell hooks and upper cuts that landed with precision and power to his head and body. The super lightweight bout was stopped by referee, Benjy Esteves Jr., at the 2:38 mark of the first round of a scheduled four round contest. 

Bantamweight prospect, Antonio Russell (9-0, 6 KOs), younger brother of Gary Russell Jr. and older brother of Antuanne, squared off against Mexico’s Christian Renteria (7-6, 6 KOs) in a six round contest. Russell effectively worked the body of Renteria in the first round, but the heavier fighter (120.2 lbs.) managed to survive the round. Russell controlled the second round by landing a series of powerful combos that appeared to hurt Renteria. Despite the damage he took during the round, the exhausted, Renteria fought valiantly to the end of round bell. Renteria came out swinging in the third round, landing several hooks to Russell’s body and head, but Russell again took control of the round. Russell preserved his undefeated record by landing a right hand to Renteria’s chin. Renteria took a knee and appeared dazed prior to referee, Benjy Estevez Jr. waiving off the fight at 1:26 of the third round. 

Scranton’s Ryan Wilczak (5-0, 3 KOs) fought Allentown’s Devin McMaster (1-3) in a scheduled four round, junior middleweight contest that only lasted 95 seconds. McMaster was first knocked down by a right hook to the head. Despite still appearing dazed, McMaster pulled himself off of the canvas to continue fighting. Wilczak continued his onslaught and dropped McMaster with a left hook to the head at the 1:35 mark of the first round. McMaster who was sprawled out on the canvas, was helped to his feet following the knockout defeat. 

The fourth fight featured featherweights, Juan Sanchez (3-0, 1 KO) of Bethlehem, PA and Gorwar Karyah (1-1, 1 KO) of Philadelphia. In the opening round, Sanchez knocked Karyah down with a left hook to the head. Karyah recovered to finish the round, which was scored in favor of Sanchez. The final round was highlighted by two brutal exchanges at the beginning and end of the round in the red corner. Two of the judges scored the bout 40-37, with one judge scoring it 39-36, all in favor of Sanchez. 

The televised portion of the card on FS1 began with a light heavyweight contest between Earl Newman (10-0-1, 7 KOs) and Paul Parker (8-2-1, 4 KOs). This fight was a great matchup to open up the national broadcast because it was highly competitive, with both fighters landing big shots throughout the eight round bout. There were fireworks in the third round when both fighters exchanged shots in the middle of the ring. Parker was the aggressor in the fourth round, and appeared to hurt Newman with a big overhand right to the head. The round ended after a series of big punches by each fighter. The final four rounds were very close, and the judge’s scorecards reflected this fact. The judges scored the bout, 79-73 for Newman, 77-75 for Parker, and a 76-76 draw, with the fight ending in a split decision draw.

Lightweights, Thomas Velasquez (9-0-1, 5 KOs) and Tyrome Jones (4-2-1, 1 KO) fought in the second televised bout of the evening. From the opening bell, the fight was far more competitive than most boxing analysts may have thought it would be. Velasquez, a Philadelphia fighter, put on display his speed and endurance. Velasquez appeared to have problems with Jones’ style on several occasions throughout the contest. Jones controlled the final round of the contest by landing big shots to the chin and body of Velasquez. Both Jones and Velasquez captured a judge’s scorecard with a score of 59-55, with one judge scoring the bout a 57-57 draw. The fight ended in a split decision draw.

The main event featured super lightweights, Mario Barrios (20-0, 12 KOs) and Naim Nelson (13-4, 1 KO). Philadelphia’s Nelson controlled the first two rounds of the contest, before injuring his left shoulder in the third round. The ringside physician checked Nelson twice during the third and fourth rounds to ensure that he was able to continue. Despite fighting with one good arm from the third round on, Nelson demonstrated solid defense and fought valiantly until the fight was halted by the ringside physician at the 1:41 mark of the seventh round of a scheduled ten round fight. The fight was called off after San Antonio's Barrios hit Nelson on his left, injured shoulder. Gary Rosato served as the referee for the main event on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).

MW

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King's Promotions Presents World Class Pro Boxing Featuring Carlos Rosario vs. Joshua Davis - Friday, May 19th (Philadelphia, PA)

On Friday, May 19th, I covered King's Promotions Presents World Class Pro Boxing Featuring Carlos Rosario vs. Joshua Davis from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The opening bout of the evening featured welterweights Vincent Floyd (3-2-1, 2 KOs) of Philadelphia and Rafael Montalvo (3-6-0, 3 KOs) of St. Clair, PA. In the third round of a scheduled four round contest, Floyd sent Montalvo to the canvas with a straight left to the head. Montalvo recovered from this knock down, only to be knocked down again by a Floyd straight left at the 1:26 mark of the round. Floyd won his third professional bout via TKO.

In a clash of winless junior welterweights, Demetrius Williams (1-2-0) defeated Antonio Allen (0-6-0) via a fourth round unanimous decision. All three judges had the bout scored 40-36 in favor of Williams.

In his professional debut, Gerardo Martinez (1-0-0, 1 KO), training out of the Phoenixville Area PAL, made quick work of Philadelphia’s Titos Gosalves (0-2-0). Martinez dropped Gosalves in the first round with an over hand right to the head. The referee called an end to the action at the 1:47 mark of the first round of a scheduled four round junior welterweight contest.

The fourth bout of the evening featured lightweights Steven Ortiz (6-0-0, 2 KOs) of Philadelphia and Hector Rivera (3-2-0, 2 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico in a six round contest. Rivera was knocked down by an Ortiz combo at the end of the first round. He recovered to answer the bell at the beginning of the second round. Midway through the second round, he was knocked down again with a left hook to the head. Rivera recovered from the knock down, only to be TKO’d by a series of devastating hooks at the 2:37 mark of the round.

Philadelphia’s Ty Crawley (7-0-0) squared off against Virginia’s Juan Rodriguez (7-7-0, 5 KOs) in a six round junior welterweight bout. Crawley controlled the bout through six rounds of boxing and walked away the winner via unanimous decision. Two judges had the bout scored 60-54, and the third scored the contest 59-55.

The sixth bout on the card featured lightweights Thomas Velasquez (9-0-0, 5 KOs) and Brandon Sanudo (5-4-0, 2 KOs). Velasquez, who is promoted by DSG Promotions, dominated the early rounds, and spent the later rounds chasing his Mexican opponent. The judges scored the bout 60-53, 60-54, and 60-54, all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Philadelphia’s Thomas Velasquez.

In the co-main event of the evening, light heavyweights Amir Shabazz (4-1-0, 1 KO), a local fan favorite, and Antowyan Aikens (11-3-1, 1 KO) squared off in a six round bout. The fight remained competitive through six rounds of action with the decision going to the judges’ scorecards. One judged scored the bout 60-54, while the other two scored the bout 58-56, all in favor by the winner by unanimous decision Antowyan Aikens of Atlantic City.

The main event of the evening featured an eight round lightweight bout between Carlos Rosario (7-2-0, 4 KOs) and Joshua Davis (11-1-0, 5 KOs). From the outset, Davis was the more aggressive fighter. He landed a powerful body shot in the second round that appeared to hurt Rosario. Later in the second round, Davis connected with a left hook to the head that dropped Rosario. The stunned Rosario managed to get up and finish the round. In the seventh round, Rosario was knocked down again, after Davis’ right hand struck him in the head. Rosario managed to pull himself off the canvas only to be TKO’d by a brutal multi-punch combo that  left him dazed and defenseless. Referee Gary Rosato called a stop to the action at the 1:49 mark of the seventh round.

MW