By: Sean Crose
The enormous 1-1 heavyweight Dylan Pumphrey stepped into the ring in Atlantic City on Saturday night to take on the popular 5-0 Josh Popper in a scheduled 4 rounder. Pumphrey looked like Butterbean while Popper looked like a conditioned rising fighter. It promised to be an interesting affair. Popper took to smack talking Pumphrey right off the bat in the opening round. Indeed, Popper was able to hit without being hit in return. A thunderous single shot put Pumphrey down. He got up, but the referee wisely stopped the fight. “He was definitely able to get under my skin” (before the fight) Popper stated afterward. “I don’t like disrespect.”
Next up, the 12-1-1 John Leonardo took on the 9-8-1 Edgar Joe Cortes in a super bantamweight throwdown scheduled for eight. Leonardo appeared to be the sharper of the two fighters in the first. Leonardo looked effectively aggressive in the second. He may have been wiry, but Leonardo was finding a way to to take the fight to Cortes. With that being said, Cortes was game opposition. It simply was coming down to Leonardo controlling the tempo and landing well to the body. Leonardo was fully in control of the fight by the fourth.
The fifth round was a shooting match between the two men. Indeed, Cortes may have done enough to edge the round. Still, Leonardo continued to apply pressure in the sixth. Indeed, his body punches were impressive. Cortes continued to give it his all in the seventh, but the guy was clearly overwhelmed. He simply couldn’t keep Leonardo off him. By the eighth and final round, it was obvious both fighters were exhausted. Still, they kept going for broke. It was an impressive thing to see. With that in mind, Leonardo was awarded a decision win after the final bell had sounded.
