By: Ken Hissner
SHO BOX The Next Generation brought young talent to the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at the Boardwalk Hall and joining with the promotion was GH3 Promotions, Kings Promotions, Sampson Promotions with all of them having boxer/s on the 9 fight card. They started around 7:30 and ended close to 1:30am.
In the main event Adam “Mantequillo” Lopez, 15-0 (7), of San Antonio, TX, remained unbeaten in defeating Mario “Yayo” Munoz, 16-1-1 (10), from Guapalajara, MEX, over 10 rounds. It was a defense of Lopez’s WBA Feda Latin title in the super bantamweight division. Lopez won the fight with a very good left hook. “My right eye was damaged either by a shoulder or an elbow from Munoz,” said Lopez. It was almost shut by the end of the fight. Scores were Eugene Grant and George Hill 98-92 and Ron McNair 97-93 as did DHB all for Lopez. The referee was Ricardo Vera. This writer asked PR man Marc Abrams if Lopez spoke English when he asked if we wanted to interview him. Abrams replied “he ought to he’s from Texas!” Two Latino’s in the ring and one from Mexico. No I have no excuses for that one.
In the co-feature Jerry “The King’s Son” Odom, 13-2-1 (12), out of DC, was held to a disputed majority draw against Ronald “Flatline” Ellis, 12-0-1 (10), lf Lynn, MA, over 8 rounds in the super middleweight division. “I thought I did enough to win,” said Odom. The fans felt the same. He informed this writer he trains out of Decator, GA. “I hurt my right hand in the third round,” said Ellis.
It was a good fight with Odom being the counter puncher as Ellis fought in spurts. In the eighth and final round Ellis danced around not throwing punches like the decision was in the bag for him. Don Givens had it 78-74 as did DHB for Odom. Both Jim Kinney and Lawrence Layton had it 76-76. The referee was Eddie Claudio.
O’Shanique “Ice Water” Foster, 10-1 (7), of Houston, TX, battered the taller southpaw Lavisas “Red” Williams, scoring four knockdowns of which referee Shada Murdoch looked to another ref at ringside who was counting and picked up the count. Only thing was Williams was pushed down to the canvas and not knocked to the canvas. It was the corner of Williams who wisely stopped the fight at 0:52 of the seventh round signaling to referee Murdaugh to call a halt. Williams was busted up with a bloody nose and cut over his right eye.
In one of the best fights of the night Christopher “Ice Cold” Booker, 7-1-1 (5), of Philadelphia seemed a sure winner over southpaw John “Mad Man” Magda, 11-0-1 (7), of Rutherford, NJ, over eight rounds in the super middleweight division but it was declared a draw. Magna was coming off an eight month lay-off and it was not what he needed.
Booker seemed to sweep the last three rounds after leading 3-2 in rounds on this writer’s scorecard. Booker fought a smart fight pinning Magda against the ropes the entire fight while referee Murdaugh never broke them up enough. Booker outlanded Magda 2-1. “I would give him three rounds. At least I didn’t get a loss on my record,” said Booker. Kinney somehow gave the fight to Magda 77-74, with Layton having it 78-74 as did DHB for Booker. Givens called it 76-76 a draw.
The night started with Philadelphia’s Elijah “Vicious” Vines, 1-0 (1), winning in his debut stopping Alex Asbury, 0-5 (0), of Charlotte, NC. All of Asbury’s losses have ended in knockout with this one ending at the 1:32 mark of the first round after scoring a pair of knockdowns. Referee Murdaugh wisely stopping the welterweight fight.
Welterweight Hector Frometa, 2-0 (0), of Miami, FL, easily won a four round decision over Jordan Rosario, 0-3 (0), of Jersey City, NJ. Scores of 40-34, 40-33 and 39-36 with DHB 40-36 gave the win to Frometa. Murdaugh was the referee.
In the lone heavyweight fight “Brutal” Brendan Barrett, 3-0-2 (3), of Little Egg Harbor, NJ, seemed to score an easy six round win over southpaw Dan Pasciolla, 6-1-1 (0), of Brick, NJ. Barrett put pressure on an unwilling Pasciolla for five rounds. In the sixth and final round Pasciolla started throwing punches but it seemed too little too late. When the scores were announced at 59-55 Kinney same as DHB, with the other judges Layton and Givens calling it 57-57 the fans went nuts. Barrett had quite a few fans in attendance. “I only lost the last round due to drinking ice water instead of room temperature water,” said Barrett. Referee was Eddie Claudio.
Tall southpaw Arturo Trujillo, 8-0 (5), of Easton, PA, stayed unbeaten stopping Jeffrey Wright, 3-2-1 (3), at 1:37 of the second round. Trujillo drove Wright halfway thru the ropes and instead of referee Claudio calling it a knockdown he prematurely stopped the fight. Wright and his corner were very upset and so were the fans. Wright was a strong kid who could have continued but certainly was not going to win the fight though he took something away from Trujillo’s win. Afterwards as he left the ring he shook hands with fellow 2012 National Golden Glove champion Jesse “Hardwork” Hart. Trujillo is a junior middleweight who can fight. He will be on the March 5th show in Bethlehem per promoter Marshall Kauffman.
There was a big following as welterweight Anthony “Juice” Young, 11-2 (5), of Atlantic City entered the ring. He has returned to his original team and was in for a big surprise with tough Skender Halili, 9-1 (9), from Kosovo now out of Ft. Worth, TX. Young did well winning the first round but it was knocked down by Halili in the second round.
In the fourth round it was back and forth with whoever was against the ropes was losing. Young had a cut over his right eye and the ring physician checked him between rounds. Except for the knockdown round Young may have had an edge. Then in the fifth round Halili dropped Young again. Young was hurt and kept bobbing low trying to avoid punches from Halili. After the fifth round of this six round bout the ring physician called a halt to the fight giving Halili the win. This writer had Halili in front 47-46 at time of stoppage. It was a big letdown for Young and his fans.
It was an entertaining show but much too late for us from the east coast. The three draw decisions were all disputed plus the premature stoppage didn’t help things otherwise a good show.