By Tony Penecale (Ringside)
In a matchup of power-punching heavyweights, local favorite Travis Kauffman and upset-minded Aaron Lyons, engaged in a back-and-forth, sometimes exciting, sometimes sloppy and slow-paced, battle at the Valley Forge Casino in King of Prussia, PA
Kauffman, coming off a six-month layoff and with only one bout under his belt in the last year, struggled with a recent 30 lb. weight loss in the last six weeks, while Lyons was back in the ring after being out of action for over 16 months.
Kauffman, 233, Reading PA, started slow wary of Lyons’s game-changing power. While Kauffman circled behind his jab, Lyons, 225, Easton TX, proceeded cautiously, equally wary of his opponent’s power-punching prowess.
Kauffman started to find his rhythm in the 2nd round, attacking Lyons to the body, and creating openings to land an assortment of power shots to the head. It was Lyons’s turn in the 3rd round as he weathered the body attack and started landing his own power punches.
Lyons focused on applying more pressure in the 4th round but was momentarily stunned by a hard Kauffman right hand. Kauffman followed up on the attack but by round’s end, he was showing serious signs of fatigue.
Even though fatigued, Kauffman still carried the action throughout the 5th round; throwing short uppercuts that broke through Lyons’s wider punches and repeatedly crashed against his jaw.
The action in the 6th and 7th rounds was what the crowd was itching for. Both combatants stood toe-to-toe and exchanged thudding body shots so hard, it sounded like Rocky punching on a side of beef, with Lyons getting the better of most of the exchanges.
With the fight seemingly up-for-grabs in the 8th and final round, Kauffman seized the momentum in the last 30 seconds, nailing Lyons with several stinging right hands that had the sweat flying off his head at the final bell.
The unanimous scores ranged from accurate to absurd as George Hill scored 77-75, Alan Rubenstein 78-74, and Dave Braslow 80-72, all in favor of Kauffman. Fight News Unlimited had the bout 77-75 for Kauffman, with his late flurry in the 8th round being the difference.
Kauffman improves to 25-1 (18) while Lyons falls to a deceptive 12-13-1 (9).
The main undercard bout featured a battle for Puerto Rican bragging rights between Frank Santos DeAlba and Luis Esquillin. The crowd was split with supporters for both fighters shouting encouragement in both English and Spanish.
Both Southpaws met in mid ring and the opening bell and Esquillin, 130, Philadelphia, started the action by landing several hard left hands, snapping DeAlba’s head back.
DeAlba, 132, Reading PA, quickly warmed to the task and started landing effective counter punches in the 2nd round, and as Esquillin’s head snapped back repeatedly, the tape the held his dreadlocks together in a ponytail slowly started to unravel.
While the scene was reminiscent of the infamous Paulie Malinaggi moment from a few years ago, Esquillin was able to escape the humiliation of having his hair cut mid-fight. However, he was not able to escape the mounting pressure DeAlba continued to apply.
With his hair re-taped, Esquillin landed a hard left the briefly buckled DeAlba in the 4th round but it was DeAlba back in control in the 5th round, hurting Esquillin with body punches and sending him back to the corner with blood leaking from his nose.
DeAlba was the fresher fighter throughout the 6th round, doing the better work while Esquillin gamely traded until the final bell.
DeAlba improves his record to 8-1-2 (3) while Esquillin sees his record fall to 2-5-1.
In other bouts:
Out to impress his enthusiastic fan base, Miguel Cartagena attacked the taller Eduardo Melendez, battering him over four rounds.
Cartagena, 115, Philadelphia stormed out of his corner at the opening bell and started winging bombs at Melendez, 118, San Juan PR, who was content to play the defensive role. While successful in controlling the action, Cartagena often made the mistake of smothering his punches and not giving himself enough room to get his full power into his punches.
Cartagena finally broke through and hurt Melendez in the 3rd round and battered him with a relentless attack. Melendez, hurt but proud, showed a lot of heart in surviving the 4th round and even landed a few stiff counter punches before the final bell.
Cartagena’s work was rewarded by unanimous scores of 40-36, 39-36, and 39-37.
Cartagena remains undefeated at 8-0 (3) while Melendez falls to 4-14 (1).
In a closely contested, hard-to-score contest, Damon Allen was able to escape with a unanimous decision over Sammy Omar Quinones.
Allen, 135, Philadelphia, started the bout by boxing behind his long jab but Quinones, 137, York PA, was able to find success with hard counter punches that landed flush on Allen’s jaw.
While Quinones continued to apply the pressure in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Allen was able to set his feet and land good counter punches. It was Allen who landed at a higher volume while Quinones was rougher on the inside.
The 4th and final round saw Quinones break through and land the harder punches while Allen continued to stay on the outside and use his jab, even landing a few low blows in the process.
All three judges favored Allen by scores of 39-37 and a very curious 40-36 (twice).
Allen improves to 3-0 (1) while Quinones falls to 2-2 (1).
The most entertaining performer on the show was turned in by the charismatic Khalib Whitmore, as he came to the ring for the night’s opening bout, wearing a costume afro wig, sunglasses, and necklace, with he and his entourage performing a synchronized dance routine to the song “Rollercoaster.”
The ring walk took longer than the actual bout as Whitmore, 178, Philadelphia, attacked the hapless Richard McCombs, 179, Washington DC, who came into the bout with the distinction of have all four of his previous bouts end in the 1st round. The song “Rollercoaster” was appropriate as within seconds Whitmore sent McCombs into his first plummet to the canvas with a barrage of body punches. McCombs ascent to his feet was short lived as a dynamic straight left sent him down the canvas where he was counted out by referee Blair Talmadge.
It was fortunate that there was a brief delay after the fight as it took nearly 10 minutes for the likable Whitmore to make it back to the dressing room as he stopped to greet fans, take photos, and chat it up with anybody and everybody .
Whitmore is now 2-0 (1) while McCombs keeps his record of one-round fights intact and is now 1-5 (1).
Unfortunately two anticipated matchups had to be scratched due to injuries. The original main event between up-and-coming prospect Naim Nelson and rugged veteran Ryan Belasco was cancelled when Nelson broke his hand in training. Also, the popular Kamarah Pasley saw his bout fall through when Lamont Capers withdrew only one day before their scheduled meeting.
Nelson and Pasley were still both in attendance, mingling with the fans. As Nelson addressed the crowd, rival Philadelphian Tevon Farmer entered the ring and asked the fans if they would be interested in seeing the potential matchup between the lightweight competitors.
The fans were also treated to a rare appearance by one of Philadelphia’s most popular fighters, former Olympic Gold Medalist and world champion, Meldrick “TNT” Taylor. Also on hand was a legend in Norristown boxing, Hank Cisco, who addressed the fans and told them if they ever get a traffic ticket in Norristown to just mention his name and then pay the fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment