24 hours after feeling the ill effects of a powerful pre-Thanksgiving storm that dropped 7.4 inches of snow along with sleet and freezing rain on the Lehigh Valley, The Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, PA got hit with yet another storm. A storm of punches that is as pro boxing returned to The Sands with an entertaining nine fight card.
The main card was headlined by a scheduled eight round bout for the WBF Silver International Super Featherweight (130 lbs.) Championship between Anvar Yunosov (6-0, 3 KO's) and Jose Salinas (10-4-1, 5 KO's). Yunosov, (pictured above with black trunks) a former three time Olympian out of Tajikistan, who now fights out of Philadelphia, PA, showed superior boxing skills throughout the fight, which are clearly a product of his pedigree from a top flight amateur career.
Salinas out of Las Cruces, NM, a late replacement in this fight, was game, but had no answer for the southpaw Yunosov's constant barrage and assault, which resulted in a seventh round stoppage by the referee. Yunosov, though only six fights as a pro, is already fighting eight rounders and looks ready for a step up in competition. With a championship belt now around his waist and his polished crowd pleasing style, I can see him getting it in higher profile fights in and around the City of Brotherly Love.
The co-main event featured hometown kid and crowd favorite Jonathan Torres (1-0) as he made his professional coming out party a successful one with a four round win against tough Steven Lopez (0-3) out of Philadelphia. Torres, (pictured below right) displaying some beautiful boxing skills, shows much promise as a professional. After the fight I spoke with co-manager Jimmy Deoria who told me, "I was very pleased with his performance, considering this was his first pro fight. He needs to work just a little more behind his jab next time, but that will come with more and more experience."
With a year that saw him win the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves title as an amateur and his pro debut in his hometown, he has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday.
Another hometown favorite, junior middleweight (154 lbs.) Ricky 'Numero Uno' Nuno (2-2, 1 KO), had the Christmas City crowd in his corner, but it just wasn't enough as Vincent Floyd out of Philadelphia won a unanimous decision and upped his record to (4-5-1, 2 KO's). Nuno clearly had the crowd and fought with fury, but he just couldn't rebound from a couple of early knockdowns that Floyd scored in the first two rounds.
The crowd was amped when light heavyweights (175 lbs.) Travis 'Holy' Toledo and Kendall Cannida (2-1) stepped into the ring and the two prospects did not disappoint. They traded fast and furious right from the opening bell and being from Washington Heights, NY and Philadelphia, PA respectively, they had their fair share of fans in the audience cheering them on. In the end, it was Toledo improving to (3-0, 2 KO's) via a majority decision.
Light heavyweights Christian Montano (8-0, 7 KO's) and Paul Holley (6-2-1, 5 KO's) were scheduled for six rounds, but it didn't even last six minutes as Montano forced the referee to step in and say enough after he dropped Holley three times in the first round. The end came with a devastating body blow to the mid-section that folded Holley at 2:05 of the first.
Another rock'em/sock'em slugfest that had the crowd all in for six rounds was an early super middleweight (168 lbs.) tilt between "The Phenom" Joseph George (8-0, 6 KO's) out of Houston, TX and Mexican Josue Obando (16-25-1, 12 KO's) all the way from Jalisco, MX. No matter what George hit him with, Obando took it and responded right back, which had the majority of the crowd rooting for the underdog by midway of the fight. George had to settle for a unanimous decision against the crafty veteran.
A pair of heavyweights got the party started with a surprisingly busy and crowd pleasing affair as undefeated up and comer Michael Coffie from Brooklyn, NY improved his record to (5-0, 4 KO's) with a TKO victory over journeyman Jamal Woods (18-44-7, 12 KO's) out of Forrest City, AL. While Coffie appeared in control throughout, Woods was giving him all he could handle till a bevy of uppercuts from Coffie to Woods jaw forced Woods corner to throw in the towel at 2:51 of the fourth round.
Other results included Alejandro Jimenez (4-0, 1 KO) by UD over Desmond Moore (1-1-1, 1 KO) and Yueri Andujar (2-0, 2 KO's) over Haziz Self (0-1) via first round KO. The nine bout card was promoted as a coming out party for future prospects and contenders and it did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, judging by the crowd's reaction throughout the entire fight card it delivered with fireworks and devastation, much like the storm that hit the Lehigh Valley the night before.
No comments:
Post a Comment