Philadelphia Talent

BAM on Boxing      Last Saturday, New Mexico’s Austin Trout defended his WBA junior middleweight title against Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto and became the first boxer to beat Cotto in his adopted home of Madison Square Garden.      Trout, a slick southpaw, was the bigger fighter and he kept his composure, scoring an impressive 12-round decision.  For boxing fans, New York was the place to be last Saturday.  There were two press conferences featuring two big announcements by Philadelphia fighters.      First:  Gabriel Rosado will challenge for the WBA middleweight title against Gennady Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, on Jan. 19 at Madison Square Garden.      Second:  Danny Garcia will defend his WBA/WBC junior welterweight titles against  Zab Judah, of Brooklyn, NY, on Feb. 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  Looks like Philadelphia will be spending some time in New York early next year.      Coming up this weekend, however, the Philadelphia fan base will be right where it belongs--in North Philadelphia.  The City of Brotherly Love’s Bryant Jennings will defend his unbeaten record and his USBA Heavyweight Title against big-punching Bowie Tupou, of Tonga, in the 12-round main event Saturday evening at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall, Broad & Montgomery. Junior lightweight Eric Hunter also fights in his hometown against undefeated Mexican Jerry Belmontes in the 10-round semifinal.         NBC Sports Network will televise those two fights and there will be seven preliminary matches which begin at 7.15 pm.      Saturday’s undercard is loaded with raw Philadelphia talent.  Three of the nine bouts feature Philly vs. Philly, neighborhood vs. neighborhood.      The al-local light-heavyweight bout between Todd Unthank-May and Taneal Goyco is a rematch of their Sept. 14 contest won by Unthank-May via decision.  It seems like most fighters starting out cut their teeth best when fighting other local fighters.      Featherweight Anthony Burgin, who recently signed with Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc., makes his second appearance Saturday in an all-North Philadelphia matchup with Kenneth Brown, who makes his pro debut.  Burgin looks special.  He was very impressive in his pro debut two months ago at the National Guard Armory.      I am looking forward to seeing North Philadelphia junior welterweight Hasan Young fight for the first time in his hometown.  Young is 1-1-1 and has the heart of an old-school Philadelphia fighter.  He already has faced one strong prospect in Emanuel Colon, a fight that Young took without hesitation and lost in an all-out brawl.  Young also boxed a draw with Jerome Rodriguez on 24 hours’ notice in Rodriguez’ hometown of Bethlehem, PA.   With time to train for Saturday’s fight, Young takes on Josue Rivera, of South Philadelphia.      Jesse Hard Work Hart also makes his hometown debut.  Hart, son of legendary middleweight Eugene Cyclone Hart, was an outstanding amateur and he is 4-0, 4 K0s, as a super middleweight. He fights Steven Tyner, of Albany, NY.  Alex Barbosa, who has two graduate degrees from Temple, returns to campus against Joshua Arocho, of Vineland, NJ, in a featherweight contest.  Barbosa wants to show his fan base that he is an attribute to the Temple Made campaign.      Two, all-Hispanic, six-round lightweight fights should steal the show.  Angel Ocasio, of North Philadelphia, takes on Esteban Rodriguez, of Lebanon, PA, andJason Sosa, of Camden, NJ, meets Isaac Suarez, of Lancaster, PA.  These are two intense fights.  The combined record of these four prospects is 25-5-6.      This looks like the best show of the year in Philadelphia. The author is a Temple University graduate who is now a part of Peltz Boxing.  Follow us on twitter @Peltzboxing and @BamBoxingInc