Tag Archives: Philadelphia

Posted on 05/13/2017

Brooker and Conquest Win at the SugarHouse Casino Friday in Philadelphia!
By: Ken Hissner

Kings Promotions once again sold out the SugarHouse Casino Friday night for the second straight show. They will be back in a week at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia with Carlos Rosario taking on Joshua Davis in the main event.

In the main event super middleweight Christopher “Ice” Brooker, 12-3 (5) out of Philadelphia, defeated southpaw Oscar Rojas, 14-8-1 (4), of Monterrey, MEX, in an action packed 8 round bout.

In the opening round Brooker was having problems against his second straight southpaw opponent while his trainer was encouraging him to come forward. In a close round Rojas landed more punches. In the second round Brooker drove Rojas into the ropes only to be hit by countering combinations. Brooker finally broke past the jab of Rojas driving him into the ropes with body punches. In the third round Rojas landed a solid lead left to the chin of Brooker who comes back with a left hook of his own knocking Rojas into the ropes which should have been called a knockdown by referee Esteves, Jr. In the fourth round Brooker goes into a crouch and gets caught with a flurry of uppercuts from Rojas. Brooker caught Rojas with a solid left hook to the head out of a clinch.

In the fifth round Brooker came forward with a double right to the head of Rojas. Brooker drove Rojas into the ropes but got countered with left uppercuts from Rojas in a round almost to hard to call. In the sixth round Brooker landed several left hooks driving Rojas back several steps. Brooker finally lands a lead right to the chin of Rojas. Brooker was much busier as Rojas slowed down. In the seventh round Brooker drove Rojas into the ropes with a flurry of punches. Both fighters knocked heads causing a lapse in the action. A right hook by Brooker to the head of Rojas almost scored a knockdown. In the eighth and final round a counter left hook by Brooker to the chin of Rojas got his attention. Rojas drove Brooker into his corner with a double left hook. At the bell Brooker landed a solid right to the chin of Rojas.

Judges Poturaj, Jasper and Rubenstein all had it 78-74 while this writer had it the same at 78-74.

Lightweight southpaw Jerome “The Conqueror” Conquest, 7-2 (1), of Philadelphia, pitched a shutout over game Daniel Perales, 10-10-1 (5), of Saltilo,
MEX, over 6 rounds.

In the co-feature opening round with Perales coming forward Conquest landed a good combination to the head of Perales. Conquest kept the jab in the face of Perales allowing him to get any offense going. In the second round Conquest counters Perales with combinations to the head. A solid right-hook from Conquest knocked the head of Perales back. The hand speed of Conquest is keeping Perales on the defense. A 3-punch combination by Conquest had Perales head spinning. In the third round Perales finally lands a lead right to the chin of southpaw Conquest. At the bell Conquest from the corner landed a solid left to the head of Perales.

In the fourth round Conquest landed a left uppercut knocking Perales off balance. Perales landed a solid left hook to the head of Conquest who countered with a left to the head. Conquest continued to beat Perales to the punch. In the fifth round Perales knowing he was behind starts throwing punches in bunches until a left to the head from Conquest stops him in his tracks. Perales started showing his frustration as Conquest is landing punches in bunches right up to the bell. In the sixth and final round Conquest is catching Perales coming forward in desperation but getting hit in the head. Peales lands a flurry of punches backing Conquest into the ropes bringing a smile to the face of Conquest. It was Conquest the rest of the round dealing out punches to the head of Perales.

Judges Poturaj and Gradowski 60-54 and Rubenstein 59-55 while this writer had it 60-54.

Super middleweight Blake Mansfield, 4-1-1 (2), of Burlington, NC, lost a hard fought majority decision to southpaw Henry Beckford, 5-6 (1), of
Coram, NY, over 6 rounds.

In the opening round the much taller Beckford used a solid jab keeping Mansfield at bay before coming in under the jab with some uppercuts to the chin of Beckford. A lead right to the chin by Mansfield rocked Beckford at the bell. In the second round Beckford’s jab is keeping Mansfield looking for an opening landing several uppercuts when he gets inside. Beckford’s been warned several times by referee Esteves, Jr., for leaning on top of Mansfield and using his forearm to the head. In the third round another warning to Beckford for holding behind the head and hitting by referee Esteves, Jr. Once again Beckford uses the foreman to the throat of Mansfield and gets away with it. A lead right by Mansfield to the chin of Beckford had him holding on. Mansfield had a welt under his right eye by the end of the round.

In the fourth round several uppercuts to the chin by Mansfield had Beckford holding on. Beckford landed an overhand left to the head of Mansfield then Beckford fell backwards barely staying on his feet. Mansfield turned southpaw landing several right hooks to the head of Beckford who looks like he is out of gas by continuing to grab Mansfield into a clinch. In the fifth round Mansfield lands an overhand right to the head of Beckford who had his right hand caught on a rope strap. Beckford was losing his trunks as referee Esteves again pulled them up. In the sixth and final round Mansfield continued to come forward knocking the trunks of a holding Beckford. Mansfield got inside working uppercuts with both hands to the mid-section of Beckford. Beckford continues to push Mansfield to the ropes while holding him completely out of gas. Mansfield gets in several rights at the bell almost knocking Beckford off his feet.

Judges Poturaj 57-57, Gradowski and Jasper had it 58-56 while this writer had it 57-57.

Cruiserweight southpaw Sam Orapeza, 2-0 (1), of Philadelphia, scored a pair of knockdowns in a wild brawl defeating Kyle McNutt, 1-3 (1), of Battle Creek, MI, who had Orapeza out on his feet at the final bell in a 4 round bout.

In the opening round McNutt came out using his jab as Orapeza was throwing leather to the body an ending it with a solid left to the head of McNutt. A lead straight left by Orapeza to the chin of McNutt and down he went taking the count of referee Bashir. A lead left by Orapeza to the head of McNutt drove him into the ropes. In the second round both fighters exchanged shots to the head. Orapeza was landing lead lefts to the head with McNutt covering up. McNutt came back with a good body attack. A lead left by Orapeza to the chin of McNutt rocked him. McNutt landed several uppercuts making Orapeza fall into him. Then McNutt ended the round with three left hooks to the head of Orapeza. In the third round McNutt used his jab well while Orapeza may be tiring. Orapeza came back driving McNutt into the ropes but McNutt countered Orapeza back blooding his nose. Orapeza with his many backers screaming for him started throwing punches in bunches. In the fourth and final round a lead right by McNutt landed well on the chin of Orapeza who came back landing an overhand left on the chin of McNutt dropping him to the canvas. Referee Bashir gave him the 8 count. Both fighters landed solid punches as McNutt had Orapeza out on his feet at the bell.

Judges Jasper 38-37, Gradowski 39-35 and Rubenstein 39-36 with this writer having it 39-36.

Super lightweight Jeffrey Torres, 3-0 (1), of Philadelphia, defeated southpaw Kashon Hutchinson, 2-3 (1), of Reading, PA, over 4 rounds.

In the opening round Hutchinson used a jab to keep Torres at bay. Hutchinson landed a left uppercut to the mid-section of Torres whose defense is wide open with hands to his side. In the second round Torres landed a left hook to the chin of Hutchinson knocking him back several steps. Torres pinned Hutchinson against the ropes getting half a dozen punches in before Hutchinson spun out. A solid left hook by Torres at the ten second mark was followed by another seconds later knocking the mouthpiece out of Hutchinson. In the third round both boxers were exchanging head shots forgetting the body blows. Hutchinson landed a 3-punch combination with no return from Torres. A counter left hook by Torres rocked Hutchinson. In the fourth and final round Hutchinson started using his jab as he did in the first round but Torres was countering with lead rights to the head. Torres can’t miss with those lead rights down the pike landing on Hutchinson’s head.

Judges Rubenstein and Poturaj 39-37 and Gradowski 40-36 with this writer 39-37.

Bantamweight Harold Lopez, 1-0-1 (1), of Allentown, PA, scoring a knockdown had to settle for a draw with Basyzber Baratov, 2-1-2 (0), of Philadelphia, over 4 rounds.

In the opening round a counter right to the head from Lopez rocked Baratov. Half a round later it was Baratov with a right to the head rocking Lopez. There was no feeling out in this round. In the second round Baratov rocked Lopez with a combination to the head. In this round there were more wild misses than punches landed. In the third round a Baratov lead right caught Lopez on the side of his head getting his attention. Lopez landed a straight right to the chin of Baratov driving him into the ropes. Baratov came back with a right to the head of Lopez. Then Lopez rocked Baratov into the ropes and shortly after dropped him with another right which was a questionable call by referee Bashir. In the fourth and final round both are swinging for the fences with as many misses as hits. It got very sloppy in there until Lopez rocked Baratov with a right to the chin.

Judges Gradowski 39-38 Lopez, Rubenstein and Jasper a 38-38 draw, and this writer 38-37 Lopez.

In the opening bout super featherweight Chaise Nelson, 5-1 (3), of Dayton, OH, came off the canvas to gain a narrow decision over southpaw Bryan Nevarez, 2-5-1 (1), of Carolina, PR,

Nelson took the first and was winning the second round when a straight left from Nevarez dropped him just before the bell. Referee Esteves, Jr. counted as the bell sounded and Nelson was up. In round three Nelson came back to take a close round. In the fourth and final round both boxers were trying for the knockout. Elson was landing some haymakers but Nevarez hung in there.

Judges Rubenstein, Jasper 38-37 Gradowski 39-37 this writer 38-37.

Posted on 05/12/2017

Philadelphia’s Unbeaten Little Big Men Christian Carto & Manny Folly!
By: Ken Hissner

Philadelphia had a WBA World Bantamweight champion back in the early 80’s named “Joltin” Jeff Chandler, 33-2-2 (18). In November of 1980 he stopped Julian Solis, 21-0, for the WBA bantamweight title. He was the first American in 30 years to hold the bantamweight title.

Chandler won both the USBA & NABF titles and as world champion had nine successful title defenses. He knocked out Solis in a rematch and also stopped Japan’s Eijiro Murata, 18-0-3, having been held to a draw in Japan in their first title encounter. He stopped fellow Philadelphian Johnny “Dancing Machine” Carter, 23-1, who he lost to in his short amateur career. In 1983 he defeated future Hall of Famer Gaby Canizales, 24-1. Later that year he lost a non-title fight to Oscar Muniz, 35-3-3, out of L.A. He would stop Muniz in a title fight before the year was out.

In April of 1984 Chandler was stopped and lost his title to Richie Sandoval, 22-0, in which would be his last fight. He would undergo removal of a traumatic cataract from his left eye and retire shortly afterwards. J Russell Peltz was his promoter and is an IBHOF inductee and still promoting in Philadelphia. You would almost think this is an article about Chandler who was inducted into both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the IBHOF.

Chandler was introduced into the ring recently on April 29th at the Temple University Liacouras Center where he watch Philadelphia bantamweight Christian Carto, 9-0 (9), score his ninth straight knockout in a row since turning professional. As usual Carto stole the show with his performance. He was the National Golden Gloves champion in 2015 and is trained by former amateur success Mickey Rosati in his trainer’s gym over his auto body shop in South Philadelphia.

Carto’s brother Frank is an amateur and his father Frank recently said “Manny and Christian have sparred together many times”. Carto comes from a long line of boxers with two uncles and a grandfather who boxed. Hard Hitting Promotions has been promoting him since he turned professional in July of 2016. His next fight should be at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, sometime in June. He is a boxer-puncher.

The other “little big man” is super bantamweight Manny “Major Pain” Folly, 10-0 (8), out of Philadelphia who has served on the city Police force for the past three years. He trains out of the Rock Ministry Gym in the Kensington section of the city under owner, trainer and manager Buddy Osborn who also had a successful amateur career. In his last bout he stopped veteran Luis Hinojosa, 30-10, at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. He too, usually is fighter of the night.

Before turning professional in 2013 Folly was a Bronze Medalist in the National Golden Gloves. It’s been a lot more difficult for this 25 year-old since he has worked on swing shift to squeeze in a professional boxing career only averaging two fights a year. He reminds one of a “back-in-the Day” boxer with a Philadelphia style of boxer-puncher.

Both Carto and Folly have a large following and with a combined record of 19-0 with 17 knockouts one would suspect a good following. Besides they are two of the nicest and respectful young boxers out of the city.So Philadelphia has not only one “big little man” but two. Keep your eye on both of them in the future!

Posted on 05/11/2017

Christopher “Ice” Brooker Headlines at SugarHouse Casino Friday!
By: Ken Hissner

Kings Promotions with CEO Marshall Kauffman and David Feldman come back looking for another sold out arena Friday night at the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia!

A press conference was held at the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia Tuesday on 1001 N. Delaware Avenue. There will be seven bouts with a total of 38 rounds of competitive boxing. First bout at 7pm.

Philadelphia’s ever popular super middleweight Christopher “Ice” Brooker, 11-3 (5), will be in the main event looking to stop a two fight losing streak as he takes on southpaw Oscar Riojas, 14-7-1 (4), from Monterrey, MEX, over 8 rounds.

Promoter Kauffman said “no soft fights for the fighter’s only entertaining fights. We sold out the arena in our first show and expect to do it again in our second show here at the SugarHouse Casino come Friday night”.

“I made the mistake of trying to box instead of my usual aggressive style in my last fight. There will be none of that this time,” said Brooker. He had a new trainer in his corner last fight named Muhammad Aziz who will be there again. “I didn’t have a big amateur career so every fight is a learning experience for me,” said Brooker.

First boxer to speak was Philadelphia’s cruiserweight Sam Orapeza, 1-0 (1), a cruiserweight and former MMA fighter at 13-3 with all knockout wins. “I look to knockout every opponent they put before me,” said Orapeza. He debuted at the SugarHouse Casino March 11th scoring a first round knockout! He will face Kyle McNutt, 1-2 (1), of Battle Creek, MI. Like BrookerOrapeza is all action!

The co-feature will be headlined by Lightweight Jerome “The Conqueror” Conquest, 6-2 (1), of Philadelphia who had his trainers Wade and Randy Hinnant there. “I broke my foot but wasn’t diagnosed properly and did my roadwork for 17 weeks before it was discovered broke. I was out for 6 months but it feels fine now,” said Conquest. He is matched with veteran Daniel Perales, 10-9-1 (5), out of Monterrey, Mexico, over 6 rounds.

David Feldman let all in attendance know that “Sam, Chris and Jerome didn’t have it easy growing up and it prepared them for the sport of boxing”. Bantamweight Harold Lopez, 1-0 (1), who is out of Allentown and who was on the Puerto Rican Olympic team is backafter scoring a first round knockout on the last show. He faces Sergio Aguilar, 2-5 (2), of Mexico City, Mexico. Anytime a Puerto Rican and Mexican meet it usually means fireworks!

From out of state will be Featherweight Chaise Nelson, 4-1 (3), of Dayton, OH, will be in a 6 round bout. He will be in against his sixth straight Latino opponent in Bryan Perez Nevarez, 2-5-1 (1), of Puerto Rico. Also from out of state is lightweight Jeffrey Torres, 2-0 (1), out of CT, who takes on Kashon Hutchinson, 2-2 (1), of Reading. Torres wins were both in Philadelphia. In a 6 rounder is super middleweight Blake Mansfield, 4-0-1 (2), coming in from Burlington, NC, taking on Henry Beckford, 4-6 (1), of Coram, NY.

Also on Saturday at the Grundy Arena in Bristol, PA, on 475 Beaver Street will feature southpaw Derrick “Take It to The Bank” Webster, 22-1 (11), out of Glassboro, NJ, who will face southpaw Frankie “The Freight Train” Filippone, 22-5-1 (7), from Norfolk, VA, who is on a 6 fight winning streak for the WBFInternational super middleweight title over 10 rounds!

There will be a female bout in the co-feature with super lightweight Tunisian IkramKerwat, 7-1 (5), out of Frankfort, Germany against Atlantic City welterweight Althea “Lady Thunder” Saunders, 3-3-2 (0), who is known at times to sing the National Anthem. It will be for the WBF Junior Regional title over 6 rounds.

On the undercard will be Trenton’s Mike Hilton, 5-0, Camden’s Vidal Rivera, 5-0, New York’s MikkelLesPierre, 15-0-1, Asbury Park’sDarryl Bunting, 3-1-2, and Pensacola’s Frederick Wilhite, 5-0.
New to the area will be promoters Deuce Promotions, Mis Downing Promotions and K5 Promotions per Marc Abrams who is the PR man for both shows.

Posted on 05/05/2017

Philly’s Fab Four Turned Professional in 2016 and Are 31-0-1!
By: Ken Hissner

The year was 2016 that five Philly boxers were to go to the Olympic in Brazil! The best looking prospect to come out of Philly since 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Meldrick Taylor in this writer’s opinion is Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 10-0 (8), from the Germantown section of Philly at 19. He was 58-3 in the amateurs. His father Bozy Ennis is his trainer and possibly the best in the city. Cameron Dunkin is his manager and Victory Promotions his promoter. He could have signed with Top Rank but Dunkin chose Victory Promotions promoted by Chris Middendorf. Top Rank Promotions were not thrilled with Dunkin’s decision who he usually works with.

Ennis defeated Gary Antuanne Russell in his first fight in the Olympic Trials and followed it with two more wins. Then in the box-off he lost back to back matches to Russell who was one of four men to go to the Olympics in Brazil. Bozy Ennis was not happy with the two losses but said “we beat him but they stole it. I’d give Russell the third time.”

Ennis made his professional debut in April in St. George Utah and stopped Cory Muldrew in 0:42 of the first round. He defeated Luis Ramos in 0:23 in Philly in May for his second win. In June he stopped Deshawn Debose in 0:20 of the first round in Springfield, VA, for his third win. Then in July for his third win he stopped Tavorus Teague at 1:38 of the fourth round in Rio Rancho, NM, for his fourth win.

In August in his fifth win he stopped Matt Murphy at 2:52 of the second round in Bristol, PA, for his fifth win. “Murphy had just stopped a 3-0 boxer in his previous fight,” said Ennis. He won his sixth fight when he defeated Eddie Diaz at 2300 Arena in Philly on September 15th. Diaz was from Compton, CA, one of the toughest areas in the country. Ennis is 5:10 and after competing at 141 in the amateurs he’s now a welterweight but just a couple of pounds over 141.”He’s doing pretty good defeating all the opponents he’s fought so far. Even I don’t always realize when he switches from orthodox to southpaw. After seeing him in the Diaz fight I am moving he up to 147 and no more 143 fights,” said Ennis.

“Boots” won his seventh fight on November 11th at the 2300 Arena where he stopped Chris Alexander, 4-3, in 4 rounds. Then he won his eighth fight on December 10th at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA, stopping Marcus Becker, 3-4-3, in the sixth and final round. “I will be back in the ring January 28th at the 2300 Arena that my promoter Chris Middendorf of Victory Promotions is running. On January 28th “Boots’ knocked out Elvin Perez, 28-17-4, at 0:35 of the first round at the 2300 Arena. On March 31st at the 2300 Arena, Ennis won his tenth straight in a rough and tumble bout that saw him body slammed to the canvas and punched while on the mat. His opponent James “Shotgun” Winchester, 20-12, paid the price taking a vicious body attack and a cut over his right eye. He was looking to be DQ’d to prevent more of a beating but was able to stay on his feet for the entire six rounds losing 60-53 on all judge’s score cards.

“Boots” two brothers have been pro’s first. Farah “Quiet Storm”, 22-2 (12), won the NABF Super Middleweight while the oldest brother Derek “Pooh” Ennis, 24-5-1 (13), won the USBA Super welterweight and the PA Super welterweight titles. “Boots” has a combination of both brothers and then some of his own. He is orthodox but fights some of his bouts southpaw. He trains at “Bozy’s Dungeon” in North Philly run by his father over top of Harrowgate’s Boxing Club on E. Venago Street off Kensington Avenue.

In 2015 “Boots” won the National Youth title in January. In May he won the National Golden Gloves title. He took lost in the Olympic Trials in December and was asked to be an alternate but his father turned it down to turn professional. At the Olympic Trial Qualifiers in Philly he won all five bouts.

Joshua Jones, 4-0-1 (2), signed with Dunkin and Victory Promotions along with Ennis. He trains at Shuler’s Gym and is trained by Hamza Muhammad. Jones is 23 and a Super lightweight. He made his debut in April in Utah along with “Boots” stopping Jason Thompson at 2:33 of the third round.

In June of 2016 both Jones and Ennis were on the Springfield, VA, show where Jones stopped Christopher Kuhn at 1:52 of the first round. In July he fought to a majority draw with Ahmet Kayretli in Erie, PA, getting a 39-37 vote with the other two having it 38-38. “He could have done better but he certainly deserved the fight. The opponent came in at 139 and was 150 at fight time. Jones has a fight scheduled for November 11th in Philadelphia at 2300 Arena meeting Corey Edwards, 2-1.

“I believe Boots, Tight and Christian are great and I believe we will all do big things in boxing,” said Jones. He returned to the ring after four months on March 31st taking a decision over Dustin Arnold, 1-0, by scores of 40-36 twice and 39-37, at the 2300 Arena in South Philly.

Darmani “Tight” Rock, 8-0 (5), is a super heavyweight at 6:05 and averaging just under 250. He is trained by his father Wayne “Wiz”. They go between their own Rock Solid Boxing Gym at 2840 Chatman Street in Frankford section of North Philly. His promoter is Jay Z’s Roc Nation. In 2014 he won the Youth World Title in Bulgaria and in 2015 the US Nationals. He also won the 2015 National Golden Gloves. He made it as far as the Olympic Trials semi-finals.

In May Rock turned pro in D.C. stopping Carlos Black at 1:54 in round one in D.C. In June he stopped Bobby Favors who weighed 402 lbs. at 1:46 of round one in Quincy, MASS. In July he stopped Hassan Lee at 2:21 in round one in Pittsburgh. In August he won over Mike Kyle in Oakland 40-35 and a pair of 39-37’s. He is 20. In October he stopped John Orr in Winchester, VA. On November 19th in Las Vegas, NV, he defeated Brice Ritani Coe, 4-4-1, by decision, November 19th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Rock knocked out Solomon Maye, 3-7-2, January 20th at Bally’s Event Center in Atlantic City, NJ. “My dad has trained me since I started at 12 or 13. I feel that I will get better and better with each fight,” said Rock. On March 18th he won a 6 round decision over Jon Bolden, 8-10-1, at the Mountaineer Casino Ballroom, in New Cumberland, WV. At the 2300 Arena show he had his right hand bandaged which he said the injury went back to the Maye knockout.

The final one of the Fab Four is Bantamweight Christian Carto, 9-0 (9), of South Philly was an Olympic Trials Bronze medalist and went to the training camp in Colorado to help others after the trials. He is trained by Mickey Rosati, Jr. Mickey was a PA State GG champion. His gym is over his Business Rosati’s Auto Repair Shop at 1937 S. Chadwick St., in South Philly. “He is a rare breed who comes in the gym six days a week. I’ve trained him for the past 3 years. He’s a pleasure to train because he listens. He’s up to bantamweight,” said Rosati.

Carto was the 108 National Golden Gloves Champion in 2014 defeating Leroy “Lucious” Davila who was No. 1 in the nation and 4-0 now as a pro. “I was with him when he beat Davila who was the best in the country,” said Rosati. Carto finished third in the 2015 Golden Gloves. His father Frank is always there to support his son who is 20. His brother Frank, Jr. won the Novice at 141 in the Golden Gloves this year.

Carto turned pro at the Santander Arena in Reading, PA, stopping Rahkeem Parker who wouldn’t come out after three rounds. In his second bout he stopped Christopher Nelson at the Claridge Casino in Atlantic City in the third round just 20 days later after his debut. In August in his third bout he stopped Jonathan Hernandez at 1:02 of the second round at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly. In his fourth bout on October 28th Carto stopped Angel Carvajal, 2-4, in the second round.

In his fifth fight on November 12th he stopped Leonardo Reyes, 5-10, in the second round. Carto has a big following which showed in his last fight with all the Carto shirts. He boxes well with good balance and is finding some punching power in the professionals. He won his sixth straight at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly on December 16th. He knocked out Harold Reyes, 2-6-1, in the second round. During the referee’s instructions to start the bout Reye’s trainer said “now you are in with a man.” Carto’s trainer Mickey Rosati said “I can’t believe he said that. That’s just not right.” After the first round of which Carto won big he pointed to the trainer of Reye’s in the corner saying something. After knocking Reye’s out in the second round Carto again pointed to the trainer with some choice words. In his seventh fight he stopped Sergio Najera, 12-28-2, of Mexico, at 2:06 of the third round at the SugarHouse Casino. In his eighth fight he stopped Rudolph “the Cutting Edge” Hedge, 10-4-3, of Jamaica after four rounds and not coming out for fifth round at the Fillmore, in Philly.

Carto on April 29th at the Liacouras Center won his 9th straight by stoppage over Samuel Gutierrez, 14-18-5 at the end of 5 in a scheduled 6.

Posted on 05/05/2017

There Was Only One Philly Blue Horizon & Ring Magazine Voted It #1 in the World!
By: Ken Hissner

The Blue Horizon is a historic 1,500-seat former boxing venue in Philadelphia. The Ring magazine voted it the number-one boxing venue in the world, and Sports Illustrated noted it as the last great boxing venue in the country.

The Blue Horizon was originally constructed as three four-story Second Empire style houses in 1865. Originally built to house the nouveau riche, the properties were eventually sold to the Loyal Order of Moose. Architect Carl Berger oversaw the 1914 alterations to house the fraternal lodge, adding a ballroom, bar, and auditorium. Lodge #54, located at 1312-1316 North Broad Street had over 20,000 members by 1920, at that point the highest membership of any fraternal lodge in the world. By the late 1920s, membership had reached over 40,000 and plans were made for an extensive expansion of the building; however the Great Depression forced Lodge #54 to abandon their plans. The building also got its first taste of professional boxing during the Moose era, with two fight cards on March 1 and March 28 of 1938. The March 28th card featured heavyweight Willie Reddish, who later trained Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier.

Jimmy Toppi Sr. purchased the building in 1961 for $85,000, and renamed it after the song “Beyond the Blue Horizon” from the 1930 film Monte Carlo. After another series of renovations, regular boxing shows began in the Blue Horizon on November 3, 1961. The main event featured Hall of Famer George Benton against Chico Corsey, a late substitute. The early days of the building as a boxing venue saw regular weekly shows. Promoter Marty Kramer was given a grant from Madison Square Garden to put on these matches in order to develop young fighters. Kramer promoted over 30 main events before leaving the Blue Horizon in 1963.

Promoter Herman Taylor then hosted three nationally televised bouts at the venue in 1963 and 1964, featuring Jose Stable, Dick Turner, Harold Johnson, Henry Hank, Stanley Hayward, and Curtis Cokes. On May 26, 1966 “Gypsy” Joe Harris took a 10 round decision over Johnny Knight in a fight promoted by Lou Lucchese. There would be no more fights until September 30, 1969, when J. Russell Peltz had his first promotion of his Hall of Fame career. Peltz set a site attendance record of 1,606 in his first of many cards at the Blue Horizon. Peltz would leave the Blue in 1971 after 31 cards to promote at bigger venues like the Spectrum, but would return in 1974. Peltz would promote more fights at the Blue Horizon than anyone else in its history.

The Peltz era brought Philadelphia greats such as Matthew Saad Muhammad, Bernard Hopkins, Cyclone Hart, Tim Witherspoon, and Bennie Briscoe. Peltz left the Blue Horizon in 2001, came back to promote one card in 2004 and three card in 2009 for the last time.

In 1994, the site was purchased by Vernoca L. Michael, Carol P. Ray, and Carol M.A. Whitaker. In 1998, Vernoca Michael became licensed as the first female African American boxing promoter in the state of Pennsylvania. She has promoted bouts since featuring established fighters such as Eddie Chambers, Yusef Mack, and Lajuan Simon.

On December 2, 1997, the venue held its first world title fight when Peltz promoted Charles Brewer in a defense of his International Boxing Federation super middleweight crown. The Blue Horizon has also hosted international, regional, and state title fights.

In 2008, Ms. Michael was named one of Top 50 Women in Business in the State of Pennsylvania by Governor Ed Rendell.

Michael has worked to make the building a cultural center for the surrounding neighborhood by creating a learning center with connections to Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania and a Philadelphia Boxing Museum. The venue also hosts special events, meetings, receptions, weddings, and cabarets.

The Blue Horizon appears in the film Rocky V as some of the fight scenes with Tommy Morrison were filmed there. The building was also used to film the boxing scenes in the movie Annapolis.

The Blue Horizon was closed, reportedly due to tax problems, in June 2010. In January 2011, it was announced that $6 million had been granted to help West Philadelphia developer Mosaic Development Partners build an $18 million hotel-and-restaurant complex with a jazz bar and fitness center at the site of the Blue Horizon. In July 2013, Mosaic’s plans called for the venue to be demolished in order to make way for a parking garage.

The last show was June 04, 2010 with Farah Ennis winning in the main event.

“Rockin” Rodney Moore claims to have fought there 27 times. Box Rec shows he was 20-1-1 at the Blue.

As of May 2017 the venue along with the upgraded boxing ring remains untouched, abandoned and in remarkably good to pristine condition with virtually no signs of any interior damage or structural problems since its closing in 2010.

Posted on 04/30/2017

Tevin “American Idol” Farmer and Christian Carto Win in Philly!
By: Ken Hissner

Hard Hitting Promotions Manny Rivera and Will Ruiz put on a great show at another new location featuring world contender and NABF super featherweight champion and world contender Tevin “American Idol” in the main event Saturday night at the Temple University Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

Super featherweight Tevin “American Idol” Farmer, 24-4-1 (5), of Philadelphia won his 18th straight fight defending his NABF title and defeating Arturo Santos Reyes, 19-7 (5), of Sonora, MEX,
The first round was a feeling out round with southpaw Farmer winning it. In the second round both exchanged hooks to the head. Farmer may have hurt his right arm or hand landing a punch. His trainer Raul “Chino” Rivas was massaging his arm. In the third round Farmer is switching from southpaw to orthodox not using his right but spairingly. Reyes is taking advantage of this doing well in the round. In the fourth round Reyes landed a solid combination to the head of Farmer who came right back using both hands. Farmer landed a good left uppercut to the jaw of Reyes who came back with solid combinations.

In the fifth round it was very close with Farmer using the right more and may have edged it out over Reyes. In the sixth round Farmer looked like his old self a boxer on a 17 fight winning streak. Reyes keeps chasing him getting countered but getting his punches in especially to the body. In the seventh round it was another close round with plenty of action. Farmer seems to be pulling out the close rounds but Reyes isn’t giving him any breathing room. In the eighth round Farmer is on the attack with Reyes getting in several right uppercuts but Farmer simply outworked Reyes.

In the ninth round Farmer landed a hard countering left uppercut to the chin of Reyes. Reyes came back landing half a dozen punches without return before Farmer fought back out of a peek-a-boo defense. Farmer landed a solid left hand to the chin of Reyes at the bell. Reyes seemed to pull out the round. In the tenth and final round turned out to be the best round of the fight with both boxers letting it all hang out. Referee Shawn Clark warned Farmer for an accidental head butt. Both boxers put on a good show up until the end.

Super lightweight Samuel “Sunami” Teach, 10-1-1 (4), of Philadelphia, stopped Efran “Macho” Cruz, 4-4-1 (1), of Vieques, PR, at 1:40 of the fourth and final round in a war!

In the first round Teah landed a 3-punch combination but Cruz came back. Near the end of a very good round Teach rocked Cruz with a straight right to the head. In the second round both boxers scored hard rights knocking each others heads back. It’s an action packed round. With seconds to go Teach landed a hard right while backed into a corner with Cruz countering with a left hook to the head. Just before the bell Teach rocked Cruz with a right uppercut to the chin.

In the third round Teah landed a double right uppercut to the chin of Cruz who came right back at Teah. In the fourth and final round Teach countered Cruz who was swarming all over him in a corner. Teah rocked Cruz with a right uppercut to the chin had Cruz out on his feet when another right dropped him on his back. Referee Dali stepped in and waved the fight off. In the corner of Teah were “Bozy” Ennis and assistant Rashiem Jefferson.

Bantamweight Christian Carto, 9-0 (9), of Philadelphia, fought a flawless fight stopping a tough Sammy “Panterita” Gutierrez, 14-19-5 (5), of Saltillo, MEX, at the end of the fifth of a six round bout.

In the first round Carto started the action with a left jab followed by a left hook to the body. A right by Carto to the head of Gutierrez had him hurt. Carto landed a 3-punch combination on two occasions. Carto was almost flawless. In the second round Carto landed a 4-punch combination. Cruz finally opened up with a flurry. Gutierrez became the aggressor in a well fought round with Carto countering him. In the third round Gutierrez landed his best punch of the bout an overhand right to the head of Carto. Carto came right back with a flurry. A Carto combination rocked Gutierrez. At the ten second to go in the round mark Carto landed half a dozen punches without return.

In the fourth round Carto started off landing ten punches before Gutierrez landed one in return. In the fifth round a Carto double chopping right got Gutierrez’s attention. Near the end of the round Carto rocked Gutierrez’s head back. In the fifth round a double right from Carto to the head of Gutierrez and down he went. Up with a swelled right eye he tried fighting back as Carto rocked him with a right to the head at the bell. Gutierrez’s corner stopped the fight in between rounds. Referee was Dali.

Carto put on a “clinic” and is a pleasure to watch and what a crowd pleaser. The humble Carto is a young man of few words. He let’s his fists do the talking after each fight. In his corner was former amateur star Mickey Rosato. “He was a very experienced fighter and it was good getting the rounds in,” said Carto. He is a show stealer every time he appears on a card!

Lightweight 17 year-old Branden “The Gift” Pizarro, 5-0 (2), of Philadelphia, defeated Chris Gutierrez, 0-3 (0), of Greenville, TX, over four rounds.
In the first round it was all Pizarro being one of the most relaxed young talents out of Philly. Gutierrez came out southpaw and switched back with much offense. In the second round Pizarro rocked Gutierrez with a lead right to the chin. Gutierrez is using dirty tactics knowing he is being out fought. In the third round it was all Pizarro with Gutierrez continuing with foul tactics trying to offset the young Pizarro from landing a big punch.

In the third round Pizarro continues to stay a step ahead of Gutierrez. In the fourth and final round Pizarro is doing too much posing playing to the crowd. Gutierrez woke him up with a combination to the head. A solid left hook to the head of Gutierrez had him reeling. Angel Pizarro the father and “Bozy” Ennis worked the corner.

Judges Hill and Grant had it 40-36 as did this writer. Werlinsky had it 39-37.
In the opening bout light heavyweight, David “One-Two Punch” Murray, 6-1 (5), of Wilmington, DE, in a war came off the canvas twice to stop Sammy “The Russian Concussion” Horowitz, 6-3-1 (5), of Chicago, IL, at 1:26 of the fourth and last round.

In the first round it was all Murray up until 10 seconds left in the round when Horowitz landed a right to the chin of Murray who went down on the seat of his pants. Referee Clark counted to 8 while the bell had sounded. In the second round Horowitz was cut on the left eyebrow from a Murray right hand. Murray landed half a dozen punches without return near the end of the round.

In the third round a Murray right to the head had Horowitz out on his feet. Horowitz came back with a right of his own to the head of Murray dropping him.

In the fourth and final round Murray rocked Horowitz back several steps having him out on his feet. Referee Clark jumped in and stopped the fight with Horowitz complaining about the stoppage while against the ropes.

This was a second Annual Urban League fund raiser after the professional boxing card. Numerous former boxing people were introduced into the ring by ring announcer Pat Michael Fattore like Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins, Buster “The Demon” Drayton, Steve “USS” Cunningham, Jason “El Canito” Sosa, Mike “The Jewish Bomber” Rossman, “Joltin” Jeff Chandler, Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown, Fred Pendleton, Vernoca Michael, Tim Witherspoon, Jr., Dwight Qawi Muhammad, Jackie “Sister Smoke” Frazier, Mitch Allen, Damon Allen, Charles “Hatchet” Brewer and at ringside Willie Gibbs, “Hammerin” Hank Lundy, Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson, Angel Pizarro, Jr., Jerome Conquest and Greg Hackett.
Hard Hitting will be back in June at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City with “The New” Ray Robinson in the main event.

Posted on 04/21/2017

Keenan Smith Headlines at Claridge Hotel & Casino in A.C. Saturday!
By: Ken Hissner

Philadelphia’s Keenan Smith, 10-0 (4), will be in the main event of an 8 bout card Saturday night at the Claridge Hotel & Casino promoted by GH-3 and D&D Promotions.

In the main event Smith will do battle against Filipino Edgar “Koki” Gabejan, 27-33-7 (9), in a super lightweight 8 rounder. In addition the rest of the card except one bout will be filled with New Jersey and Pennsylvania boxers.
In 6 round bouts heavyweight Tyrell Wright, 9-0-1 (6), of Jersey City, NJ, faces Dan Pasciolla, 9-2-1 (0), of Brick, NJ. Super lightweight John Bauza, 5-0 (2), of Bergen, NJ, faces Jesus Salas, 1-0 (1), of PR. Super lightweight Kenny “Bossman” Simms, Jr., 11-0 (3), of Chicago, faces Israel Villela, 6-4 (2), of Cancun, MEX.

In 4 round bouts Philadelphia has super welterweight Elijah Vines, 3-0 (3), and super featherweight Donald “No Love” Smith, 4-0 (3). Boxers from New Jersey will be amateur sensation Dylan Price, 1-0 (1), of Sicklersville and bantamweight Manuel Rodriguez, of Newark making his debut.

Posted on 04/01/2017

Jaron “Boots” Ennis Wins Tenth Straight in Eleven Months Friday in Philly!

By: Ken Hissner
Welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 10-0 (8), the hottest prospect out of Philadelphia since the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Meldrick Taylor in the main event at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia Friday, defeated James “Shotgun” Winchester, 20-13 (8), Reidsveille, NC, over six rounds on all cards 60-53 by judges Rose Vargas, James Kinney and Bernard Bruni as did this writer on the Victory Boxing Promotions show.

In the first round Ennis dominated with a body attack over the veteran Winchester through half the third round. Frustrated Winchester picked Ennis up and body slammed him and punched him before referee Shawn Clark pulled him off. This was the start of Winchester’s dirty tactics the remainder of the fight trying to get DQ’d to prevent further punishment Ennis was dishing out. In the fifth Ennis cut Winchester over the right eye. The entire last three rounds referee Clark continuously pulled Winchester off of Ennis especially when he would get him on the ropes.
Ennis went from southpaw to orthodox and it was like the bull against the matador as Ennis gave Winchester a vicious body beating but somehow stayed on his feet. In the sixth and final round Ennis pummeled Winchester with head shots having him beat to a pulp but got tied up immediately whenever Winchester was close enough to grab him. The referee could have stopped the fight at any time from the third round on but to the delight of the fans Ennis gave him a beating. “I want to thank all my fans for coming out tonight and my corner (his father and trainer Bozy),” said Ennis.
In the co-feature super bantamweight Manny “Major Pain” Folly, 10-0 (8), of Philly, continued his unbeaten streak stopping veteran Luis “Barcello” Hinijosa, 30-11 (17), of Santo Domingo, DR, after scoring a pair of knockdowns at 2:10 of the second round.

Referee Eric Dali counted him out on one knee. Folly is a Philly policeman with trainer Buddy Osborn in the corner. Folly is a top prospect who trains out of Osborn’s Rock Ministry Gym in the Kensington section of Philly.
“I worked hard in the gym and thank my opponent for taking the fight on short notice and the fight itself was easy,” said Folly.
Super middleweight Darren “Venom” Goodall, 5-0 (4), of New Milford, NJ, scored a technical stoppage at 1:51 of the second round over Juan Zapata, 4-11-2 (2), of the Bronx, NY.
Goodall scored knockdowns in the first and second rounds with combinations to the head of Zapata on both knockdowns. He brought plenty of fans from NJ who cheered him on. Goodall was very impressive in this win. “I went in the box him but when the openings came I put the punches together dropping him,” said Goodall. Top Cut-man Joey Eye was in his corner. It was the ninth time in Zapata’s eleven losses he was stopped.
17 year-old welterweight Brandun Lee, 2-0 (2), of Pasadena, CA, defeated overmatched Seth Basler, 0-1 (0), out of Marion, IL, at 2:12 of the first round. Basler was on the defense the entire round getting dropped once before referee Dali wisely stopped the onslaught.

When both fighters were announced with one a National Amateur champion and the other a debuting MMA fighter it was obvious what the outcome was going to be before the first bell sounded.
In the opening bout Joshua, “Hands of Stone” Jones, 4-0-1 (3), out of Philly, had an easy night defeating the muscular Dustin Arnold, 1-1 (0), of Coral Springs, FL, by scores of judges Vargas and Kinney of 40-36 as did this writer and 39-37 by judge Bruni.
Jones used angles on Arnold who occasionally landed an overhand right to the head of Jones. Otherwise he was completely outclassed. “It felt good getting back into the ring (3 postponed fights) and winning before my fans tonight,” said Jones.
The half-filled arena fans were very disappointed expecting at least an eight bout card that by fight time was reduced to five bouts by the promoter/matchmaker Chris Middendorf. Box Rec had twelve bouts scheduled during the week with only the top two bouts opponents listed. When people like this writer sat in $75 ringside seats (barred from press row) that’s $15 per fight. The fans deserve more than this.
Philly’s Keenan Smith, Elijah Vines and Angel Pizarro were scheduled up until the week of the fight only to find out at the Thursday weigh-in none of their opponents showed and had to return sold tickets. This is back to back lopsided fights by Victory Boxing Promotions with their shows especially lacking the Spanish boxers that Philly fans fill the arenas. How the Boxing Director continues to allow these mismatches is a mystery. Middendorf is a veteran boxing man who previously worked for TKO Boxing and Mike Tyson’s promotion with both ending up out of the business.
Discombobulating Jones was the ring announcer doing his usual fine job.

Posted on 03/31/2017

Jaron “Boots” Ennis Seeking Tenth Win in Eleven Months Friday!

By: Ken Hissner

Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 9-0 (8), the hottest prospect out of Philadelphia since the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Meldrick Taylor will be headlining at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia Friday on a Victory Boxing Promotions show.

Ennis is looking for his tenth win in eleven months since signing with manager Cameron Dunkin who is currently managing super lightweight champion Terrence Crawford.

“His career is going good and we are on the right track,” said Bozy Ennis (father and trainer).The 19 year-old Ennis is following in the footsteps of his brothers Derek “Pooh” Ennis, the former USBA super welterweight champion and Farah Ennis, the former NABF super middleweight champion. At Bozy’s Dungeon on Venango Street in North Philadelphia he’s been sparring with WBC contender “The New” Ray Robinson (whom Bozy trains), 23-2, Elijah Vines, 3-0, who will be on the show Friday, New York’s Steve Martinez, 17-3 (who is managed by Philly’s Brian Cohen) who will be on an April 7^th show in Puerto Rico that Philly’s Hard Hitting Promotions is involved with and Kyrone “Shut It Down”Davis, 12-1, from Wilmington, DE, who won Tuesday on Fox Sports-1.

Ennis turned professional in April of 2016 in St. George, UT, scoring a first round knockout in 0:42 on a Victory Boxing show, a first round stoppage in 0:23 in May in Philly at the PA Sheet Metal Workers Hall on a Hard Hitting show, in June in Springfield, VA, another first round knockout in 0:20, in July in Rio Rancho, NM, with a fourth round stoppage on a Victory Boxing show, in August at the Grundy Arena in Bristol, PA, on a D&D Promotions show scoring a second round knockout, in September winning his only decision at the 2300 Arena in Philly on a Peltz Boxing show, in November at the 2300 Arena in Philly with a fourth round stoppage over Chris Alexander, 4-2, in his first scheduled six round bout on a Victory Boxing show, in December at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly he scored a sixth round stoppage in a scheduled six, over Marcus Beckford, 3-4-1, on a Hard Hitting show and in January at the 2300 Arena on a Victory Boxing show scoring a first round knockout over Elvis Perez, 28-16-4, in 0:35.

There were just five fights at weigh-in down from twelve bouts scheduled as of Thursday. Angel Pizarro, 2-0 (1), of Philly (trained by Bozy) was to meet Christopher Nelson of Louisville, KY but was not at weigh-in. Manny “Major Pain” Folly, 9-0 (7), who is a Philly policeman, Joshua Jones, 3-0-1 (2), Darren Goodall, 4-0 (3), and Brandun Lee, 1-0 (1). There are just 24 rounds with 52 shown on box rec? Five fights for $75.00 ringside?

Doors open at 6pm and first fight scheduled at 7:00pm.

Posted on 03/25/2017

“The New” Ray Robinson Wins at the Fillmore in Philly Friday night!
By: Ken Hissner

Hard Hitting Promotions moved to a bigger facility at The Fillmore for their ever boxing event. They showcased contender “The New” Ray Robinson and Philly’s prospects filling out the undercard. The new site is beautiful and reminds boxing fans of the legendary Blue Horizon with balconies and not a bad seat in the house. Once again the fans were treated to a fine show and showed their appreciation throughout the event. Manny Rivera and co-promoter Will Ruiz who also serves as matchmaker keep the fans happy.

In the Main Event WBC southpaw welterweight contender “The New” Ray Robinson, 23-2 (12), of Philadelphia, stopped Claudinel Lacerda, 18-17-1 (13), of Sombrio, BRZ. 2:30 into the seventh round. Referee Benjy Estevees, Jr. had seen enough with Lacerda taking a brutal beating.

In the opening round Robinson moved well using his jab and an occasional left hook. In the second round Robinson stood his ground getting more power into his punches with a lead left to the chin of Lacerda ending the round. In the third round Lacerda came in throwing wide punches to the body of Robinson who countered with right hooks to the body and straight lefts to the chin. Robinson did enough damage in the round to earn a 10-8 round. In the fourth round Robinson came out with bad intentions landing a right hook followed by a left uppercut to the head of Lacerda. Robinson landed half a dozen unanswered punches. Lacerda finally landed a wild right to the head of Robinson getting his attention. Robinson came right back with the jab followed by a left to the chin of Lacerda.

In the fifth round Lacerda suffered a small cut on the bridge of his nose. A hard left uppercut by Robinson stunned Lacerda. He looked like he was about to go down but his heart kept him upright. In the sixth round a Robinson right hook to the head had Lacerda hurt. Lacerda was swinging wildly hitting nothing but air as Robinson counters him well. In the seventh round Robinson hurt Lacerda with a right hook to the body. Out of desperation Lacerda landed several punches to the head of Robinson but paid the price as he was countered well to the head. Near the end of the round referee Benjy Esteves, Jr., had seen enough and called a halt to the fight. Lacerda wanted to go on but took a brutal beating.

“I want to thank my trainer Bozy Ennis and my promoters Hard Hitting and DiBella Entertainment, all our team and the fans who came out tonight,” said Robinson. He is managed by Dave McWater.

In the co-feature 17 year-old lightweight Brandon “The Gift” Pizarro, 4-0 (2), of Philadelphia scored a knockdown and put on a spectacular 4 round decision over Matt Murphy, 2-10-1 (2), of St. Louis, MO.

In the first round Pizarro put on a show with a variety of punches and great footwork landing punches with great speed having Murphy on the defense. In the second round Pizarro landed 3 left hooks to the head of Murphy without return. The blue haired Murphy seemed bewildered by the hand speed of Pizarro. A Pizarro right to the head of Murphy followed by a left hook dropped Murphy for an 8 count by referee Ron Bashir.

In the third round while against the ropes Pizarro landed a 3-punch combination backing Murphy up. Halfway thru the round a Pizarro right to the head knocked Murphy back several steps. It was a round the flashy Pizarro put more behind his punches hurting Murphy on several occasions. In the fourth and final round Murphy came out more aggressive than in the first 3 rounds catching plenty of firepower from Pizarro. Murphy landed a combination to the head of Pizarro who was against the ropes. Pizarro ended the round with a flurry of punches to the delight of his many fans. In his corner was his father Angel and assistant Bozy Ennis. Pizarro may have hurt a hand early in the fight. He’s got worlds of potential at such a young age.

All 3 judges George Hill, Alan and Justin Rubenstein had it 40-35 as did this writer.

Bantamweight Christian Carto, 8-0 (8), of Philadelphia, scored his eighth straight stoppage over Rudolph “The Cutting Edge” Hedge, 10-5-3 (4), of Kingston, JAM, after Hedge’s corner wouldn’t allow him out for the fifth round. It was another flawless exhibition by the home town favorite Christian Carto. He always seems to stand out on these Hard Hitting Promotions shows.

In the opening round it was all Carto mixing it up body to head while moving around the ring with Hedge following him hands held high. In the second round it was another flawless round by Carto. Halfway thru the round Carto rocked Hedge with a left hook to the head. Carto’s jab is in the face of Hedge at all times. It always seems to have something behind it snapping Hedge’s head back.

In the third round Hedge finally landed something more than a jab but paid the price as Carto countered with a solid straight right to the head of Hedge. Just prior to the bell Hedge landed a right to the head of Carto. The fans appreciate the combination of punches Carto has landed. In the fourth round Carto opened up with a power punching right to the chin of Hedge. Carto would flurry half a dozen punches without return. Carto ended the round with a solid left hook to the head of Hedge. Hedge couldn’t answer the bell for the fifth round.The referee was Esteves, Jr. In the corner of Carto was trainer Mickey Rosati and cut-man Joey Eye.

Super lightweight southpaw Jeremy “King” Cuevas, 3-0 (2), of Philadelphia, easily defeated southpaw Jack Grady, 0-5-1 (0), of Buffalo, NY, over 4 rounds.

In the opening round with both southpaws Cuevas landed a 3-punch combination against the wild swinging Grady. Halfway thru the round Cuevas landed 5 unanswered punches. In the second round Grady continues to clown around while taking a beating from Cuevas.

In the third round Grady’s face was beat red from the Cuevas punches to the face. In the fourth and final round it was all Cuevas until the final 10 seconds when both boxers slugged it out past the bell before referee Bashir separated them. Grady showed heart and a good chin considering all the punches Cuevas hit him with.

Judges George Hill, Dewey La Rosa and Justin Rubenstein and this writer scored it 40-36.

Super featherweight Gadwin Rosa, 3-0 (2), of Ocala, FL, knocked out southpaw Wytama “Fearless” Faulk, 1-3 (0), of Webster, FL, @ 2:14 of the first round.

In the opening round Rosa dropped Faulk with a left hook to the chin. Shortly afterwards a right hand by Rosa put Faulk on the seat of his pants as referee Esteves, Jr., counted him out.

In the opening bout featherweight Vidal Rivera, 5-0 (4), of Camden, NJ, stopped Jesus Feliciano, 0-3 (0), of San Juan, PR, after 2 rounds. Referee was Bashir.

In the opening round the much taller Rivera used his reach while Feliciano was swinging wildly hitting air. In the second round Rivera finally landed a right to the chin of Feliciano who came back with an overhand right to the chin of Rivera. In the third round Feliciano’s corner wouldn’t let their fighter come out.

The ring announcer was Pat Michael Fattore. It was another lively crowd with a world contender and top former amateurs who keep winning in the pro ranks. Hard Hitting plans to co-promote a show in Puerto Rico on April 7th with Rosa returning home. There are plans to run a show at the Tropicana in Atlantic City in June with Robinson meeting a quality opponent.

Posted on 03/20/2017

Where Do Philly Boxers Garcia, Cunningham and Hopkins Go From Here?
By: Ken Hissner

Starting with Danny “Swift” Garcia, 33-1 (19) the former super lightweight and welterweight champion who just lost to his toughest opponent in Keith “One Time” Thurman and his WBC belt. As a super lightweight Garcia he scored wins over Amir Kahn, 31-4 (19), in a shootout who gets to who first and gave overblown featherweight Erik Morales a rematch? How about Kahn? How about Herrera? How about Peterson? His win over Lucas Matthysse was possibly his biggest accomplishment.

Garcia took on Rod Salka a 132 lightweight and made him come in at over 140 in a non-title bout. When asked who made this choice he said “my manager.” Al Haymon? What about “The New” Ray Robinson or “Hammerin” Hank Lundy who have been calling him out since their sparring days with Garcia? Two Philly fighters who could have brought some fans out even in Philly.

As the No. 2 welterweight contender in the WBC Garcia won’t fight No. 1 Kahn so “he gets” No. 6 the over the hill Robert Guerrero in a vacant title fight? He finally steps up and takes on Thurman and we saw how that turned out in not a great fight but an interesting one. Where does Garcia go from here? No rematch I’m sure with Thurman. No. 5 Shawn Porter and No. 7 Andre Berto have “an elimination bout” coming up? Granted Kahn is No. 1 but is supposed to get a shot at WBO champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquaio’s title though Kahn hasn’t fought since May of 2016 getting knocked out by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and isn’t even in the WBO ratings. So where is Garcia going to land in the next WBC ratings? No. 1 is not automatic for former champs. Ask Sergey Kovalev about that.

Lamont Peterson, 35-3-1 (17), is now holding WBA World belt. IBF champion Kell “Special One” Brook, 36-1 (25), is tentatively going to defend against his No. 1 contender in Errol Spence, 21-0 (18), having not fought since September when Gennady “GGG” Golovkin injured his eye socket in an interesting fight.

Then there’s former 2-time IBF champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, 29-8-1 (13), who entered last Saturdays ring in Reading, PA, in a scheduled 8 round bout reduced to a 6 winning every round from overweight former light heavyweight Felipe “El Indio” Romero, 19-12-1 (13), so Cunningham can “get the rust off” after with a promise from his manager Al Haymon getting him a title fight. He isn’t ranked anymore and all four champs are from outside the US. Cunningham had to go to Europe to get those titles so it won’t be like a first time for him.

Starting with WBC champion Tony “The Bomber” Bellew, 29-2-1 (19), of the UK who just stopped former champion David Haye and whose No. 1 challenger is MairisBriedis, 21-0 (18), from Latvia who is scheduled to fight for the interim WBC title April 1st against former champion Marco Huck in Germany whom Cunningham stopped in 2007.

The WBA champion Denis Lebedev, 29-3 (22), only defended his IBF title in Russia against fellow Russian Murat “Iron” Gassiev, 24-0 (17), losing a split decision. There may be a rematch in that one. The IBF doesn’t have any challengers in the number one or two spot but have No. 3 Noel Gevor, 22-0 (10), an Armenian out of Germany who is also the No. 1 contender in the WBO where the champion if OleksandrUsyk, 11-0 (10), of the UKR. He is defending his title in Oxon Hill, MD, April 8th against Michael Hunter, 15-0. So Cunningham may be able to get the winner in the US. Gevor is scheduled to go to Poland to fight the former champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, on May 20th who split it two fights with Cunningham.

So it’s a matter of Cunningham getting ranked again which shouldn’t take much based on his record and being a former champion. Who knows he may not have to leave the US to get that shot. The man is always in tip top shape and though having fought at heavyweight a bit makes 200 easily.

This leaves us with 52 year-old Bernard “the Executioner” Hopkins, 55-8-2 (32), who is from Philly and was living in Hockessin, DE, but also I understand had a place in Philly and may be back there. After witnessing former 3-division champion another “ageless” boxer pack them in at the Chase Center in DE recently could there be a “rubber match” between Jones and Hopkins at the Chase Center? Jones is 48 but you would never know it in his win over Bobby Gunn in his last fight. Neither he nor Hopkins may never get another title fight but then who knows. Both are future IBHOF boxerswho don’t seem to go away.

I’m sure Hopkins would like to retire with a win in his last fight that seems to have been difficult to do since losing his last two fights to Sergey Kovlev and Joe Smith, Jr. Just prior to that he held the IBF and WBA titles defeating Shumenov but lost those titles to Kovalev who got robbed by Andre Ward losing all three titles and may never get a deserved rematch. Though both are no longer ranked don’t be surprised if their names appear in a title fight in the near future.

Philadelphia is again without a champion but has a ton of young prospects with “champion” written all over them such as 19 year-old Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 9-0 (8), who fights March 31st back in Philly. It will be ten fights in twelve months for this talented welterweight whom this writer calls “the best Philly prospect since 1984 Olympic champion Meldrick Taylor”. His brothers “Pooh” and Farah held USBA and NABF titles while their father “Bozy” is the best trainer in Philly and one of the best in the world.

Posted on 03/13/2017

Tyrone Brunson Wins split decision over Brandon Quarles in Philly Saturday!
By: Ken Hissner

Kings Promotions had a packed house at the SugarHouse Casino Saturday with a good under card with the co-feature and main event falling short of expectations. The fans seemed to enjoy the action overall

In the main event middleweight Tyrone “Young Gun” Brunson, 24-6-2 (22), of Philly, took a mauling split decision over Brandon “The Bulldog” Quarles, 18-4-1 (9), of Alexandria, VA, over 8 dull rounds.

In the opening round there wasn’t much action but seemed Quarles did the most work. In the second round Quarles had Brunson on the ropes and then would get tied up by Brunson. In the third round it was more of the same and not until seconds to go in the round did referee Steve “SS” Smoger called time so Brunson’s corner would put his mouthpiece in. In the fourth round Brunson got his best punch of the night in with a left hook to the chin of Quarles who would come back and do the same to Brunson.

In the fifth round Brunson started throwing bombs having Quarles in a defensive mode. Then by the end of the round it was Quarles out punching Brunson for the first real fighting round of the fight. In the sixth round Brunson put some punches together in one of the better rounds of this fight. In the seventh round it was Brunson holding on. Halfway through the round they decided to start fighting again. Brunson had a welt under his left eye as Quarles seemed to get the better of the mix. In the eighth and final round Brunson started moving around and clowning like he had the fight won. Then they started fighting ending a not so good bout.

Judges had it 77-75 for each boxer with the final judge 78-74 for Brunson. This writer had it 77-75 for Quarles.

In the co-feature super lightweight David “Two Gunz” Gonzales, 8-2-2 (2), of Philly, lost a split decision to Juan Rodriguez, 7-6-1 (5), of Haymarket, VA, due to point take from him over six rounds. This was more of a wrestling match thanks to Rodriguez.

In the opening round Gonzales used and effective double jab while Rodriguez would land a punch and immediately tie up Gonzales. Referee Eric Dali warned him for continuous holding. In the second round Gonzales was very frustrated with the holding from Rodriguez and threw little while Rodriguez would continue to land a punch and grab Gonzales. In the third round an overhand right by Rodriguez had Gonzales holding and receiving a warning from referee Dali. Rodriguez bull rushed Gonzales and almost pushed him out of the ring.

In the fifth round it’s turned into a UFC match with both holding. Gonzales finally got in a flurry of punches. In the sixth and last round of a wrestling match referee Dali surprised by taking a point from Gonzales not Rodriguez.

Judge’s had it 57-56 for both with the final vote 58-55 for Rodriguez. This writer had it 57-56 for Rodriguez due to the point taken from Gonzales.

Lightweight southpaw “Mighty” Mike Fowler, 5-6 (2), Milwaukee, WI, got blown out by southpaw Victor “El Flacco” Vazquez, 7-2 (3), of Yonkers, NY, at 1:38 of the first round.

In the opening round it was all Vasquez who landed a crushing right to the right ear of Fowler who took the count by referee Dali on a knee holding his ear. Vasquez entered the ring in a red superman cape.

Lightweight Carlos “Rock Hands” Rosario, 7-1 (4), of Pennsauken, NJ, scored a technical stoppage at 0:46 of the third round over Lance “Lay Them Down” Williams, 7-8 (7), Muscatine, IA, in the third round of a scheduled six. It was an exciting short lived bout.

In the opening round it was all Rosario going to the body with Williams on the defense. In the second round a lead right by Rosario to the chin of Williams dropped him but he was up immediately and took the 8-count from referee Smoger. Shortly later it was Williams landing a right to the chin of Rosario dropping him. He too was up immediately taking the 8-count from referee Smoger. In the third round Rosario came right out landing a smashing right to the chin of Williams and down he went. He beat the count but was in no condition to continue. Referee Smoger waved it off.

Welterweight southpaw Vincent Floyd, 2-2-1 (0), of Philly, stopped Blaine “Styles” Donkor, 0-1 (0), Wash DC, at 1:35 of the second round.

In the opening round Floyd went right after Donkor having him on the ropes for both the first round. In the second round he had Donkor out on his feet against the ropes when referee Smoger wisely called a halt.

Light heavyweight Brandon “Brob” Robinson, 2-1 (1), of Upper Darby, PA, scored a knockdown in shutting out southpaw Lamont McLaughlin, 0-1 (0), of Philly, in a very exciting 4.

In the opening round both fighters to the delight of the fans went at each other. The round went back and forth with southpaw McLaughlin possibly holding an edge. In the second round a lead right by Robinson stopped McLaughlin in his tracks. A left hook by Robinson knocked McLaughlin back several steps into a corner. Both exchanged punches one after the other to the chin. The fans were on their feet for this two.

In the third round Robinson has McLaughlin against the ropes with both throwing punches. Robinson had McLaughlin in a corner with little in return. Considering both are in their debut the fans are treating this like it’s the main event. In the fourth and final round a combination from Robinson dropped McLaughlin who was up immediately as referee Dali gave him the 8-count. McLaughlin came forward and walked right into a left hook. McLaughlin came back and rocked Robinson with a lead left to the chin. The fans sure enjoyed this one.

All 3 judges had it 40-35 while this writer had it 39-36.

Cruiserweight southpaw Sam Orapeza, 1-0 (0), of Philly, landed a vicious left to the chin of Joe Parkinson, 0-1 (0), of Philly, knocking him out before he hit the canvas at 0:35 of the first round for about 5 minutes before the EMT revived Parkinson. Referee Smoger immediately called it a knockout.

In the opening bout of the night super middleweight Sharif “Bam Bam” Jones, 0-1-1 (0), Philly, was lucky to get a draw with southpaw Edward “The Hunter” Ortiz, 3-0-1-1, (0), San Antonio, TX, over 4 rounds.

Talk about a feeling out round this was it. In the second round Ortiz worked the body of Jones having him against the ropes. Jones landed a nice 3-punch combination just prior to the bell. In the third round a fight broke out. Ortiz kept Jones on the ropes mostly going to the body except on one occasion a lead left from the southpaw rocked Jones on the chin. In the fourth and final round Ortiz had Jones out on his feet. Jones kept trying to hold to get through the round. Referee Dail warned him on this.

Judge Frisca had it 39-37 Ortiz, Judges Carter and Rubenstein 38-38. This writer had it 40-36 for Ortiz. The fans were not happy with out of towner Ortiz not getting the decision.

Kings will be having a big event per ring announcer Alex Barbosa on March 17th in Reading with Travis “My Time” Kauffman taking on Amir “Hardcore” Mansour.

Posted on 03/11/2017

Anthony “Bad Boy” Burgin loses split decision to Avery Sparrow in an All Philly War at 2300 Arena Friday!
By: Ken Hissner

Peltz Boxing, BAM Boxing, Joe Hand Promotions and Raging Babe returned to the 2300 Arena in South Philly with an all Philly main event. J Russell Peltz and BAM Rodgers served as matchmakers. This was the way Philly boxing should be!

In the main event lightweight Anthony “Bad Boy” Burgin, 10-3 (2), of N. Philly, lost a split decision to returning after a year Avery Sparrow, 6-1 (3), of N. Philly, over 8 rounds. Burgin was dropped once.

In the opening round Sparrow showed his quickness outworking Burgin. In the second round Sparrow continued being the quicker of the two but Burgin landed a “bolo punch” right to the midsection of Sparrow. It was a close round. In the third round Burgin came alive. It was a good round for Burgin who had been very methodical up to this point.

In the fourth round Sparrow landed a 3-punch combination getting Burgin’s attention. Burgin continued being the aggressor for the most part. A hard left hook by Burgin to the chin got Sparrow’s attention with about a minute left in the round. It was another close round. In the fifth round Sparrow outmaneuvered Burgin scoring points. Sparrow continues with hands low dancing around using angles to score points. In the sixth round Burgin drove Sparrow into the ropes with a combination. A right uppercut by Sparrow dropped Burgin to the canvas. He was able to box his way out of the round. In the seventh round Sparrow kept stepping around landing the jab but Burgin was landing the harder punches with left hooks to the head of Sparrow. In the eighth and final round Sparrow looked spent but kept moving as Burgin landed powerful left hook’s to the body. Both fighters let it all hang out right up to the bell.

Judge Myra Grant 76-75 Burgin, Judge Steve Weisfeld 76-75 Sparrow and judge John Poturaj 77-74 Sparrow as did this writer. Gary Rosato was the referee.

Super welterweight Fred Jenkins, Jr., 10-4 (1), of N. Philly, suffered a mild upset losing to Panama’s Roque Zapata, 3-1-3, of Culpeper, VA, by decision over 6 rounds. That’s two in a row for Zapata over Philly fighters.

In the first round Jenkins worked well to the body but got tagged midway by a right from Zapata on the chin. Just prior to the bell a short right by Zapata to the chin of Jenkins dropped him to a knee. He was up immediately but took the count from referee Bashir. In the second round Jenkins outworked Zapata who had a sneaky right that came out several times on the chin of Jenkins stopping him in his tracks. In the third round Jenkins did a workman like job and knocked out the mouthpiece of Zapata with a left hook to the chin.

In the fourth round Zapata started getting busier than he had in the first two rounds. He rocked Jenkins with a hard left hook to the chin. Jenkins lands punches well but leaves himself open for a counter. In the fifth round Zapata was beating Jenkins to the punch. An overhand right from Zapata to the chin rocked Jenkins. A Zapata right to the chin of Jenkins just prior to the bell had him wobble back to his corner. In the sixth and final round Zapata was looking for the knockout landing several power punch rights to the head of Jenkins who seemed to be fighting on instinct after being hurt bad at the end of the previous round.

Judge Jasper 57-56, judge’s Poturaj and Weisfeld 59-54. This writer had it 58-56.

Heavyweight Cassius Chaney, 9-0 (5), of W. Philly, won a majority lack luster decision over Tommy Washington, Jr., 6-10-1 (2), of Lansing, MICH, over 6 rounds.

In the opening round Chaney used his height and reach to out box Washington until a minute left in the round when Chaney landed 3 power punch right hands to the chin of Washington. In the second round Chaney continued to box Washington until a minute left in the round when Washington had enough and let it all hang out swarming over Chaney. By the end of the round Chaney was back in control. In the third round Chaney continued using his jab in a slow round.

In the fourth round at the halfway point Washington backed Chaney into a corner and landed a flurry of punches. Once back into the middle of the ring Chaney regained control. In the fifth round Chaney seemed to be running out of gas as Washington became more and more aggressive. In the sixth and final round of a close round Chaney rocked Washington with a right hand to the chin knocking him back several feet but he tied Chaney up until the bell sounded.

Judge Gail Jasper 57-57, John Poturaj and Steve Weisfeld 59-55 for Chaney. This writer had it 58-56 for Chaney.

Super welterweight Isaiah Wise, 4-1 (3), of S. Philly, stopped Jeffrey “The Prototype” Wright, 4-6-1 (4), of Milwaukee, WI, at 0:32 of the 4th round of a scheduled 6.

In the opening round it was all Wise with double left hooks to the body and head. The only moment Wright had was at the midway point of the round landing a stunning right to the chin of Wise having him hold on until his head cleared. In the second round Wise had Wright going thru the ropes and kept punch him before referee Rosato finally pulled Wise off. Wise was dishing out plenty of punishment until a right hand from Wright landed on the chin of Wise and down he went taking a knee.

In the third round it was all Wise with wicked body shots until a left hook to the body dropped Wright who beat the count but was dangerous to the end of the round. In the fourth round a flurry of punches by Wise dropped Wright. He beat the count but was obviously finished. Referee Rosato wisely stopped the bout.

Lightweight Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno, 3-0 (3), of Allentown, PA, electrified the fans and stopped Marco Ocano, 1-1 (1), of Agua Prieta, MEX, at 0:45 of the first round. Referee Bashir counted him out.

Ocano came out aggressively running into several left hooks by Adorno. Adorno landed an overhand right to the chin of Ocano having him out on his feet when referee Bashir wisely stepped in and stopped it. Adorno’s many fans went ballistic with the quick stoppage.

Lightweight southpaw PR Victor Padilla, 3-0 (3), of Berlin, NJ, scored a pair of knockdowns stopping Carlos Castillo, 4-5 (3), of Tucson, AZ, at 0:48 of the first round to the delight of his many fans.

Castillo raced out but ran into a left hook from Padilla and down he went. Shortly after Castillo got up he attacked Padilla with both throwing bombs until a Padilla left hook dropped Castillo face first to the canvas. He beat the count and argued with referee Blair Talmadge that he wanted to go on but the fight was over. Padilla had many fans going wild with the quick stoppage.

Super middleweight Chris “Sandman” Thomas, 5-0 (2), of Beachwood, NJ, easily defeated Mike Rodriguez, 0-5 (0), of Springfield, MASS, over 4 lopsided rounds. Referee Bashir had to break up the fighters throughout due to the holding of Rodriguez.

In the opening round Thomas took it to the much taller Rodriguez who spent the entire round doing more holding than punching. In the second round referee Ron Bashir saw enough of the holding and took a point from Rodriguez. In the third round and fourth round the awkward Thomas continued to outwork Rodriguez who continued holding.

Judges Jasper 39-36, Poturaj and Grant 40-35 as did this writer.

Super bantamweight PR Crystian Pequero, 1-0 (1), of NE Philly, made a sensational debut stopping Alonzo Davis, 0-1 (0), of W. Philly, at 2:12 of the third with a vicious body attack for the count.

In the opening round both fighters came out going at it. In the final minute Pequero landed hard rights to the side of Davis on two occasions hurting him. In the second round Pequero continued with the body shots until near the end of the round also going to the head having Davis out on his feet at the bell after receiving four body shots from Pequero.

In the third round with his fans yelling “Pequero, Pequero” Pequero continued working the body of Davis. A right uppercut to the midsection sent Davis down taking the count on one knee from referee Talmidge. In the corner of Pequero was Javier Varella.

In the opening bout flyweight Basyzbek Bartov, 1-1-1 (0), of KYR, NE Philly, won a split decision over Tyrone “T-Bone” Arzeno, 0-0 (0), of N. Philly, in an all action bout.

In the opening round both boxers let it all hang out. It was back and forth with Arzeno possibly having a slight edge. In the second round it was all Baratov putting pressure on Arzeno having him hurt against the ropes just prior to the bell. In the third round it was more of the Baratov did what he does best and slug. Arzeno’s round.

Judge Poturaj 39-37 Arzeno, Judge Grant and Jasper 39-37 Baratov. This writer had it 38-38. Chuck Diesel in Baratov’s corner and Chino Rivas in Arzeno’s corner.

Flyweight Ernesto Almodovar, 1-0 (0), of NE Philly, scored a knockdown and won a decision over 34 year-old debuting southpaw Steven Lopez, 0-1 (0), NE Philly, who never stopped trying, over 4.

In the opening round the southpaw Lopez boxed well keeping Almodovar on the defense until a lead right hand by Almodovar landed on the chin of Lopez dropping him. In the second and third rounds Almodovar used the lead right to keep Lopez in check. In the fourth and final round Lopez Almodovar got the better of the mix though it was Lopez coming forward not able to block the right.

Judge’s Jasper and Poturaj had it 39-36 while judge Weisfeld and this writer had it 40-35.

Ring announcer was Steve Mittman while Mike Mittman and Marc Abrams did the commentating for GFL-TV. Next show is June 2nd.

Posted on 03/08/2017

Two Philly Boxing Events This Weekend Friday & Saturday!
By: Ken Hissner

There have only been 3 events in Pennsylvania this year and 2 of them were in Philly and sub-par shows. This weekend the two top promoters bring shows in Peltz Boxing and Kings Promotions.

On Friday at the 2300 Arena in South Philly J Russell Peltz brings in what he does best in Philly vs Philly on top! Underneath he will have 10 more fights which is quite unusual for Peltz.

In the main event lightweight Anthony “Bad Boy” Burgin, 10-2 (2), has spent the last 8 weeks in Puerto Rico under trainer Raul “Chino” Rivas. “The new things I learned and did there helped bring my talent to another level physically and mentally. The feeling of fighting the main event in Philly is unbelievable. I have been sparring with Michael Perez and a few other guys from PR,” said Burgin.

His trainer Raul “Chino” Rivas had this to say “Anthony looks amazing like he’s fighting for a world title.”

In the opposite corner that night will be another Philly fighter in Avery Sparrow, 5-1 (3). “Camp has been the best ever. I feel the best I have ever felt in my whole career. We worked hard and smart,” said Sparrow. His trainer Greg Jackson had this to say, “Everyone knows what it is. Everyone is coming to see Anthony Burgin get his head chopped off. This is an execution!”

The semi-final will pit super welterweight Fred Jenkins, Jr., 10-3 (1), against returning visitor Roque Zapata, 2-1-3 (0), who in his last fight defeated Philly’s Isaiah Wise. “I saw him fight Isaiah Wise and it was a good fight. One thing I noticed he threw a lot of punches and Wise was still fighting,” said Jenkins, Jr. His father train had this to say “Fred looks superb. Whatever Zapata brings to the table Fred is ready to match it,” said Jenkins, Sr.

“I am not worried about coming to his backyard or being the underdog. In my MMA days and in boxing I’ve been fighting in the other guy’s back yard a lot and I love it,” said Zapata. His trainer Eric Zamora had this to say “he’s very focused and hungry for this fight. He’s put in enough hard work to have his hand raised on March 10th!”

On the undercard will feature two of the best Puerto Ricans from the area in separate bouts in Victor Padilla, 2-0 (2), of Berlin, NJ, and Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno, 2-0 (2), from Allentown, PA. Isaiah Wise, 3-1 will be back. Also returning from out of CT will be heavyweight Cassius Chaney, 8-0. Philly’s Marcel Rivers, 1-0 and Chris “Sandman” Thomas, 4-0, from Blackwood, NJ.

Completing the 10 undercard fights will be debuting Puerto Rican Crystian Peguero, of Philly and Basyzbek Baratov, 1-1-1, of KYR, and now Philly, Ernesto Almodovar debuting from Philly.

First fight will be at 7:30. Besides Peltz, BAM and Joe Hand Promotions along with Park Casino and Coors Light will handle the promotion.

On Saturday night Kings Promotion will have one of Philly’s knockout artists on top in Tyrone Brunson, 23-6-2 (22), facing Brandon Quarles, 18-3-1 (9), of Alexandria, VA. Philly’s David Gonzales, 8-1-2 (2), Tyrone Crawley, Jr., 6-0 (0), with Daquan Johnson, 2-0 (2), of Cherry Hill, NJ, will be taking on Philly’s Vincent Floyd, 1-2 (0). Carlos Rosario, 6-1 (3), of Pennsauken, NJ, Upper Darby’s Brandon Robinson, 1-1 (1), and debuting Philly boxer Terry Crowder as well as Philly’s Sam Orapeza will feature 8 fights.

The event will be at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly.

Posted on 02/05/2017

Philly’s Jesse Hart No. 1 WBO Super Middleweight Contender Awaiting His Turn at Title Fight!
By: Ken Hissner

The No. 1 WBO Super Middleweight contender Jesse “Hard Work” Hart, 21-0 (17), comes from a boxing blood line following in his father Eugene “Cyclone” Harts, 30-9-1 (28) legacy in Philadelphia! The elder Hart won his first nineteen bouts by knockout! In his twenty-second fight he fought Denny Moyer and both fell out of the ring and ruled a No Contest in 6 rounds. Moyer was knocked down in the first round.

When the son of the “Cyclone” turned professional in June of 2012 the concern of this writer was he would try to top that knockout record of his father instead of using all of his boxing skills. His knockout streak was stopped after his fourth fight fortunately. In a rematch he stopped that opponent. He has worked his way to rankings in the WBA No. 10, IBF No. 5 and WBC No. 13 besides the top ranking in the WBO a title held by Mexico’s Gilbert “Zurdo” Ramirez, 30-0 (24), who won the title in April of 2016 winning all twelve rounds over champion Arthur Abraham, 44-4 in Las Vegas, NV.
Southpaw Ramirez has not defended his title going on a year. He recently suffered a hand injury and was to fight on the Pacquaio-Horn card per Top Rank Promotions who represents both Ramirez and Hart. Ramirez didn’t fight in the US until 2013. His last eight bouts have been in the US except for one in China winning the NABF title over Australian Junior Talipeau in 2014. Winning the North American Boxing Federation title against an Australian in China? Go figure!

Hart won the 2011 Golden Gloves title qualifying him for the 2012 Olympic Team. He went to Europe and lost in quarter finals. So upon his return in the Boxing Trials he won his first four matches before meeting Terrell Gausha whom he lost to in the 2009 GG finals by DQ in the 3rd round. The bout in the 2012 Trials ended 10-10, 34-34 count back with Gausha getting the 3-2 vote from the officials. Gausha would win his first bout in the 2012 Olympics in London before losing his next bout against a boxer from India. It is this writers opinion at 6:03 Hart would have been a better choice of the voters to represent the USA team. Gausha is out of Cleveland, OH, and 16-0 (9) as a professional.
In the Trials Hart defeated four boxers who are all now professionals. First Chris Pearson, 14-1 (10), of Trotwood, OH, d’Mitrius Ballard, 15-0 (11), of Temple Hills, MD, Antonine Douglas, 19-1-1 (13), Burke, VA, and Luis Arias, 16-0 (8), Milwaukee, WI, who holds the USBA middleweight title. That is quite a line-up of boxers Hart had defeated to get to the finals.

Hart was 85-11 as an amateur wining the US Nationals and as before mentioned the National Golden Gloves titles in 2011. He is 27 and has fought in his hometown three times. He only had two fights in 2016 due to a hand injury. In his last fight he stopped Andrew Hernandez, 16-4-1, winning the vacant NABF super middleweight title and defending his USBA title. Hernandez had a six fight winning streak stopped including a win over Russian Arif Magomedov, 17-0. That title he won in May of 2015 stopping Mike Jimenez, 17-0, in Las Vegas, NV. He defended the title in September of 2015 defeating the son of Hall of Fame boxer Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor, Aaron Pryor, Jr., 19-8-1, by stoppage in Las Vegas. Hart has fought in Las Vegas seven times. He has fought in Atlantic City, NJ, six times,

Hart was signed to a manager’s contract in July of 2014 with Dave Price and promotional contract with “Doc” Nowicki and Top Rank. They also have Derrick “Take it to the Bank” Webster, 22-1 (11), of Glassboro, NJ. His record was 38-2 in the amateurs losing to Hart twice.

Through Dave Price and Doc Nowicki this writer was able to get Hart to answer the following questions:

KEN HISSNER: I’ve known you for some time. The first time I saw you box is when you defeated Derrick Webster in an amateur tournament in Philly. I also saw you in New York win against a team from China. I believe your father and Fred Jenkins, Sr. train you now. Didn’t Chip Hart train you for a time in the amateurs?

JESSE HART: Yes my brother did train me for some time. I then went to Northern Michigan where I trained with Al Mitchell at the Olympic Development Center.

KEN HISSNER: I knew you spent time at the Northern Michigan University under Philadelphia’s Al Mitchell. How was it living away from home?

JESSE HART: Living away from was good in the sense it was like being in camp full time. I didn’t have the distraction of the street life and all it brings.

KEN HISSNER: I believe you divide your training between two gyms in Philly, the ABC Rec Center and Joe Hand’s Gym. Do you go away to a training camp for a bout and if yes where?

JESSE HART: Yes I train between ABC with Fred Jenkins and at Joe Hand’s with Danny Davis. Both trainers bring a uniqueness to their approach. Fred is an old school technician and disciplined boxing trainer but Danny brings his own style of modern pad work, strength work and he is an excellent wrapper of hands. I generally hold my camps at home but I have had camps where I physically left my home and stayed off site, trained at Joe Hand’s or ABC and then returned with my team to a selected location.

KEN HISSNER: What were your feelings when you fought Terrell Gausha in the Olympic Trials to a 10-10 decision and were not chosen for the 2012 USA Olympic team?

JESSE HART: It wasn’t that I wasn’t chosen or selected to represent the USA Team. I beat everyone in the double elimination Olympic Box-Off. That means I had to beat everybody and then fight the winner of the loser’s bracket and then beat him again. I did just that but after qualifying in the first of three tournaments overseas I was told that for the first time ever the USA Boxing would conduct something called the Re-Load. Basically then combined the national tournament with another box-off and I lost a tie breaker to Terrell. He then qualified in a second qualifier but keep in mind the top four in the division had already moved on. That left a bitter taste in my mouth but it doesn’t break you it makes you stronger

KEN HISSNER: I know you had a hand injury operated on. How is that hand at this time?

JESSE HART: My hand is 100%. I have a great surgeon who did a great job and I have fought since then with no problems.

KEN HISSNER: You are ranked No. 1 in the WBO. Have you seen the WBO champion Ramirez and if yes what is your opinion of him?

JESSE HART: Ramirez is a good fighter maybe even very good but he hasn’t fought the likes of Jesse Hart. I love that fight for Top rank, my fans and my team. That’s when the world will see that I am a bonafide super star.

KEN HISSNER: Do you have a time table when you want to fight for the WBO title if not now?

JESSE HART: I wanted to fight Ramirez in January of 2017. My management team contacted me and told me it should happen and I was hurt it didn’t but not really surprised. Ramirez wants to hold onto that title as long as he can.

KEN HISSNER: In your last seven fights only Dashon Johnson has gone the distance with you in Philly. There was talk of a rematch. Is that still in the works?

JESSE HART: Dashon Johnson was a good tough opponent and it goes to show you that when people fight Jesse Hart they train like they never done before. He came to fight, fought and lost. He gave it all against the champ and came up short. This Isn’t Rocky or the movie creed. You have to earn your shots at the champ. I don’t know maybe if his real name was Mayweather or Ward we could build another fight around that.

KEN HISSNER: WBC champion Badou Jack after drawing with IBF champion James DeGale vacated his title to move up to light heavyweight. Did you see the fight and if you did being ranked No. 5 in the IBF would you like to fight DeGale for his title?

JESSE HART: I would love to fight DeGale. Man I really wanted to fight Jack but he moved up. Anyone at 168lbs can get it and once I run through this super middleweight division who knows.

KEN HISSNER: I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you.

JESSE HART: I would like to thank all the fans, Bob Arum, Top Rank, my management team Doc Nowicki and Dave Price and Team Hart: Cyclone, Fred Jenkins, Danny Davis, Hundew McDonald and slick Rick.