Tag Archives: naim

Posted on 09/20/2017

By: Ken Hissner

King’s Promotions returned to the Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, PA, Tuesday night over FS-1 with an 8 bout card.

Photo Credit: Kenyon Sessoms/Premier Boxing Champions

In the Main Event super lightweight Mario “Golden Boy” Barrios, 20-0 (12), of San Antonio, TX, won over Naim Nelson, 13-4 (1), of Philly, due to an injured left shoulder of Nelson’s.

In the first round Nelson was moving well and countering Barrios who seems content to let Nelson take the lead. At the 10 second mark Barrios and Nelson exchanged punches. Good round for Nelson. In the second round a double jab from Barrios was countered by a right to the chin from Nelson. A counter right from Nelson to the head of Barrios got his attention. In the third round Barrios landed a good right hand body shot on Nelson. Nelson landed a left hook and went to the canvas. The ring physician came in to examine Nelson’s left shoulder that may have been injured earlier when his left looked like it got caught onto the ropes. In between rounds the ring physician examined Nelson’s left shoulder.

In the fourth round a lead right hand from Barrios was right on the money to the chin of Nelson. It was a big round for Barrios as Nelson was on the defense for the most part. In the fifth round Nelson landed a nice lead right to the chin of Barrios. Both fighters landed right hands to the chins with Nelson going back several steps. It was a competitive round with Barrios edging out Nelson. In the sixth round while Barrios continued to be the aggressor Nelson countered him well. It was a very competitive and close round.

In the seventh round Barrios missed twice but landed his third try to the chin of Nelson. A right hand from Barrios landed on the left shoulder of Nelson’s causing him to take a knee. Referee Gary Rosato immediately called in the ring physician who halted the fight due to an injury.

“I don’t know what happened to my shoulder but I’m getting an MRI as soon as we leave here,” said Nelson. Barrios can thank his blessings because Nelson started winning the first two rounds while Barrios took the next three with Nelson taking the sixth on this writer’s scorecard making it even going into the seventh. It would be hard to find another boxer as nice and humble as Nelson in the game today.

Light heavyweight Earl Newman, 10-0-1 (7), of Brooklyn, NY, and Paul “Pay for View” Parker, 8-2-1 (4), of Toledo, OH, fought to a draw over 8 rounds.

In the first round it was a round of jabs with the exception of Newman getting in a right to the head of Parker. In the second round Newman countered a miss from Parker with a right to the chin. At the midway point a left hook from Parker to the chin rocked Newman forcing him to clinch. A right hand from Parker was countered by a left hook by Newman with both punches to the head. In the third round an overhand right from Parker to the head rocked Newman whose jab had been dominant. Both boxers landed right hands to the chin at the same time. It has been an evenly matched bout through 3 rounds.

In the fourth round a solid right from Parker to the chin of Newman had his knees buckled. Newman came right back rocking Parker with a right to the chin.

In the fifth round both boxers mixed it up well. Newman due to his jab seemed to have a slight edge. In the sixth round Newman countered with a nice right cross to the head of Parker. In the seventh round Newman landed a solid left hook to the chin of Parker making him clinch. A solid right from Newman to the chest of Parker could be heard throughout the arena. In the eighth and final round Newman chased and Parker countered well with his jab through most of the round. Benjy Esteves, Jr. did his usual fine job as the referee.

Judge Kevin Morgan had it 77-75 for Parker, judge James Kinney 79-73 for Newman and John McKay 76-76. This writer had it 77-75 Newman.

Lightweight Thomas “TJ” Velasquez, 9-0-1 (5), of Philly, and southpaw Tyrome Jones 4-2-1 (1), of South Bend, IND, battled to a 6 round draw.

In the first round Velasquez led with a right to the chin of Jones who countered with a right hook of his own to the chin.

It was a close round with Velasquez being the aggressor. In the second round Velasquez landed four unanswered punches to the head of Jones. Velasquez looked stronger while Jones seemed to take the round off. In the third round Velasquez continued to outwork Jones in a good close round.

In the fourth round Jones countered with a solid left uppercut to the chin of Velasquez. Shortly afterward Jones landed a solid left to the chin of Velasquez. As Velasquez came in low Jones was waiting with a solid lead left to the chin. In the fifth round Jones landed a lead left to the head of Velasquez who came back with several combinations to the head of Jones. A left hook from Velasquez to the chin drove Jones back several steps. In the sixth and final round it started with all Velasquez landing at will. A straight left from Jones knocked the head of Velasquez back. Just prior to the bell Jones landed a solid right uppercut on the chin of Velasquez.

Judge John McKay had it 59-55 for Jones, judge John Portujal had it 59-55 for Velasquez while judge James Kinney had it 57-57. This writer had it 58-56 for Velasquez. Gary Rosato was the referee.
Bantamweight southpaw Antonio Russell, 9-0 (7), of Wash, DC, stopped southpaw Cristian Renteria, 7-6 (6), of Tijuana, MEX, at 1:26 of the third round.
In the first round Renteria landed the first punch in a bout of southpaws.

Shortly afterwards Russell hurt Renteria with a solid right hook to the head making him clinch. Renteria was able to survive to the end of the round tying up Russell the rest of the round. In the second round Russell landed numerous vicious uppercuts to the mid-section of Renteria who hung in there the best he could. Referee Esteves, Jr. warned Renteria several times about holding.
In the third round Renteria opened up with his own left uppercut to the mid-section of Russell. A right hook from Russell to the head of Renteria rocked him. Shortly later in the round Russell landed a right cross to the chin of Renteria dropping him. Referee Esteves, Jr. halted the bout which didn’t please Renteria who wanted to continue.
Super lightweight southpaw Gary Antuanne Russell, 2-0 (2), of Wash. DC, stopped game Jesus Lule, 11-24-1 (2), of Ft. Myers, FL, at 2:38 of the first round.

In the first round it was all Russell though Lule as always showed the determination of a lion. Referee Esteves, Jr. saw enough as Russell was out landing Lule 5-1. Lule had no quit in him. Russell was a member of the USA Olympic team in 2016 after having his third fight and second win over Philly’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis, now 14-0, to earn that spot.

Middleweight Ryan Wiczak, 5-0 (3), of Scranton, PA, stopped Devin “Bearded Assassin” McMaster, 1-3 (0), of Allentown, PA, at 1:35 of the first round.
In the first round both fighters let it all hang out until the mid point when a right hand from Wiczak dropped McMaster on the canvas. Beating the count of referee Rosato McMaster was quickly jumped on and went down from another right hand forcing referee Rosato to wisely call a halt without a count.

In the opening bout Lightweight Jeffrey Torres, 4-0 (2), of Hartford, CT, stopped Latorie Woodberry, 1-5-1 (0), at 1:59 of the first round.

In the first round a double left hook from Torres to the ribs of Woodberry dropped him. Torres jumped on Woodberry landing a left hook to the head dropping him for a second time. Torres went right after Woodberry landing a right hand to the side of the head dropping him for a third time forcing referee Rosato to halt the fight. Torres is with DSG who is former 2-division champion Danny “Swift” Garcia and his father Angel.

Featherweight Juan Sanchez, 3-0 (1), of Allentown, PA, looked terrific scoring a knockdown in defeating Gorwar Karyah, 1-1 (1), of Philly, PA, over 4 rounds.
In the first round after both fighters mixed up Sanchez landed a left hook to the chin and down went Karyah. He beat the count from referee Esteves, Jr. and got up and mixed it up but got hurt by left hook to the chin of Sanchez. In the second round Karyah came out orthodox but it didn’t change what Sanchez had for him being the much faster of the two. Halfway through the round Karyah landed a lead right to the chin of Sanchez with little effect. Sanchez started showboating to the delight of his local followers.
In the third round Sanchez came out southpaw for about 10 seconds before switching back to orthodox. A minute into the round and Karyah landed a lead right to the chin of Sanchez. Sanchez started showboating again to the delight of his fans dropping his hands to his side and switching back and forth. By the end of the round Karyah went southpaw. In the fourth and final round with Sanchez backed into Karyah’s corner both fighters let it all hang out until a right to the head of Karyah’s turned his head. It turned into a brawl with Sanchez getting the better of it. Sanchez is a crowd pleaser and a prospect to keep your eye on.

Judges scores were 40-35 twice and 39-36 while this writer had it 40-35.

Posted on 08/05/2016

PBC on ESPN Results: Benavidez and Luna Batter their Opponents to Remain Undefeated
By: William Holmes

The 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia was the host site for tonight’s telecast of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN telecast.

Two highly touted prospects on the PBC roster fought on the televised portion of the card. Undefeated David Benavidez faced off against Denis Douglin in the main event of the night in the super middleweight division, and the co-main event was between undefeated Alejandro Luna and last minute replacement Naim Nelson in the lightweight division.

Credit: Premier Boxing Champions/Ryan Hafey

Naim Nelson (13-1) and Alejandro Luna (20-0) was the first bout of the night in the junior welterweight division. Stephen Ormond was originally scheduled to face Luna, but he badly missed weight and Nelson, a local Philadelphia fighter, stepped up as a last minute replacement.

Both men started off fighting out of an orthodox stance and Nelson attacked to the body early. It was obvious that Luna had more snap to his punches in the opening stanza, but Nelson was willing to stay in the pocket and exchange with Luna despite the fact he only has one stoppage victory.

Nelson continued to stay in the pocket with Luna in the second round and even caused Luna’s left eye to swell. However, Luna was connecting with good combinations to the body with short uppercuts to the jaw.

Luna had Nelson backing up to the ropes in the third round, but both boxers were exchanging and landing good shots. Luna started off the fourth round focusing more of his attacks to the head out of a southpaw stance, and had some success when fighting from a distance.

Nelson was able to tag Luna with a couple of hard right crosses in the fifth round, but Luna’s pressure was relentless and the volume of his punches showed no signs of slowing down.

Luna came back out in an orthodox stance in the sixth round and attacked Nelson with a little more urgency than previous rounds. Luna seemed unafraid of Nelson’s power despite the swelling in his left eye. Even though Nelson was able to land a few decent shots, he was unable to slow down the work rate of Luna.

Luna’s stalking continued into the seventh round as he continued to measure his body shots while chasing Nelson around the ring.

Nelson fought valiantly and with great heart in the final three rounds of the bout and may have stolen the ninth round, but he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of Luna nor match his power. Luna came close to scoring a knockdown in the final round and had Nelson bleeding from his forehead, but Nelson was able to stay on his feet.

Luna wins the hard fought decision with scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93.

Afterwards Luna stated, “Nelson was a tough guy and could bang a little bit. Obviously we prepared for another opponent, but I felt I had a solid performance against him.”

The main event of the night was between the hard hitting David Benavidez (15-0) and Denis Douglin (20-4) in the super middleweight division.

Three of Douglin’s four losses have come by knockout, while fourteen of Benavidez’s fifteen wins have come by stoppage.

Benavidez was significantly taller than Douglin and used his jab and reach to his advantage with sharp jabs and crisp crosses. Douglin, however, was able to do good work to the body and stunned Benavidez with a left hook near the end of the round and finished strong.

The second round was a close one to call. Benavidez was able to land a few hard uppercuts, but also had to hold the back of Douglin’s head in order to land some body shots. This round featured some good exchanges with both boxers landing their fair share of good shots.

Benavidez looked he was starting to wear Doughlin down in the third round. He staggered Doughlin at one point in the fourth round with a straight right hand and Doughlin was forced to hold on.

Benavidez looked like he was in complete control in the fourth and fifth rounds, and he was able to snake his punches around the tight guard of Douglin from a variety of angles and did it well.

Benavidez opened up the sith round with a hard right cross right uppercut combination, and had Douglin reeling on the ropes while he delivered withering body blows and hard shots to the head. Douglin looked like he was close to hitting the mat, but his mouthpiece fell out and he was granted a short break and recovered.

Benavidez opened up the seventh round by backing Douglin to a corner and continuing the damage he inflicted upon him in the previous round. At one point Douglin had Benavidez’s back towards the ropes, but the ring ropes fell down and the fight had to be stopped in order to fix the ring.

Douglin attacked Benavidez immediately when the fight restarted and did some good work to the body when Benavidez had his back to the ropes and may have stolen the round.

Benavidez appeared to win the eighth round after giving away the seventh by sticking to his jab and landing clean shots from the outside.

Douglin needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win the fight, but Benavidez landed several crowd pleasing shots in the ninth round including a combination of uppercuts that finally sent Douglin to the mat at the end of the ninth.

Douglin took several hard shots from Benavidez at the start of the tenth round and looked like he was just trying to survive. Benavidez landed another blistering combination with Douglin’s back towards the ropes before the referee jumped in and stopped the bout.

David Benavidez wins by TKO at 0:45 of the tenth round.

Afterwards Benavidez states, “I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I knew he wasn’t going to go out without a fight. So I came in here and started slower than I usually do, just using my jab a little bit more. I hurt him a lot of times, but I kept my cool. I knew I was going to get him out of here sooner or later and that’s exactly what I did tonight.

Undercard Quick Results:

Jeffrey Torres (1-0) defeated Mariano Rolon (0-1) by KO at 2:23 of the first round in the lightweight division.

Kieran Hooks (1-0) defeated Miguel Martinez (2-2) by decision in the junior middleweight division with scores of 38-37 on all three scorecards.

Darryl Bunting (2-0-2) and Edward Jeramie Ortiz (1-0-1) fought to a draw in the super middleweight division with scores of 39-37 for Bunting, and 38-38 on the other two scorecards.

Tyrone Brunson (23-6-1) defeated Carlos Garcia (10-17-1) by knockout at 0:25 of the fourth round in the junior middleweight division.