King’s Promotions – Marshall Kauffman promoted an 8 bout card Saturday at South Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. King’s continues to be the busiest promotion in Pennsylvania. In the Main Event Featherweight southpaw, Reading, PA’s Anvar Yunusov stopped Angel Luna in 2. In the co-feature Heavyweight Colby Madison suffered his first defeat.
In the Main Event southpaw Featherweight Anvar Yunusov, 8-0 (4), of TAJ, now out of Reading, PA, impressed in stopping Angel “El Gato” Luna, 11-6-1 (6), of Yamasa, DR, at 0:56 of the first round.
In the first round southpaw Yunusov came out like a whirlwind throwing punches dropping Luna for an 8 count by referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. Fighting out of the peek-a-boo style Luna was getting hit from punches from everywhere.
In the second round a straight left from southpaw Yunusov on the chin of Luna dropped him a second time. Upon rising Yunusov was all over him when referee Esteves had seen enough stopping the fight.
In the co-feature Heavyweight “King” Colby Madison, 8-1-2 (5), 236.6 of Baltimore, MD, lost to Robert Simms, 9-3 (3), 227.4, of Saginaw, MI, over 8 hard fought rounds.
In the opening round after a minute Simms hurt Madison with a left hook to the chin. Then seconds later the shorter Simms drove Madison back into the ropes with a left hook to the chin. In the second round the slick Simms jumped in with a left hook to the chin of Madison a minute into the round. Madison was having problems with the hand speed of Simms.
In the third round Simms continued getting inside with a short left hook to the chin of Madison. In the fourth round Madison was using a double jab but not following up with the quicker Simms. In the fifth round Madison had bad swelling under his left eye from rights by Simms. Madison had no answer to the slick boxing Simms.
In the sixth round the left eye of Madison was all but closed from short rights by Simms. The ring physician checked the eye of Madison between rounds. In the seventh round Simms was cut on the inside of the left eye with blood flowing down his nose. Referee Esteves, Jr. called in the ring physician to check the eye. At the end of the round the ring physician took a good look at the eye of Simms.
In the eighth and final round Madison chased but Simms was too fast getting caught with overhand rights. His cut held up unlike the previous round while Madison’s left eye was closed.
Scores were Lundy and Poturaj 80-72 with Worlinsky 79-73 as was the score of this writer.
Welterweight Hector “Maravilla” Mercado, 3-11 (0), 148.3, of Ft. Myers, FL, was stopped by Paul “The Punisher” Kroll, 4-0 (4), 151.5, of North Philadelphia, PA, at 1:23 of the first round.
In the first round the well known amateur Kroll landed a straight right to the chin of Mercado dropping him in pain. Mercado’s right ankle gave in with the knockdown. He tried to get up but stumbled to the canvas. Referee Esteves automatically waved it off when the fighter fell to the canvas on his own. He was put in a wheel chair device and ushered to a local hospital.
Bantamweight Lionel Tidwell, 0-1 (0), 122.3, of Little Rock, ARK, was knocked out by prospect southpaw Rasheen “Sugarsheen” Brown, 4-0 (1), 122.6, of West Philadelphia, PA, at 1:18 of the second round.
In the first round southpaw Brown controlled the entire 3 minutes boxing well. In the second round Brown landed a long reaching left to the chin dropping Tidwell to his knees. He was in no condtion to continue with referee Esteves immediately waving the bout off.
In the corner of Brown was trainer’s Buster Custus and Marty Shuler.
Bantamweight Jonathan “Flash” Torres, 3-0 (0), of Bethlehem, PA, defeated Hugo “La Cobra” Rodriguez, 0-5 (0), of Monterrey, MEX, in a spirited 4 rounds.
In the first round Rodriguez stormed out landed wild rights to the head of Torres. This continued for the most part of the round though Torres wasn’t getting hit with the same punch. In the second round Torres used a good body attack while Rodriguez was missing as much as he was landing.
In the third round Rodriguez continued throwing wild punches with Torres countering the misses with body shots. In the fourth and final round a combination from Torres to the chin dropped Rodriguez for an 8 count by referee Esteves, Jr. Torres easiy won the remainder of the round though Rodriguez was dangerous up to the final bell.
All 3 judges had it 40-35 while this writer had it 39-36. Jimmy Deoria and Indio Rodriguez are the co-managers and the latter the head trainer with Louie Melendez his assistant.
Welterweight “No Name” James Martin, 4-1 (0), 145.7, of Philadelphia, PA, was upset by southpaw Kashon “The Red Headed Bandit” Hutchinson, 5-5 (1), 144.8, of Reading, PA, over 6 close rounds.
In the first round southpaw Hutchinson kept moving one step ahead of the oncoming Martin (son of Jerry “The Bull” Martin). Near the end of the round it looked like Martin slipped but the referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. was given the signal from ringside ref to call it a knockdown. Martin put the pressure on Hutchinson the rest of the round.
In the second round Martin hurt Hutchinson with a lead right on the chin making the latter move around the ring morethan he had been doing. In the third round Martin came out southpaw rocking Hutchinson with a right hook on the chin. By the end of the round Martin returned to orthodox landing a flurry of punches up to the bell.
In the fourth round both fighters had their moments. Hutchinson landed the best punch of the round a right hook to the chin putting Martin back a step or two. In the fifth round it looked like the previous round with Martin landing a solid right to the chin of Hutchinson just prior to the bell.
In the sixth and final round at the halfway point Martin suddenly stepped over into southpaw and rocked Hutchinson with a right hook to the chin. Martin finished the stronger of the two.
Scores were all 57-56 for the winner while this writer had it 57-56 for the loser. The questionable knockdown cost Martin his first loss. In his corner were top Philly trainer “Bozy” Ennis and his top Philly Prospect today “Boots” Ennis.
Featherweight Weusi Johnson, 3-13-1 (0), 127.8, of Wilmington, DE, was stopped by Kevin Asmat, 6-2 (5), 130.7, of North Bergen, NJ, at 2:44 of the third round.
In the first round before one knew it a left hook on the chin from Asmat had Johnson on the canvas. He wasn’t hurt and was up immediately. Referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. gave him the 8 count. Johnson came back and took the fight to Asmat the rest of the round.
In the second round another left hook to the chin from Asmat dropped Johnson for an 8 count. Johnson wasn’t fighting back like the first knockdown. In the third round Asmat was dishing out quite a bit of punishment when the Johnson corner trainer Doug Pettiford informed the commission person to call a halt which he did to referee Benjy Esteves, Jr.
Super Middleweight Khainell Wheeler, 2-0 (1), 167.2, of Bethlehem, PA, knocked out Tywaski “The Punisher” Hendrix, 0-1 (0), 166.7, of Little Rock, ARK,
In the first round a solid right on the chin from Wheeler dropped Hendrix for an 8 count of referee David Franciosi at the start of the round. With 30 seconds to go in the round Wheeler landed a half dozen unanswered punches before Hendrix returned a punch. Near the end of the round another right from Wheeler had Hendrix out on his feet when Wheeler landed another right knocking Hendrix out cold. The ring physician came in and had oxygen hooked up to the fallen Hendrix.
Co-Managers of Wheeler are Jimmy Deoria and Indio Rodriguez who also trains Wheeler. “I’ve seen this kid in the amateurs and was quite impressed with him,” said Deoria. Deoria is a former lightweight from Phoenixville, PA, and a police officer.
Ring Announcer was Alex Barbosa who announced the passing of former Philly Middleweight contender Willie “The Worm” Monroe, age 70, a one-time conqueror of then future world champion Marvin Hagler.
Per Marshall Kauffman he is returning to Bethlehem, PA, in September and October in Houston, TX. With over 40 fighters under his promotion he is keeping them busy. His son the former heavyweight contender Travis Kauffman was at ringside. Also in from AZ was former ring announcer Larry Tornambe.