Results from Live!

By Luis A. Cortes III, Ringside

Live! Casino Hotel and Casino hosted a sold-out crowd for their inaugural professional boxing event promoted by Joe Hand Promotions.  Top Rank Promotions heavyweight prospect Sonny Canto was the main attraction of the event that marked the 50th year of Joe Hand Promotions.  Hand, once a member of Cloverly Inc. that guided the career of Hall-of-Fame legend Joe Frazier, was honored before the main event.  

South Philadelphia native Sonny "The Branco" Conto (8-0)(7 KO's) who has spent time in training camps with Tyson Fury looked to impress his hometown crowd.  Conto started things out with a measured pace behind the jab but started to exchange with Joel Caudle (8-6-2)(5 KO's) who was a game opponent as he landed his own quick shots on the inside.  Caudle was able to do some good work and push the young prospect until Conto started to use his better skills by using his jab and solid movement.  Conto even switched to southpaw and answered the early test from the game Caudle when he landed a strong left hook combination that floored Caudle.

Caudle rose to his feet and tried to answer the count, but clearly hurt, the referee stopped the contest in the last ten seconds of the third round.            

  

Gerardo Martinez (5-2)(1 KO) and Christopher Burgos (3-4-1)(1 KO) wasted no time and got right to work as they willingly exchanged combinations to start what turned out to be an exciting first round.  The action continued through three rounds with both fighters landing power shots.  Burgos had a mouse form under his left eye while Martinez had to deal with a busted lip. Burgos continued to apply pressure on Martinez landing quality punches to the body and head.  Every time Martinez tried to counter Burgos responded clearly winning the trades.   

After six rounds it was clear that Burgos deserved the victory.  Fans in attendance showed their appreciation for the six rounds of hard work by applauding both fighters after the final bell.  58-56 and 59-55 were the scores all in favor of the winner Christopher Burgos.     

Daiyaan Butt (9-1)(4 KO's) and Seifullah Wise (4-2)(1 KO) both fighting out of Philadelphia started their six-round Jr. welterweight fight right away with Wise landing power shots that hurt Butt.  Fighting out of the southpaw stance, Wise was able to land right hooks while avoiding Butt's counters.  Wise was penalized for hitting behind the head at the end of the opening round.  

Butt began to warm up and landed body shots that started to change the momentum of the fight.  That was until referee Benji Esteves called a halt to the fight at the 53-second mark of round three.  Esteves had warned Wise constantly before finally stopping the fight.

Jeremiah Kendrick (1-0)(1 KO) won his professional debut with a first-round stoppage over the out-gunned Tyrone Lews (0-2). 

Bilal Quintyne (2-0) was able to win a four-round majority decision over Maurice Burke (1-1)   A hard straight right hand landed late in the fourth and final round that helped Quintyne win the close decision.  It was a back and forth contest and it was reflected that way on the judge's scorecards.  Quintyne won on two of the cards 39-37.  While the other judge scored the fight a draw at 38-38.

Light heavyweights started the nights' action with Tariq Green (1-0) winning a four-round decision over Tunde Fatiregun (1-1)(1 KO).   

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Meet the Authors of Boxing in Atlantic City

By TWI Staff

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Boxing in Atlantic City - Now Available!

By TWI Staff

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Russell Peltz and Ray Didinger: A Hall of Fame Friendship

By TWI Staff

Our very own Luis Cortes teamed up with The Sweet Science to bring you another great boxing article about the friendship that exists between two Philly legends, J Russell Peltz and Ray Didinger. 

Russell Peltz and Ray Didinger: A Hall of Fame Friendship

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Results from the Third Installment of Boardwalk Boxing

By Frank Bartolini

On Saturday, October 30th, Hard Hitting Promotions promoted its third show, part of a monthly series, at The Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City. Originally announced as ten scheduled bouts, it dwindled down to five by fight night. In this case, the third time was not a charm. 

Shinard Bunch of Philadelphia blasted out his opponent, Wilfrido Buelvas, Barranquilla, Colombia, in one minute fifty-eight seconds of round one. Entering the contest as a heavy favorite, the chiseled Brunch, 146 lbs., did not take his training lightly, regardless of the quality of his foe.

When the adversaries squared off at the opening bell, Buelvas, 147.75 lbs., circled and tried to keep Bunch at bay by pumping his jab. With little more than a minute expired, Brunch clipped Buelvas with a right to the head that put the Colombian on his tailbone. Gamely rising to his feet, Buelvas was sent airborne when Brunch landed a right hand laser to Buelvas' face. Once gravity brought Buelvas back to the mat, he was out cold and crumpled. Referee Eric Dali did not bother to count and waved the contest off as the ring physician s rushed into the ring. The power punching Brunch is now 17-1, 15 KOs, and Buelvas falls to 22-15, 16 KOs. 

As a professional for just over two years, Bunch has developed quickly under the tutelage of trainer Chino Rivas and the guidance of his manager J Russell Peltz. 

Felony assault charges could have been brought against Anthony Demonte of Staten Island, NY. Demonte, 144.5 lbs., mugged Nicholas Collins of Anchorage Alaska. It took only twenty nine seconds for Demonte to mash tomato can Collins into sauce. Demonte is now 4-0, 4 KO’s. Collins, who is not a pro boxer and should not be allowed to fight again, is 0-2. 

After numerous delays and down time, only two of the other three scheduled bouts took place. 

Ten minutes before Shauncy Perry's scheduled six rounder was about to begin, paramedics had to be called to his locker room when the Jonesboro, Arkansas native was showing signs of a heart attack. Perry was taken to the hospital and released with a clean bill of health. 

Dezmond Lucas of Bronx, NY pitched a shutout, outpointing debuting Cesar Espinel-Maldonado, Puerto Rico. Lucas, 147.75, improves to 3-0, 1 KO. Willing participant Maldonado drops to 0-1. 

In a decision that was booed by the crowd of approximately 200 people, Justice Bland of Brooklyn, NY won a unanimous six round decision over Geovanny Martinez of Chicago, Illinois. Moving forward Martinez, 122.5 lbs., beat Bland, 123 lbs., to the punch as he backed his foe up throughout the match. Judges Mark Consentino saw it 60-54. Judges Tony Lundy and Robin Taylor's cards were both 58-56 for Bland, who is now 5-1, 2 KOs. Martinez is 1-1, 1 KO. This scribe had it 59-55 for Martinez.

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Robert Carmody fought for his country in the boxing ring and on the battlefield

By TWI Staff

Our very own Matt Ward teamed up with We Are The Mighty to bring you a great article about American hero Robert Carmody! 

Robert Carmody fought for his country in the boxing ring and on the battlefield

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Gravesite of Robert Carmody.

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Jaron Ennis: My Time Is Coming

By TWI Staff

Our very own Luis Cortes teamed up with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to bring you another great boxing article about Jaron "Boots" Ennis! 

Jaron Ennis: My Time Is Coming

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Arcadia Publishing Presents "Boxing in Atlantic City"

By TWI Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

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Boxer Herring part of proud fraternity of world champions who served

By TWI Staff

Our very own Matt Ward teamed up with We Are The Mighty to bring you a great boxing article about Jamel Herring and many other great boxing world champions who served in the U.S. military! 

Boxer Herring part of proud fraternity of world champions who served

Jamel "Semper Fi" Herring

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Carl & Jersey Joe: The Two Fighting Artists

By Mike I.

They may call boxing “the sweet science” but it is also the “art” of self-defense. There is a reason for both of those terms, and trust me, boxing is as much of an art form as anything else humans have done to express themselves in history.

Now, at first glance many may ask, “What does boxing and self-defense have to do with art or self-expression?” Simple, if you are like most people there is a good chance you have some feeling of fighting in your heart, because to just survive we need to be able to fight. Not always physically, but mentally and emotionally. At some point in our day, we all decide to keep fighting the good fight.

There are not many places where you will see such a physical expression of this truth than in a boxing ring. You see two people coming together to expresses this truth and, in many ways, express themselves with the aggressive, physical, and artistic form that is boxing.

I did not always see boxing as a physical art form like dance. Like most that love boxing, I got interested in the sport due to its filter for aggression.

I was not aware of the true artistic quality of the sport at first, because like most you think it is only about how hard you hit and how strong you are. But as the great late trainer of Mike Tyson, Cus’ D’Amato once said, “Boxing is 90% in the mind.”

It takes a very creative and expressive mind to truly learn how to box well. I started seeing the real beauty in boxing as not only the ability to make your opponent miss, but the ability to learn how to setup your own attack through the most subtle of graceful moves and thinking. At that moment, I began to see the true beauty of Muhammad Ali, Sugary Ray Robinson, and many other great boxers.

One of the most beautiful to watch, a real poet with fists, who was poetry in motion, was Jersey Joe Walcott. Before the great Ali danced around the ring, there was Jersey Joe, who used shuffling, fast hands, and great timing to give some of the true greats of boxing, like Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano, a difficult fight. Jersey Joe showed how great boxers can be when they use their whole body to defend themselves, while setting up their own attack.

Jersey Joe proved boxers are physical performance artists when they are living up to their full potential. He was once named the 20^th greatest boxer of any weight class by the legendary boxing writer Bert Sugar.

There was another man that I discovered through my obsession with boxing. That man is Carl LeVotch. Carl is from the same geographical area that Jersey Joe represented as a world champion, Camden, New Jersey. Also, his blood line is rich, with an athletic father who actually sparred the great Jersey Joe. Carl, who was a boxer in his youth, shows one can not only be artistic in the ring, but can also be a better artist outside of the ring from the experiences one has in the ring.

Carl just finished his latest project, which he has been working on the last year, and I’m certain he considers his “magnum opus.” This latest project is the Jersey Joe Walcott statue that will be unveiled this Saturday, October 16, 2021 in Camden. This work demonstrates how in his lifetime, a man can be a true poet warrior and fighting artist. There have been other poet warrioers and fighting artists throughout history like the great Ali, who could write poetry and was articulate, and the great Japanese Samurai, philosopher, and writer Miyamoto Musashi, who wrote The Book of Five Rings, and talks about the importance of the training involved with the Katana. Musashi wrote “The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”

That quote I think sums up Carl perfectly. He used the discipline and vigor that he had learned from boxing to become a much better artist. Because once you learn how to fight, you never lose the important lesson that it teaches about being a fighter in every aspect of your life. Carl is a true fighter, and artist, who fights to make his art out of the ring as great, as Jersey Joe fought to make his art great in the ring.

I can’t think of a more poetic justice than the best heavyweight from New Jersey being honored by the best fighting artist in my eyes, who happens to hail from the same place as Jersey Joe.  

I know Jersey Joe would be just as proud on Saturday as he was the night he knocked out Ezzard Charles to officially become a world heavy champion from New Jersey. As proud as Jersey Joe would have been, I am even more proud that I can call Mr. LeVotch my friend.

If you want to be a part of an event that will immortalize one of the all-time greats of heavyweight boxing, head to the Camden waterfront this Saturday afternoon.

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