Date: Friday, August 5, 2016
Venue: 2300 Arena – Philadelphia, PA
Promoters: Marshall Kauffman—King’s Promotions
Coverage: ESPN – Premier Boxing Champions
Commentators: Teddy Atlas & Joe Tessitore
Ring Announcer: Ray Flores
Referee: Shawn Clark, Eric Dali & Gary Rosato
Photos: www.christoneyphotography.com & Jared Toney
If Don Elbaum wasn’t born, we would have created him! Never in the history of boxing has there ever been anyone like Elbaum—teenage boxing promoter—prize-fighter fighting in one of his own shows as a substitute—matchmaking and promoting on every continent on the globe—introducing Don “Only in America” King to the world of the sweet science! And nobody knows his age! Legend has it that Elbaum matched Cain vs. Abel, David vs. Goliath, The Hatfields vs The McCoys and the East Coast vs. the West Coast! I am fortunate that he was the matchmaker at the Legendary Blue Horizon. For three years 2007 – 2010 I arrived early before every show so I could get a chance to talk to the legend. A great storyteller, Elbaum recounted events with vivid detail, color and humor that left you flabbergasted. This is truly a man who knows everybody and has worked with every notable personality in the sport of boxing. Thus, it was great seeing my friend and boxing icon at ringside for tonight’s show. I wasn’t the only person coming up to shake his hand and get a picture.
In the scheduled ten-round main event, undefeated nineteen year-old super-middleweight sensation David “El Bandera Roja” Benavidez (15 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 14 kos) ventured all the way from his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to face Denis “Momma’s Boy” Douglin (20 wins – 4 losses – 0 draws – 13 kos) Las Vegas, Nevada by way of Marlboro, New Jersey. Douglin who began and fought most of his career as a junior-middleweight was at a noticeably size and power disadvantage which proved to be a decisive factor in the outcome.
The 6 feet 2 inch Benavidez joined the punch-for-pay ranks at the tender age of sixteen and was forced to ply his trade in Mexico fighting seven times until he turned eighteen and met the age requirement to compete in the United States. He towered over the 5 feet 8 inches Douglin – nine years his senior. Not only was Benavidez the bigger man but he was also the stronger fighter.
Douglin captured the opening round boxing beautifully from the southpaw stance landing an overhand left with Benavidez pressing the action trying to adjust to his adversary. The second round was close as Douglin stood toe-to-toe with Benavidez—the precursor to his inevitable demise. I gave the busier Douglin the round.
Benavidez found his stride in the third round and starting raking Douglin to the body with some hard shots turning the tide, piling up round after round. But, the resilient Douglin has never been deficient in the area of intestinal fortitude and fought valiantly. However, Benavidez’s punches were much harder and were taking a toll on the elder statesman. Douglin barely made it out of the sixth round as Benavidez pinned him on the rope and unleashed from his arsenal with referee Rosato on the verge of stopping the bout with the bell giving Douglin a respite and another round.
In the seventh round the ropes collapsed as Douglin leaned on Benavidez. It was fortuitous for Douglin as it took approximately four minutes for the ring crew to tighten the ropes and the action resumed. Douglin pinned Benavidez again on the ropes and landed a few combinations capturing the round on my scorecard.
Benavidez righted the ship and took the next round and won the ninth round10-8 sending Douglin to the canvas flat on his back with a double left uppercut combination with barely ten seconds remaining in the round. No surprise that Douglin – cut from the same cloth of courage as Smokin’ Joe Frazier – beat the count and was up at seven and had his gloves dusted off right before the gong sounded concluding the round.
The great trainer Eddie Futch once told me over breakfast about the number of ring deaths that he witnessed and how they impacted him. He believed that it was best to stop a fight one minute too early instead of one minute too late. With that rationale, it was ill-advised for Douglin’s trainer—his mother Saphya Douglin—to send her charge and son out for the tenth and final round in a fight that he was simply out-gunned— behind on the cards by a wide margin—and had been on the canvas the previous round. Nevertheless, stranger things have happened and there have been the rare cases in which boxers behind on the scorecards were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the final round.
The gong sounded for the last round and Benavidez met Douglin in the center of the ring. He was able to get Douglin on the ropes with a combination including a right hook that hurt him forcing referee Rosato to call a halt at 45 seconds. Benavidez was declared the winner by technical knockout.
Philly junior-welterweight Naim “The Dream” Nelson (13 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 1 ko) took the fight on a few days’ notice when undefeated Alejandro Luna (20 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 15 kos) Bellflower, California discovered that for whatever reason his scheduled opponent would be unable to honor their contract. Thus, Nelson who is always in the gym stepped in as a last minute substitute in the scheduled 10-round welterweight co-main event.
Despite the overwhelming advantage in power, Nelson met Luna in the middle of the ring at the opening bell and banged toe-to-toe at a frenetic pace attempting to end the fight.
Back and forth they went with each combatant hell-bent on breaking the will of the other. It was a close round – wrong strategy – but Nelson took the opening stanza. Luna went back to his corner with a swollen left eye that wouldn’t be a factor for the remainder of the contest.
The action resumed in the second round at the same pace with the stronger Luna unleashing some vicious body shots to Nelson’s midsection and sides—landing what became his signature move—a left hook to the rib cage immediately morphed into an uppercut up the middle. Luna threw this combination with precision and accuracy reminiscent of the late, great Johnny “Mi Vida Loca” Tapia.
For some inexplicable reason Nelson who appears physically strong lacks significant punching power garnering a sole knockout over a fourteen-fight career. Thus, Luna walked him down all night resembling a mini Henry Armstrong whacking away at the body no fear of getting hurt by return fire. Like the main event, power was also the outcome determinant factor in this contest because Nelson fought back valiantly but he was firing with a pellet gun while Luna was crashing the walls of his foundation with an elephant gun. It wasn’t until the 9th round that Nelson decided to use lateral movement to befuddle Luna. He evaded punishment by getting on his toes—sticking and moving. It was a close round that could have been scored for Nelson who hadn’t won one since the opening stanza.
Bleeding from a cut in the center of his forehead since the sixth round, Nelson came out for the final round with trainer Philadelphia Fats—yes you read it right—that is the moniker of Nelson’s trainer—nobody knows the name on his birth certificate—exhorting “You might as well die in the ring son!” Nelson met Luna in the center of the ring and they fought for three memorable minutes with Luna having the upper hand trying to end the fight with Nelson defiant to the end showing the appreciative audience that he did not come to lie down and collect a pay check—he was here to win. Luna won a unanimous decision 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
Philly junior-middleweight Tyrone Brunson (22 wins – 6 losses – 1 draw – 21 kos) and Puerto Rico’s Carlos Garcia (10 wins – 16 losses – 1 draw – 8 kos) stole the show in their scheduled eight-rounder which was filled with four knockdowns, drama and excitement— finally ending with Garcia laying on the canvas writhing in agony compliments of a well-placed liver shot by Brunson early in the fourth round—forcing referee Clark to call a halt and declare the Philadelphian the winner by knockout.
Yes, it was a shootout for the ages as Brunson was boxing early imitating a young Georgie Benton—slipping and sliding reveling in his defensive prowess as the lanky Garcia stayed on the outside using his jab in the opening round. With ten seconds remaining in the round Brunson found pay dirt with a hellacious right that drove Garcia to the canvas. Brunson made his way to the neutral corner while doing a victory dance. Garcia made it to his feet as referee Clark tolled three and was ready to continue but the bell ended the round.
Garcia showed great recuperative powers and sent Brunson to the canvas early in the second round with a short right. Brunson made it up before the count of two and the fight continued. Approximately twenty seconds later another right would re-introduce the Philly fighter to the canvas. However, he was able to make it to a standing position before the count of five and used his defensive wizardry to make it out of the round and to the fourth stanza.
Brunson didn’t wait after the bell rang for the fourth round. He walked straight to Garcia slipped a jab and unleashed the knockout blow to the liver and the fight was over!
Philly lightweight and fan-favorite Jerome “The Conqueror” Conquest (6 wins – 1 loss – 0 draws – 1 ko) had his five-fight win streak come to an end in a six-round swing bout against Victor “El Flaco” Vasquez (5 wins – 2 losses – 0 draw – 2 kos) of Yonkers, New York. Conquest won the opening round with some nifty boxing, working behind the jab using lateral movement to offset the advancing Vasquez. Conquest repeated his success in the second round landing a hard overhand left on his opponent who was in hot pursuit.
Maybe, Conquest’s early success gave him a level of comfort that was unwarranted because over the remainder of the fight he stayed on his bicycle as Vasquez came forward—the aggressor and busier fighter—taking charge—piling up rounds— landing the harder punches. For whatever reason the Philly fighter bounced around the ring oblivious that he was losing the rounds simply because Vasquez was relentless, outworking him. To add an exclamation point, Vazquez did the Ali shuffle in the final round—confident of garnering the victory despite being in his opponent’s backyard. Vasquez won a unanimous decision 58-56 on all three scorecards.
In his professional debut Philadelphia junior-middleweight Kieran Hooks found himself on the canvas of the opening round of the scheduled four-rounder, compliments of Miguel Martinez (2 wins – 1 loss – 0 draw – 0 kos) of Reading, Pennsylvania. Standing 6 feet 1 inch Hooks came out at the opening bell working behind his long jab. But, a minute into the round, the shorter more compact Martinez countered with a blistering right as Hooks was retracting a lazy jab sending the Philly fighter to the canvas on the seat of his pants. Hooks got up as referee Clark reached the count of three and took out his ten-speed bicycle and rode around the ring evaded further punishment and made it out of the round.
Very few fighters have been able to recover from a knockdown in the opening round of a scheduled four-rounder and win by knockout or decision. But, Hooks came out of his corner for the second round using the jab keeping his hands up dropping the straight right on Martinez’s chin for good measure. Martinez tried to repeat his earlier success but Hooks wasn’t going to allow another right over his long jab. Hooks won the second round and had Martinez reeling all over the ring in the next stanza blasting him to the body and head making him bleed from the nose. The fight was even going into the final round. Hooks boxed behind his jab as Martinez was visibly tired unable to muster enough of an offense to keep Hooks at bay. No surprise when the fight concluded and Hooks won by unanimous decision 38-37 on all scorecards.
In an exciting four-round super-middleweight bout Darryl Bunting (2 wins – 0 losses – 1 draw – 1 ko) of Ashbury Park, New Jersey and southpaw Edward Jeramie Ortiz (1 win – 0 losses – 0 draws – 1 ko) as we would say in colloquial terms—“got down.” They rumbled for four rounds with Ortiz pinning Bunting to the ropes early, landing the harder shots winning the opening round wobbling him in the second with a straight left, again sending him to the ropes.
But, Bunting is a gladiator and roared back capturing the last two rounds landing with the uppercut, staying off the ropes keeping the fight in the center of the ring. It was an action packed fight and there was no surprise that it was scored a majority draw. One judge gave it to Bunting 39-37 with two scoring it a draw 38-38.
In the opening fight of the night featuring two debuting fighters—Philly lightweight Jeffrey Torres needed just 2:23 to dispose and dismiss Mariano Rolon of Reading, Pennsylvania dropping him three times with body shots—the last time for the ten-count.
It was a one-sided fight as Torres sent the southpaw Rolon to the canvas early with a left hook to the kidney. Rolon got up before referee Dali reached six and the action resumed. Shortly thereafter, Torres pinned him to the ropes and dropped him with a combination. Rolon was up at the count of three. However, this was short-lived as Torres connected in the previous spot in the kidney and Rolon was counted out on one knee, losing by knockout.
It was another exciting night of Philly boxing and it was great seeing the living legend—Don Elbaum at ringside. Also at ringside was Robert “Bam Bam” Hines—Philly legend— former IBF Junior-middleweight champion and the man who demystified Matthew Hilton—the Gennady Golovkin of that era.
As usual perched at ringside on good behavior believed to be brought on by the avalanche of documented detrimental conduct—a potential Senate hearing—a discrimination lawsuit—Pennsylvania State Athletic Executive Director Greg Sirb looked like a leprechaun who just discovered that Saint Patrick’s Day was cancelled. Fear etched all over his face it is safe to say that he now believes the old adage that “the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the patience of those whom they oppress.”
Sirb appears to be going down quicker than the Titanic and it is reasonable to conclude that not even the long-time Philly promoter who “claims” that “Sirb is the best commissioner in my 47 years of promoting” can stop the inevitable. The pint-sized Mussolini would be wise to abdicate his throne and not risk a Senate hearing and subsequent financial audit. But then again, there are many who are hoping that his apparent arrogance gets the best of him and he doesn’t retire—undergoes a Senate hearing and audit and eventually joins Sandusky in the big house.
It was equally fulfilling to see photographer extraordinaire in training—Jared Toney shooting again with his father Chris on the ring apron. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree—it fell right under it!
Continue to support the sweet science, and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!
ghanson3@hotmail.com
