“New” Ray Robinson Wins at Tropicana in Atlantic City Friday
By: Ken Hissner

Hard Hitting Promotions with Manny Rivera and Will Ruiz brought their Philadelphia promotion to Atlantic City’s Tropicana Hotel & Casino Friday night featuring Philadelphia’s “New” Ray Robinson and a cast of young talent who will be the future of Philadelphia boxing!

Welterweight southpaw “New” Ray Robinson, 24-2 (12), of Philadelphia, defeated by technical decision Columbian Breidis “Braidys” Prescott, 30-11 (22), of Miami, FL, into the seventh round.

In the first two rounds Prescott was the aggressor while Robinson showed pin point counter punching. In the third round it was Robinson backing up Prescott with a solid jab and hurting him with a right hook to the chin near the end of the round.

In the fourth round both rocked one another at the same time. Robinson was out punching Prescott. In the fifth and sixth rounds Robinson became much more aggressive in trying to take Prescott out. In what referee Harvey Dock ruled a clash of heads in the seventh round Prescott went down and didn’t make any effort to get up. The EMT’s had to remove Prescott from the ring. The judges went to the scorecards. Robinson hasn’t lost since 2010. His trainer “Bozy” Ennis seemed quite pleased as was his manager David McWater.

All 3 judges and this writer had it 70-63.

Luis “Popeye” Lebron, 9-0-1 (4), of San Juan, PR, defeated in a real battle Manuel “El Zombie” Botti, 22-1-1 (18), of DR, for the WBA Fedelatin featherweight title, over 10 rounds.

In the opening round it was all Botti. In the second round Lebron came back to control while both gave a good account of themselves. In the third round it went back and forth with Lebron pulling it out. In the fourth and fifth rounds both were rocked. Botti kept coming forward getting the better of the two inside.

In the sixth and seventh rounds they continue to take turns getting the better of the action. It turned into a war as uppercuts from both boxers were flying. Neither would give an inch in a real slugfest. In the eighth round Lebron landed three left hooks to the head of Botti. As Botti came back he was stunned by a Lebron left hook to the head.

In the ninth round it continued to be a savage fight. In the tenth and final round Lebron seemed to have pulled it out.

Judge Carter had it 98-92, Constatino 99-91 and Cheeks 100-90. This writer had it much much closer at 96-94.

Super lightweight Liberian Samuel “Tsunami” Teah, 11-1-1 (5), of Philadelphia, knocked out Dominican Ken Alvarez, 8-6-2 (3), of PR, at 1:48 of the third round.

In the first two rounds both boxers mixed it up well especially to the body. In the third round Teah landed a hard right to the head of Alvarez. Seconds later Teah landed a chopping right to the head of Alvarez and out he went.

Bantamweight Christian Carto, 10-0 (10), of Philadelphia, continued his knockout streak and now up to 10 as he stopped Juan Guzman, 22-8 (12), of DR, 2:30 of the first round.

In the first round Carto dropped Guzman twice to a knee while referee Lee never acknowledged them. In between those Carto scored a knockdown. The unofficial fourth knockdown referee Lee couldn’t miss as Guzman went down and referee Lee finally called a halt.

17 year old lightweight Branden Pizarro, 6-0 (3), of Philadelphia, in a brilliant performance stopped Angel Hernandez, 2-4 (1), of PR, at 0:26 of the sixth.

In the opening round Pizarro controlled with good body work but Hernandez got in several of his own but was completely outclassed. In the second round it was all Pizarro landing pin point punches breaking Hernandez down. In the third round though Hernandez got several good body shots in Pizarro completely controlled the round working both body and head with punches.

In the fourth round Pizarro showed his skills while on the ropes landing uppercuts. A pair of uppercuts by Pizarro hurt Hernandez backing him up several steps. In the fifth round Hernandez tried pushing Pizarro over the ropes getting a warning from referee Lee. Pizarro landed 3 left hooks to the body of Hernandez on several occasions. A left hook from Pizarro to the chin of Hernandez dropped him. He got up and held on as the bell sounded. In the sixth and final round a vicious body shot made Hernandez step back and drop to a knee taking the full count from referee Lee. It was a brilliant performance from Pizarro.

Bantamweight Ariel Lopez, 7-0 (5), of Pueblo, MEX, won a split decision over Charles Clark, 1-3-1 (1), of Dallas, TX, in a 6.

In the opening round after a minute of no punching Lopez landed a double right hook to the head of Clark. In the second round things started heating up with Lopez using his combinations and Clark landing a solid lead right to the head. In the third round Clark drove Lopez into a neutral corner landing well until a punch went south of the border. Lopez landed a 3-punch combination with Clark coming back with a solid left hook to the head of Lopez.

In the fourth round Lopez landed a solid double left hook to the body of Clark who countered with a solid left hook to the head of Lopez. In the fifth round a Clark left hook to the head rocked Lopez. Clark had a point taken away for a low blow after several previous warnings from referee Eddie Claudio. In the sixth and final round both looked tired.

Judge Barnes had it 58-55 and George Hill 57-56 for Lopez while Rubenstein 57-56 for Clark. This writer had it 58-55 Lopez.

Featherweight Jose “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, 8-0-1 (2), of New York City, in a hard fought fight won a split decision over Mexico’s Guadalupe “Lupe” Arroyo, 2-5 (0), of Huntington Beach, CA, in a 6.

In the first two rounds Arroyo came in low throwing wild punches as Gonzalez the southpaw picked him off with uppercuts. In the third and fourth rounds Gonzalez was warned several times for infractions. He hurt Arroyo several times with body shots. In the fifth round Arroyo did much better while Gonzalez continued to get away with pushing off without warning from referee Claudio. In the sixth and final round Arroyo landed a solid uppercut to the chin of Gonzalez knocking his head back. It got sloppy in the final round with both boxers tiring.

Judge Barnes had it 58-56, Rubenstein 59-55 for Gonzalez and Hill 58-56 for Arroyo. This writer had it 59-55 for Gonzalez.

Jeremy Cuevas, 4-0 (3), of Philly knocked out Jonathan Valarezo, 0-2 (0), of Ecuador at 2:08 of the first round.

In the first round both mixed it up well until an overhand left from Cuevas to the head of Valarez and down he went and out.

Welterweight Mark Dawson, 4-0-1 (3), of Philadelphia won over William Hill, 2-4 (0), of Detroit, MI, in a bloody 4.

In the opening round it was too much holding. In the second round Dawson landed a right hook causing a cut on the upper eye lid of Hill. Dawson was using a good uppercut when Hill came in low. In the third round the blood is covering the face of Hill on the left side. Dawson due to a head butt had a cut over his left eye. In the fourth the ring physician took a long look at Dawson who was obviously ahead before she allowed the fight to continue. In the final round Hill was chasing Dawson knowing he was behind and ran into a straight left to the chin from Dawson. Hill’s left eye was closed by the end of the round.

Judges Barnes, Hill and Rubenstein and this writer had it 40-36.

It was a good and competitive show for Hard Hitting’s first NJ event.

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