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

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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.

2008 Philly Fighters of the Year

Mike Jones

Once again, Mike Jones gave crowds their moneys worth as he continued his rise from local prospect to world rated contender. This year, Jones got soem real exposure as he headlined cards on major networks such as Telefutura and ESPN’s Friday night fights, coming out on top every time. Late in the summer Jones added his first piece of hardware to the collection when he KO’d Brazil’s Juliano Ramos to become the NABF Welterweight champion. To end the year, Jones scored a crushing KO on national TV when a nasty left hook made Luciano Perez do a 180 into the ropes then on his ass. Watch out for Jones in 2009 as he is getting very close to landing a significant fight, most likely against on of his undefeated peers in a loaded welterweight division.

“King” Gabriel Rosado

After sitting out of the ring for almost a full year, “King” Gabriel Rosado returned with a vengance in the middle part of 2008. His first order of business was to redeem himself by making quick work of Joshua Onyango, a fighter who decisioned Rosado a year earlier. After a pit stop at The New Alhambra a few weeks later, Rosado went back out on the road, this time going to Brooklyn as a huge underdog to fight NYC resident James Moore on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Fights. This night turned out to be Rosado’s coming out party as he dropped, and eventually went on to beat the previously undefeated, ticket selling Irishman. Rosado finished 2008 as the chief sparring partner for Bernard Hopkins as B-Hop prepared for, and eventually demolished, Kelly Pavlik. It will be interesting to see how 2009 shapes up for Rosado.

Teon Kennedy

Teon Kennedy followed up on a good first year with a solid progress in year two. Fighting four times in 2008, Kennedy started off the year by stepping up the competition and cruising through a decision win against Castulo Gonzalez. It was in fight two where Kennedy made his loudest statement when he blew out the previously undefeated Thomas Snow of Baltimore in less than two rounds. He capped off the year easily decisioning two more journeyman which put him within striking distance of a USBA title shot in the Super Bantamweight division.

Lucian Gonzalez

Seriously, where did this guy come from in 2008? Though technically he didn’t perform in Philly, what Lucian Gonzalez did in the outskirts of the city is definitely worth mentioning. Entering the year equipt only with a one way ticket to journeyman-ville, Gonzalez reeled off 5 straight wins and a questionable draw against Jules Blackwell in a fight many thought he won. His shining moment came in October as he accepted a fight on about 8 hours notice against Ireland’s featherweight champion and convincingly beat him. Lucian capped the year with a solid win over durable vet Robert De Luz and now many people are hoping to see Gonzalez fight Teon Kennedy for the state title.

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

Mike Jones and Jason Cintron score KO of the Year candidates, Rock Allen pitches a shutout in Reading

December 5 2008 was a hot night for those who are interested in the progress of Philly fighters as Peltz Boxing Promotions went head to head with the Legendary Blue Horizon for the last opportunity of the year to showcase local talent. On this night, it wasn’t The New Alhambra as instead promoter J. Russell Peltz upped the anti and collaborated with Golden Boy Promotions, King Promotions and Telefutura for a card which will be one of the final episode of the soon to be defunct Solo Boxeo series. The end result was a very good 7 fight card which saw two vicious knockouts, an Olympian continue his rise through the ranks and others who are clawing their way towards recognition as fighters with a bright future.

The evening’s main event featured the one who many regard as Philly’s #1 pound for pound prospect Mike Jones (16-0, 14 ko’s) taking on Chicago’s experienced veteran Luciano Perez (16-9, 14ko’s) for a scheduled 10 rounder. Jones, who is becoming a good crowd draw on the local scene, has recently gained some world wide recognition being ranked the #12 welterweight in the WBA. This came on the heels of his last win, a thumping TKO over Brazil’s Juliano Ramos, which was for the then vacant NABA Welterweight title.

His opponent Luciano Perez is no stranger to stiff competition. In his 5 years as a pro, Perez has faced the likes of Carlos Baldomir (former undisputed welterweight champ), Jesus Soto Karass, Alfonso Gomez (The Contender) and Juan Manuel Buendia, all of whom carry a world rating with a major sanctioning body.

On this night, it was found our hours before show time that Perez was well over the contractually agreed upon weight limit of 147 pounds, weighing in at a whopping 154. With the entire telecast hanging in the balance, Jones and his team agreed to fight on despite the unprofessional actions of Perez. Perez was fined for his actions but the cost almost turned out to be a lot deeper than originally expected…

From the opening bell Jones found himself in a firefight with Perez, who came out punching for a quick victory. Jones, who coming in to the fight was rumored to have a “left hand that was f$#ked”, abandoned his traditional method of using the ring, working jabbing and throwing hard body combinations for a street brawlers style of hard over the top rights.

Perez, even after eating a big right seconds into the bout, was more than willing to oblige and this one broke down to a wild, give and take fight through two rounds which saw both fighters get buzzed a bit early. A nasty gash opened on Perez hairline late in the 2nd and within seconds was gushing blood, yet still continued to fight as both men exchanged heavy leather.

At start of the 3rd round, Perez came out bombing for the knockout. But when the going got really tough, MJ got going and dropped the incoming Perez with a 3 punch combo the finished with a hard right to the face. Perez had the audacity to continue but soon after got caught with one of the best left hooks in recent memory, which cork screwed Perez into the ropes, down to the canvas and out of commission. Perez somehow beat the count again but referee Gary Rosado saw he was in no shape to continue and immediately called an end to things. Five minutes after the fight, Perez left ringside still on shaky legs.

After the fight, Jones told me “I saw in his eyes he was a desperate fighter because of that bad cut” he added “He wanted the get the knockout and I didn’t want to have a no contest on my record if they stopped it early because of the bleeding, so I knew I had to get him out of there and that’s what I did”. An upgrade to his #12 WBA welterweight world ranking is in line for sure after this win.

In the co-feature, 2004 Olympian and current Jr. Welterweight prospect Rock Allen (14-0, 7ko’s) returned to the ring for only the 2nd time this year but showed no signs of rust as he banged out a win against tough Mexican fighter Humberto Tapia over 8 tough, yet convincing rounds.

Allen’s approach early in the fight was to attack the body and Tapia knew only one direction which was forward. This led to quite a few very good two way exchanges in the middle of the ring.

Though Allen was scoring more with his three and four punch combos, Tapia landed a few hard rights upstairs in the early going which Allen seemed to handle with no problem.
After 4 rounds, Allen seemed to realize that the ring was his friend, opting to move around, box and use different angles which caused a lot of Tapia to misses and openings for more clean punches landing for Allen.

Round 5 through 8 had a similar theme, Allen showing off his superior hand speed allowing him to land at a high rate and Tapia still willing to fight through a swollen face, looking to score one big punch at a time.

The fight lasted the distance but there was no doubt as all three of the judges score cards read 80 – 72 in favor of Allen.

After the fight Rock seemed pleased with his performance but also stated that ” I knew he was tough coming in so I wasn’t surprised he could take a good punch” he also added “My dad told me, hit the body and the head will fall. I just wish I had 2 more rounds to work with. I could feel him wearing down near the end and with a little more time I would have knocked him out. I may not have the power of a Mike Jones but I know how to break a fighter down”.

In the swing bout, Reading’s undefeated Jr. Welterweight Jason Cintron (brother of former IBF champ Kermit Cintron) continues to impress, this time with a 2nd round stone cold starching over Puerto Rico’s Pascali Adorno courtesy of a perfectly placed right hook to the jaw bone. Cintron was in command for the opening bell showing a nice blend of skill, patience and power. He dropped Adorno late in the 1st with a hard left hand and sealed the deal in the opening seconds of round 2. Look for more of Cintron after the new year as he burst out of no where over the last 2 months, first beating the USBA regional champ Tyric Robinson in a non title bout a few weeks back and then following it up with this big KO and improving his record to 10-0 with 3ko’s.

In featherweight action, Reading’s Lucian Gonzalez continues his escape from journeyman-ville, winning his 7th straight fight after starting his career 2 – 4. His assignment on this night was Robert DeLuz of Michigan, who has become a familiar face in our town providing solid, yet unspectacular tests to the young and hungry Philly fighters who dare to strive for prospect status at the 125 lb mark. In DeLuz previous fights against Philly hopefuls Eric “Outlaw” Hunter and Teon Kennedy (both former highly decorated amateurs) the pace was slow and the two-way action was sparse. On this night, Gonzalez was somehow able to bring the fight out of DeLuz, which led to an entertaining 6 round contest that went the distance. DeLuz played the role of attacker while Gonzalez took the job of counter puncher. The two sat in the pocket and exchanged some good leather. Gonzalez ability to put more combinations together and use the ring led to a clean sweep on the scorecards although all rounds were competitive. With the win, Gonzalez shows he has definitely arrived; a promoter could have a gem of a fight on their hands if they match him with either Kennedy or Hunter. I am sure boxing commish Greg Sirb would have no problem putting the State Title on the line!

Rounding out the card, Jr. Middleweight Kaseem Wilson (10-1, 4ko’s) shook off 15 months of ring rust in his return bout against Marvin Rivera. The fight started slow but Wilson warmed up down the stretch scoring a late knockdown en route to a unanimous decision win. Good comeback for Wilson as he showed stamina through the entire 6 rounds against a fighter that is no slouch.

In the only dud fight of the night, featherweight Paul Fernandez lost in a mild upset against Puerto Rico’s Esteban Rodriguez.

In the curtain closer, Cruiserweight Julio Caesar Matthews stayed undefeated by knocking out hard hitting journeyman William Bailey in the 3rd.

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

Ouma stops Clay, Simon O’Donnell & Lucian Gonzalez win at The Armory

photo by John DiSanto / www.phillyboxinghistory.com

Philly Worldwide came to The National Guard Armory with fresh ideas and a new look which resulted in a very entertaining debut card for the city’s newest promotional outfit. The theme was Irish boxing and the atmosphere was festive, bringing out a large group of fans who don’t usually attend the fights but came out to support their ethnic relatives anyway. On a whole, this card which was put together by Pete Suski and longtime manager Tom Moran featured a former world champion, two international champions who hailed from Dublin, Ireland and some local fighters who needed an opportunity to make a name for themselves. It was also the return of Ganway Irelands “Slick” Simon O’Donnell, a fighter who made his bones as a pro in Philly fighting at The Blue Horizon & New Alhambra and also training down at Shuler’s Gym in West Philly. O’Donnell wanted to make a big statement as his last fight in his town turned out to be a disastrous night for the young Irish slugger that many have tabbed for great things. His assignment, South Carolina’s Antonio Baker a Philly spoiler whose resume includes wins over Tommie Speller and Richie Stewart in the career accomplishments section. West Philly Middleweight Jamaal “Da Truth” Davis returned to a Philly ring after 2 years on the road to take his former Champ’s Gym workout partner Chris Hall, another fighter who has merit as a local tough guy. Brothers from Dublin Paddy & Paul Hyland were making their debut on US soil. Paddy’s assignment came at the last second in the form of the very under rated Lucian Gonzalez. In the opener, Philly’s Julias Edmonds signed on to fight the son of a world champion in Tim Witherspoon Jr and more than held his own in a fight that had a controversial ending.

Kassim Ouma…vs…Martinus Clay

In the main event featured former 154 lb world titlist Kassim Ouma (26-5, 16ko’s) of Florida via Uganda taking on the well travelled journeyman Martinus Clay (13-18, 5ko’s) of Philly via South Carolina for a scheduled 10 rounder. Ouma has been on a skid as of late was in need of a win but he is no stranger to the tough times. As a former child solder of the Ugandan Army, Ouma overcame a youth filled with bloodshed and explosives, forced to commit unspeakable acts in order to stay alive. At the age of 19, Ouma escaped his homeland and arrived in the USA only to find more struggle ahead. Soon after his arrival, Ouma was homeless and lacking in employment due to speaking very little English. Though surviving though the first 19 years of his life in Uganda without being shot or physically injured, Ouma was shot twice in Florida within his first two months in the states. He was ready to pack it up and head back to his homeland, and then he found a boxing gym which changed his life completely.

Ouma, who picked up the sport while still a child solider began to perfect his craft and soon after became a regular on ESPN & HBO boxing shows. His high punch volume and nonstop work rate made him one of televisions more entertaining fighters to watch. After winning a streak of fights against tough known contenders, Ouma was signed by Golden Boy Promotions & J. Russell Peltz. Soon after he got his big break he faced and defeated Verno Phillips to become the IBF Jr Middleweight Champion in 2004.

After a surprise loss to Roman Karmazan in the summer of 2005, it was back to the drawing board and Ouma responded by blowing through a short list of good but unspectacular fighters. He eventually positioned himself back into the national mix and was rewarded with a shot at the middleweight champ Jermain Taylors titles. It wasn’t meant to be as Ouma showed a lot of heart but came up well short on the scorecards of this 12 round fight.

Since that night, it has been a downward slide in his professional career. Two close losses to fringe contenders K9 Bundridge & Saul Roman have many insiders wondering how much Ouma has left in the tank.

His opponent Martinus Clay was brought in to do just that, to find out what was left of the onetime highly rated fighter. Clay is a solid veteran who has taken on some of the best names in the business. At times, he has even pulled off the victory in fights which usually come up on short notice without proper preparation. Times have chances because now, Clay finds himself to be a promotionally backed fighters, boxing under the guidance of Hall of Famer J. Russell Peltz and being trained by Billy Briscoe in Philadelphia.

One the fight got underway, Clay seemed to win a few early rounds by smartly boxing Ouma as Ouma looked to walk inside and put pressure on his opponent. Around the third round, Ouma, kept the same approach but now was staying inside and landing light two and three punch combinations as Clay attempted to move around the ring. Through 5 rounds it was still competitive and probably very close on the official scorecards but it didn’t matter as Ouma scored two knockdowns in the 6th round, the second of which a body shot that Clay was unable to recover from.

So Ouma gets his first win in 2 years but the question still remains, is he back to his world class form? Some think it is still possible, but he will need a few more fights on this level before he is ready to jump back into the big time. Time will tell.

Until that day comes be sure to keep an eye out for “Kassim the Dream” a soon to be released documentary on the life, times, struggles and success of Kassim Ouma with exclusive footage of Ouma’s return to his homeland of Uganda after 10 years, his training for the Jermain Taylor fight and much more. Click here to watch the trailer and find out more info on the release.

Simon O’Donnell …vs…. Antonio Baker

Originally the co-feature was supposed to involve New York ticket seller James Moore but that fight was scarped after Moore hurt his hand in training. To fill the void, the 22 year old “Slick” Simon O’Donnell (7-1, 4ko’s) of Galway, Ireland was promoted and got the job done against the always tough Andre “Shake- N-Bake” Baker (6-11, 3ko’s) of South Carolina. O’Donnell comes from a fighting family which includes 13 pro fighters back home and also has his own extensive amateur background which includes a win over 2008 English gold medalist James Degale. After starting his pro career off strong with 4 straight wins, the Slick fighting Irishman got caught cold at The New Alhambra and suffered his first loss in August of ’07. He has since rebounded to win 2 straight and the fight tonight he was facing someone who could arguably been called his toughest fighter to date in South Carolina’s Antonio Baker.

While O’Donnell has the boxing lineage and team to guide him properly, Baker is the polar opposite. Hailing from South Carolina, Baker was thrown to the wolves early in his career. Through his first 7 professional fights, he was served up to Jermain Taylor, Chad Dawson, Peter Manfredo & Joe Spina twice and actually lasting the distance with Taylor and Spina. After briefly hanging up the gloves, he returned in 2007 to once again be the guy who challenges the hometown tough guy. Things were a little different this time around as he scored upsets or took the local fighter into deep waters only to get robbed on the scorecards. He came to our town last year and pinned the first career loss on Tommie “Big Poppa” Speller and also hung an L on Richie Stewart in Stewart’s hometown of Delaware.

On this night, Simon O’Donnell was the promotionally backed fighter and Baker once again looked to play spoiler. Baker looked to pull off the shocker once again. After a close 1st round full of rough house tactics, Baker was deducted a point for hitting during the break. O’Donnell was willing to trade with Baker for most of the fight though O’Donnell fought smart, moving around and using angles while Baker threw bombs. In the 5th, O’Donnell landed a big counter right dead on the chin as Baker looked to go on a big assault. Baker dropped to the canvas and the fight was immediately waved off.

Paul Hyland…vs…Lucian Gonzalez

Reading’s Lucian Gonzalez (8-4-1, 1ko) pulled off a shocker, accepting the assignment on less than 8 hours notice and defeated Irelands super bantamweight champion Paul Hyland (12-1, 4ko’s) by unanimous decision in a very exciting 4 round fight. Both fighters went balls out from the opening bell but a Gonzalez straight right in the 3rd put his opponent on the canvas which turned out to be the difference maker in the scorecards. Hyland was rocked badly in that round but sucked it up and stormed back fighting in the final round. The crowd was on their feet when it went to the scorecards which read 39 – 36 & 38 – 37 x2 for Gonzalez.

Patrick Hyland…vs…Elvis Martinez

Ireland featherweight Patrick Hylan (15-0, 8ko’s) showed a lot of fire in the ring and completely outclassed the Dominican Republic’s Elvis Martinez (11-27-2, 5ko’s) in this short, one sided fight. Hyland went to work early in the 1st with an in-your-chest approach, and before long he was rocking Martinez with lefts and rights to the head and body. Martinez was almost gone in the first but made it out of the round. His luck wouldn’t last much longer as Hyland scored a knockout at the 1:24 mark of round 2, sealing the deal with a hard, straight left hand.

Jamaal Davis…vs…Chris Hall

Philly middleweight Jamaal “Da Truth” Davis (8-4, 6ko’s) was finally given a chance to fight at home again and made the most of it with a one sided unanimous decision win over Chris Hall (3-5-1, 2ko’s) . Through all four rounds, Davis was in control and showed the toughness which makes him an avoided fighter amongst many more protected fighters in his weight class. Davis dedicated this win to women around the world who are fighting against breast cancer.

Julias Edmunds…vs…Tim Witherspoon Jr

In the opener, many ticket paying fans made a point to find me in the crowd to tell me their extreme displeasure with the decision in the opening fight. The consensus was that Julias Edmounds (2-3) clearly won three of the four rounds against Tim Witherspoon Jr (1-1), only to lose by majority decision on the scorecards. Edmunds spent most of the night inside, neutralizing Witherspoon’s longer reach but at the tail end of the fight did get nailed with a shot that made the crowd go ooooooh. The final scored tallied up at 39 – 37 x 2 for Witherspoon with judge Richie Hopkins seeing it even at 38-38. A draw is at worst what Edmunds should have received, It is a sad day when judges can be influenced by names.

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