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By: Ken Hissner
At the Masonic Temple & Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, OH, Friday night on Show Box The New Generation and promoted by DiBella Entertainment.
In the Main Event Featherweight Luis “KO King” Rosa, 23-1 (11), of PR/New Haven, Conn. Lost a split decision to Southpaw Yuandale “Money Shot” Evans, 20-1 (14), of East Cleveland, OH, for the WBC Continental Americas title.
Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing
In the first round both fighters came out firing. Evans landed a good right uppercut knocking the head of Rosa back. Rosa came right back with several right’s to the head of Evans. At the minute mark left in the round Evans landed a solid double right hook to the head of Rosa. With half a minute left in the round Rosa landed a solid combination but Evans fired back with a combination of his own. It was an action packed round. In the second round Evans landed a solid straight left to the head of Rosa. Evans used a good jab while Rosa was swinging wildly in return. A good left hand by Evans got Rosa’s attention moving him back several steps. In the last 30 seconds of the round Rosa worked Evans into a corner landing a flurry of punches.
In the third round Evans landed four unanswered punches before Rosa fought back. At the halfway mark Rosa worked the body of vans well following up with a pair of rights to the head. With less than a minute left in the round Evans landed a three punch combination to the head of Rosa. In the fourth round Evans opened up with a flurry of punches. Rosa drove Evans into the ropes with a flurry of body punches. Evans used an effective jab throughout the round while Rosa went head hunting in an action round. Both were landing punches at the bell.
In the fifth round Evans came out firing his jab following with a left to the head of Rosa. Rosa drove Evans into a corner with a flurry of punches. Evans countered well as Rosa kept pushing him back with his head low coming forward with body work. In the sixth round Evans landed a very effective jab and was able to work around Rosa who worked the body when they were inside. At the halfway mark out of a southpaw stance Rosa landed a solid lead left to the head of Evans. Evans backing up countered well to the head of Rosa who was swinging wildly while coming forward.
In the seventh round Rosa kept moving around the ring with Evans on the offense. It seemed Rosa was taking the round off. In the eighth round Evans drove Rosa into the ropes with a flurry of punches. Rosa landed a solid right hand from a southpaw stance rocking Evans at the one minute mark. It was all Sosa up until a minute left in the round rocking Evans again with combinations to the head. With half a minute left in the round Evans turned the table rocking Sosa with combinations. Both were letting it all hang out at the bell.
In the ninth round with Rosa coming forward with body shots Evans countered with right hooks to the head. The fighters got sloppy with warnings from referee Shawn Clark to both fighters using dirty tactics. In the tenth and final round Evans once again started fast with Rosa coming forward with his head throwing punches. At a minute into the round Evans landed a solid left hand to the head of Rosa. The fight got wild with punches from both until Rosa pushed Evans to the canvas. Evans got up firing back while Rosa came forward throwing wild punches with both hands. Both fighters were throwing leather at the bell of a very exciting bout.
Scores were slow coming with scores of 96-94 for Evans, 96-94 for Rosa and 97-93 for Evans. This writer had it 96-94 for Evans.
In the co-feature welterweight Russian Radzhab “The Python” Butaev, 8-0 (6), of Los Angelos, CA, defeated Janer “Jafet” Gonzalez, 19-1-1 (15), of Barranquilla, COL, over 8 rounds.
In the first round Butaev was the aggressor. Just over a minute into the round Butaev rocked Gonzalez with a right to the head. Gonzalez held his hands up high while Butaev on contrast had his left to his side firing the right hand. In the second round both fighters mixed it up in the middle of the ring. Gonzalez became the stalker while Butaev countered well with his right. Not a lot of punches landing in the round.
In the third round just over a minute Gonzalez landed a solid right to the head of Butaev who countered back with a right of his own. Gonzalez may have did just enough to win the round. In the fourth round after a minute Butaev landed a solid left hook to the head of Gonzalez. Halfway through the round Gonzalez landed a good right to the head of Butaev who countered with a solid left hook to the head. There was too much posing on the part of both fighters.
In the fifth round Gonzalez landed a good left hook to the chin of Butaev. After a minute into the round Gonzalez rocked Butaev with a left hook to the head. Gonzalez opened up more in the round. In the sixth round after a minute Gonzalez landed a solid left to the head of Butaev. Gonzalez continued to stalk Butaev dropping his hands for the first time trying to get Butaev to open up.
In the seventh round Butaev became a little more active looking to land that one punch knockout. He outworked Gonzalez enough to win the round. In the eighth and final round Gonzalez landed a solid right to the head of Butaev after thirty seconds into the round. Butaev worked his jab more landing three without return. With less than a minute left in the round Butaev landed a good combination to the head of Gonzalez. George Nichols was the referee.
Scores were 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75. This writer had it 77-75.
2016 Olympian super welterweight Charles “Bad News” Conwell, 6-0 (5), of Cleveland, OH, won a lopsided fight over a game Roque Zapata, 4-2-3 (0), of Cold Pepper, WV, over 6 rounds.
In the first round Conwell used his jab while Zapata was busier for the first half of the round. Halfway through the round Conwell starts opening up with his jab and straight rights to head of Zapata. Conwell landed a good left uppercut to the chin of Zapata. With half a minute to go Zapata landed a good straight right to the chin of Conwell. In the second round after 30 seconds Conwell rocked Zapata with a right to the chin. In the second halfof the round Conwell landed a solid right uppercut to the chin of Zapata. Conwell was looking for a knockout with every right hand. With less than a minute left in the round Conwell landed a solid right knocking out the mouthpiece of Zapata.
In the third round a solid right hand uppercut from Conwell on the chin of Zapata dropped him. Referee George Nichols got to the count of 9 before Zapata got up. With just over a minute left in the round a double left hook to the body and head by Conwell dropped Zapata again for a 9 count by referee Nichols. A game Zapata got up with a bloody nose and fought back well. In round four at the halfway point Conwell landed a solid right hand body shot hurting Zapata. Every right hand Conwell throws has bad intentions with one causing a cut over the left eye of Zapata.
In round five both fighters are mixing it up with Conwell getting the better of the two. A solid left hook to the ribcage by Conwell dropped Zapata. Conwell landed a good double left to the body and head of Zapata. Zapata has little power though fighting back landing his first combination to the head of Conwell. In the sixth and final round there is no quit in Zapata as Conwell is throwing bombs with his right hand. Conwell was warned for a pair of low blows. Conwell then went right after Zapata trying for the knockout. A game Zapata survived six lopsided rounds. Conwell’s manager Dave McWater got right in the ring as the fight landed congratulating his young warrior.
Scores were 60-51 twice and 60-53. This writer had it 60-51.
Heavyweight Junior Fa, 13-0 (8), of Auckland, NZ, dealt Freddy “Too Slick” Latham Jr., 9-1-2 (5), of Pittsburgh, PA, his first loss stopping him at the 1:07 mark of the first round in a scheduled 8.
In the first round a taller Fa used a solid jab followed by a straight right keeping Latham backing up. Fa opened up just after one minute landing over a dozen punches to the head and body of Latham who was defenseless in a neutral corner causing referee Clifford Pinkney to wisely step in to stop the onslaught.
