Vasquez Shocked at The Arena!

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photo by Jay McGuigan

The North Jersey based promotional outfit KEA Boxing made their Philly debut on February 26, 2010 to the tune of a 9 fight card at the Arena on the corner of Swanson & Ritner in front of near sell out crowd. A new promoter was a welcome sight to many and this night was to be a bit of a test drive  on possible things to come. While most fights on the under card resulted in convincing wins for the A-sides, the main event had some juice to it.

There weren’t many people in the building who thought Victor Vasquez lost his six round fight against Carlos Vinan. Unfortunately for Team Vasquez,  two those people were ringside judges and the final result was North Jersey resident Vinan being named winner via split decision after six rounds were all said and done. Many have called and written in to say they feel this was a robbery. Scores were 60 – 54 for Vasquez but over ruled by tallies of 59- 54 & 58 – 56 for Vinan. The Philly Keith Sports scorecard read 58 – 56 for Vasquez. To everyone’s credit, the fight was competitive and some of  rounds were pretty close. Vinan, true to his form, applied a lot of pressure but Vasquez clearly landed the better punches in almost every exchange in every round. The fight was fairly repetitive from rounds one through six. Vinan would come forward winging some shot, Vasquez would meet him in the center throw a few counters and get out of dodge before anything big could land. Vinan’s best work came when he could get Vasquez on the ropes which he was able to do a few times. To me it wasn’t enough.

On the under card locals Kareem Cooley, Angel Occasio, Bryant Jennings & Liz Sherman has little trouble racking up wins in their fights. Union City southpaw Juan Rodriguez showed flashes of a future prospect against a determined Dontre King in one of the more competitive battles of the evening. Rodriguez scored a solid third round knockdown and withstood an early 4th round rush from King to sweep the scorecards at the end of their 4 rounder.

Ardrick Butler’s fight was canceled due earlier in the day. Official word was that Butler was hit by a car jogging in the morning. This has not been verified by anyone on Butler’s team.

The Technician disassembles Gonzalez over 8, Poore gets back in the money in AC!

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photo by Chris Sembrot- www.chrissembrot.com

Peltz Boxing returned to Atlantic City for the first time in years on June 6th and a standing room only crowd packed the Bally’s ballroom to see Teon “The Technician” Kennedy (13-0, 5ko’s) continue his rise with a strong 8 round decision win over Reading PA’s Lucian Gonzalez in the evenings main event. It was a contest that many have called for over recent months and when this was all said and done, Kennedy left no doubt of who was the better fighter during this very solid contest that kept a good pace throughout.

It looked like it would be a war in the opening round as both fighters immediately met in the middle of the ring and trades short hard punches at close range. Gonzalez was very game but the tide began to turn in round three as Kennedy maintained a steady work load while Gonzalez started to slow down as try to use the ring. The Technicians ferocity would not let his opponent off the hook as he stalked and generally out landed his foe for the duration of the fight. It eventually went to the scorecard which read 80-72, 77-75 and a more accurate 78 – 74 in favor of Kennedy who inches his way closer to a crack at a 122 lb USBA super bantamweight title fight.

Peltz Boxing comes to Atlantic City on June 6th!

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Peltz Boxing will come to Bally’s in Atlantic City on June 6th with a card that promises fireworks. On top of the bill Mike Jones (18-0, 16ko’s) will make his long awaited NABA welterweight title defense against LA’s Larry Mosley in a 12 round main event. This is a re-take of their originally scheduled February 1st match which was canceled at the last minute due to a back injury sustained to Mosely while training.

Jones has been knocking them silly since turning pro but Mosley his most decorated opponent to date as the LA native has an extensive amateur career and has fought and occasionally beaten fringe contenders.

The co-feature is looking good too as Teon Kennedy is scheduled to take on Lucien Gonzalez of Reading in a fight many have wanted to see for some time now. This will be an 8 round super bantamweight contest.

It doesn’t stop there because undefeated Philly Jr. Middleweight Latif Mundy will take on undefeated Atlantic City Jr. Middleweight Pat Majewski for an 8 rounder that could produce a lot of shrapnel.

Heavyweight “Big” John Poore is threatening Ric Flair’s record for most career comebacks and on this night he rumored to be preparing for a 6 rounder against an opponent TBA.

Garrett Wilson, Philadelphia, PA, vs. Louis Robinson, Philadelphia, PA, 4, light-heavyweights;

Eliud Torres, Allentown, PA, vs. Gerald Smith, Philadelphia, PA, 4, lightweights;

Osnel Charles, Atlantic City, NJ, vs. Luquan Lewis, Wyandanch, NY, 4, lightweights;

Rashad Bogar, Newark, NJ, vs. Ardrick Butler, Philadelphia, PA, 4, welterweights.

More info to come as it is made available. Get tickets by calling 215-765-0922

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com

Go to www.phillykeith.com for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene

Rogers Mtagwa outwings Ricardo Medina @ The Blue!

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photo by Tony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

With swine flu, rain & The Kentucky Derby all in the air, the boxing fans of Philadelphia stayed true to their roots and came out in solid numbers for a sweaty night on North Broad Street as Peltz Boxing returned for Act III at Legendary Blue Horizon on May 1, 2009. This date has a bit of significance to it, not only because of the action in the ring but it also marks the half way point of a surprise partnership with the landmarks proprietors. After relinquishing my spot in press row for a night of talking to ticket paying fans, many are happy that consistent competitive match making has returned to the city’s most recognizable venue and they also seem to be impressed with the personalized service they get when making arrangements to come to the fights. After a wildly successful return to the building in February and a solid follow up with the Golden Gloves finals a month later, promoter J. Russell Peltz put together a card that I would like to call a “midterm” for the participants that are currently signed to fight exclusively under this promotional banner. I say that meaning all of the “house” fighters were clear but favorites but each “opponent” had their own special purpose to test the level of progress in the invested boxer. Inside of the ring, the night started off strong with solid action through the main event but faded down the stretch as the final run of bouts failed to produce many fireworks before the curtain closed for the evening.

Nakash blows out Carrol in 2, Shmouel wins return bout at The Blue!

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com
At the Legendary Blue Horizon this Friday, boxing fans flocked to the Broad street for a solid 6 fight card which saw undefeated Israeli heavyweight Ran Nakash continue his knockout streak when he dismissed the light challenge of Ryan Carroll, dispatching the Delaware, Ohio native in less than 2 rounds. Nakash, a hand to hand combat instructor in the Israeli Army, used a body assault to pave the way to victory as Carroll’s flabby midsection wasn’t built to withstand the power punches downstairs. During this short fight, Carroll was dropped to his knees twice from shots to the bread basket. Midway through the 2nd, referee Steve Smoger saw enough and call a halt to the contest as it became apparent that Carroll was ready to gas out at any moment. Now at 17 – 0, Nakash should be on the doorstep of a good fight against someone capable of presenting a stiff challenge.

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

In the co-feature, Pittsburgh Jr. Welterweight Khristian Geraci had a rough night. Not only did he get bombarded with boo’s as he entered the ring due to wearing a Steelers jersey (a first class football organization btw), he was also bombarded with rights and lefts from his opponent, Elad Shmouel who wasted no time in his return to the ring after a 14 month layoff. Shmouel, who also serves in the Israeli Army, showed he was still explosive and in this one, didn’t waste much time finishing the job late in the 2nd round. Geraci tried but he was no match for the Kosher Pitbull who vows to get back on track and put together another winning streak.

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

In a 6 rounder, Julius Edmounds of Philly’s Frankford section pounded out a unanimous decision win over the previously undefeated Lindwood Herd of Atlantic City. The majority of the contest was spent in the wheel house as both men traded shots at close quarters. A lot of the rounds were tightly contested by Edmounds stepped it up at the end of every round to clearly take the advantage. I wouldn’t mind seeing an Edmounds – Victor Vasquez dustup sometime….

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

Southwest Philly’s Ardrick Butler earned his first win as a pro with a split decision over Anthony Abrams in a good Jr. Middleweight match. Butler showed flashes of the tools which made him an amateur champion back in 2005 and Abrams didn’t lay downin his retun from a 3 year layoff. Butler flashed a quick doble & triple jab and threw some nice combinations to the body. At times he was too active, other times he laid back and took pictures. Abrams knew one direction and that was forward which left little time for relaxation. In the end it went to the scorecards which read 39 – 37 for Abrams but that judge was over ruled by a 39 – 38 & 39 – 37 tally for Butler.

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

In the fight of the night, South Philly’s John Turner had New York’s Marcus Bianconi in trouble early but the Gleason’s Gym representative sucked it up and fought back to score a 2nd round TKO in a fight that was stopped on the advise of the ringside physician due to trouble with Turner’s leaky nose. There have been reports that Turner also broke his hand in 3 places in the 1st round though that hasn’t been verified. In this short slugfest, both threw and landed some bombs, Turner got caught late, let’s see a rematch!

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

In the opener, Ronald Cruz scored a 3rd round knockout over the pro debuting Adam Duncan. Cruz started out fast, scoring 2 knockdowns in the opening round but Duncan toughed it out and was competitive through 2. In the 3rd, Cruz landed a lot of heavy shots to cause the ref to step in and end it.

photos by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com

The fights were brought to you by Vernoca Michael & Don Elbaum. To see more pictures of the night go to www.pixgangano.com