North Philly Welterweight Raymond “Tito” Serrano stays undefeated (12-0, 6ko’s) as he cruised to an 8 round decision victory over Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-3-1, 4ko’s) of Oklahoma in opening fight of the Jan 29, 2010 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights. Scores were 79 – 73 across the board.
At times it looked like the 20 year old former amateur star was working a heavy bag as Warrior refused to throw or engage to make it a competitive fight in the early going. Serrano boxed smart, throwing three and four punch combos as Warrior laid in a defensive shell, then he got out of dodge before anything could be returned.
Warrior got a little more aggressive near the end which led to a couple of decent exchanges which produced the only real two way action of the bout. Overall it was a good learning experience as Tito completed his first career 8 rounder with stamina to spare.
With that said, we have yet to see Serrano matched with someone who can give us a real glimpse of the potential he holds. Hopefully the bosses at Star Boxing have taken notice! - photo by Marty Rosengarten.
Friday Night Fights is back into the swing of things and the Jan 29, 2010 edition starts off with North Philly Welterweight Raymond “Tito” Serrano (11-0, 6ko’s) taking on Ronnie Warrior Jr. (13-2-1, 4ko’s) of Oklahoma for a scheduled 10 rounder in Reno, Nevada. In his two years ago a pro “Tito” has taken a calculated yet steady path with Warrior serving as his best opponent to date. This fight will mark the second time that Serrano has fought on the ESPN airwaves – the first was a one sided unanimous decision win over Jay Krupp. Many believe that the sky is the limit for Serrano. They say all he needs is the experience. Serrano has never gone past 6 rounds so this 10 rounder is a nice step up against a durable veteran.
Warrior competes mostly out of the Midwest but is best known for an 8 round decision loss to Harry Yorgey back in 2006 on ESPN. Serrano is a 20 year old former amateur champ, promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing in New York, and trained by his father Ramon Serrano along with Philly’s Danny Davis. Tito is said to have gotten top notch sparring while preparing for this fight at Joe Hand’s Gym, most notably working with Mike Jones and Hank Lundy.
Serrano definitely comes in as the favorite but it will be interesting to see how he does against a guy who is dubbed as a defensive fighter who has never been KO’d before. A good looking win here will definitely lead to more TV opportunities, all the best to Team Serrano!
photo by Mike “Teek” McGuigan
It has been a while since I put together a Philly top 10 list and in that time it is still pretty obvious who is #1 in the town, that would be B-Hop. But in the past year there has been a lot of activity amongst the rank and file who made moves to get to the top. Some succeeded, some failed, some have rebounded and others are on their way.
This time around I give you two lists. First is a national Philly top 10 pound for pound which gives my ranking to those from this area who are either champions, within title contention or TV fighters. These guys are all over the world and are known industry names.
The next list is themed “21 & Under” ranking the Philly pros with 21 pro fights or less. These fights can take place anywhere in the world. This list tracks the activity of the young pros who seem to be on their way to making big moves in the boxing circuit within the next few years. These rankings are based on pro performance and potential, not solely on amateur career.
This was done as a replacement for the local top 10 list that ranked boxers competing within city limits. There was just not enough activity to compile one. Take a look and feel free to send any feedback to me via email.
http://phillykeith.com/nationaltop10April09.htm
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
Categories: "Fast" Eddie Chambers, "The New" Ray Robinson, Aaron Mitchell, Bernard Hopkins, Chazz Witherspoon, Danny Garcia, Derek Ennis, Eric "Outlaw" Hunter, Farah Ennis, Gabriel Rosado, Hank Lundy, Harry Yorgey, LaJuan Simon, Mike Jones, Raymond Serrano, Rock Allen, Rogers Mtagwa, Steve "USS" Cunningham, Teon Kennedy, Yusaf Mack
