Manhattans Grand Ballroom
December 3rd
By:Ricky Ray Taylor

(as originally posted on www.BraggingRightsCorner.com)

— ———————————

Thursday nights HUSTLER BOXING Fight-card in Manhattans Grand Ballroom had a few surprises in store for ticket buyers. Scrapping “2” of the 7 scheduled bouts at the last minute was one of them.

Million-Dollar Baby MAUREEN SHEA had been advertised to fight Tampa’s JENNA SHIVER. Evidently a cyst was found on Shivers brain a few hours before the fight and she was forced to withdraw from the card. Let’s hope she is persuaded to retire.

Fortunately however, there were some fireworks in the 5 bouts that followed:

JAYWON WOODS vs JOSH HARRIS, 6 round Cruiser-weights
Woods came in with a 7-0 record. Harris was 4-3-1. Some may remember Josh Harris from last months YONKERS show where he derailed 10-1 prospect ALEX MEJIAS via a 1st round KO. Well, he did the same thing tonight to WOODS. 1:17 into round 4 of a back and forth fight, Harris replicated his south-paw left-hook on Woods and sent him crashing to his knees. Unfortunately (for Woods) he beat the count. Woods bravely got up and to weather a 10 punch flurry until the ref stopped the fight.
*As Woods’ handlers were taking his gloves off, you could hear him pleading
“WHAT HAPPENED?” before he stormed out of the ring to the dressing room.
WINNER // HARRIS ~ KO 1:17 rd 4

HAJRO SUJAK vs TODD ERIKSSON, 4 round Super-Middleweights
This was a mismatch from the start. Sujak beat Eriksson at everything winning a UD.
WINNER // SUJAK ~ UD

SHANNON BRIGGS vs MARCUS McGEE, 8 round Heavyweights
The fact that Briggs had not put on a glove in nearly 3 years did not matter. Nor did his 50 lb weight advantage. McGee was scared, plain and simple. It was evident during his ring entrance and even more obvious when he winced to the canvas from the first punch that Shannon “the canon” landed in round 1.
WINNER // BRIGGS ~ KO 2:01 rd 1

RAY ROBINSON vs BRAD SOLOMON, 8 round Light-Welterweight
In today’s Boxing world it is rare to see an 11-0 fighter (Robinson) paired up with an 8-0 fighter (Solomon). Tonight it happened and this match-up was a nonstop slug-fest from beginning to end. The ebb & flow of this war moved in each direction while never allowing one side to gain momentum. A cut opened on Robinson’s eye in round 4 which bled badly throughout the fight and may have been all it took to sway the judges in the opposite direction.
WINNER // SOLOMON ~ MD

MIKE ARNAOUTIS vs TIM COLEMAN, 12 rounds for the USBA Light-Welterweight Championship
Although I’d seen Arnatouis fight before, I had yet to see him tested. Tim Coleman at 16-1-1 had only fought four opponents with winning records and he lost to one of them. The problem for Arnaoutis was that nobody told Coleman he was supposed to lose this particular fight. Arnatouis was game throughout this match-up and the flurries between he and Coleman were very similar to the Robinson/Soloman fight earlier in the night, nobody took control for long. Through the fight however, it was Coleman who remained loose & versatile while looking a bit stronger along the way.
WINNER // COLEMAN ~ SD
*Congratulations to TIM COLEMAN, the NEW USBA LIGHT-WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION!