photo by Anthony Gargano / www.pixgargano.com
I have to tip my cap to “The Don” Don Elbaum. It seems like every time there is a fight under his watch at Mother’s house, I am always complaining that he never has the card finalized more than 2 days before bell time or that he is always throwing some cheese ball gimmick out in the main event and giving it the hard sell. It was the same ol’ story this time around with “the Italian – Jewish Philadelphia” title on the line in the main event, with the state #1 contender in the Super Middleweight division Gee Culmer not offered an opponent that would get Greg Sirb’s stamp of approval, with other fights being patch worked with last second fill ins. With all of that in the air on April 3rd, The Don patchwork produced one entertaining card this Friday in front of a jam packed audience who came from all walks of life.
The main event more than lived up to expectations as Israel’s Ran Nakash (17 – 0, 13ko’s) got the fight of his life from Mayfair’s Dave Brunelli (8-5, 3ko’s) and still pulled out the victory in a match that ended early in the 7th due to the doctors orders because of Brunelli’s apparently cut eyelid. The fight started with more hoop la than a Super Bowl half time show. Italian announcer, Jewish announcer, Italian anthem singer, Jewish anthem singer, USA anthem singer, Italian ring girl… you catch my drift.
After the ring cleared and the men got down to business, we were treated to a damn good Philly style main event. After 2 rounds it looked like Nakash was going to send the Brunelli and his big crowd home disappointed early. By round 4 Brunelli was showing balls the size of grapefruits as he took a lot of Nakash’s best power shots and encouraged him to keep on coming, standing an exchanging at short range. Midway through round 6, the possibility of Brunelli snatching the fight with a late KO wasn’t out of the question as he backed Nakash up with a few good shots of his own and kept fighting strong. It wasn’t to be, as referee Gary Rosado ordered Brunelli to see the doctor at the start of round 7 to check on a swollen eye and bloody nose, wounds the doctor deemed too serious to continue. It was an unfortunate ending to a fight that allowed both fighters to show their wares. Nakash again showed he is a non stop buzzsaw and is not just some built up boxer, Brunelli showed up in the best shape of his life and displayed a toughness that even his biggest detractors have to appreciate. After the fight Nakash said “I was really surprised he was able to take those shots. he is a really tough fighter”. Here’s to both men for putting on a fight that lived up to the hype.
In the co-feature, Frankford’s Julius Edmonds bullied his way to a 6 round unanimous decision win over Philly’s Tyric Robinson in their highly anticipated Jr. Welterweight contest. From start to finish, Edmunds fought like he wanted to make a statement and his mission was to stay in Robinson’s chest and for every second of every round. He exerted all of his energy to push forward and punch hard throwing a variety of combinations to the head and body while smothering anything his opponent could fire back in return. Robinson did not back down and punched back every step of the way but it was Edmunds who was clearly in control the entire time. The fight went to the score cards which read 60 – 54 x 2 & 58 – 56 for Edmunds. It is another strong showing for Edmunds who many feel can match up with any 140 lb fighter competing in this area. When asked about this fight he said “this was a very good win for me, Tyric Robinson is a known fighter in this area.” When asked about who he wanted next he replied “I’m not sure but I’m thinking maybe a fight with Victor Vasquez.” Now THAT would be one hell of a fight….
On the undercard…
Reading’s Julio Caesar Matthew’s won a hard fought unanimous decision over NJ’s William Gill. It was a steady pace through most of the fight where each men landed some good, single shots. Matthews did some good work in rounds 4 and 5 as the south paw was able to land clean left hands. Gill came on strong in the final minute, landing consecutive rights that quickly swelled up Matthews eye. It eventually went to the cards which read 60 – 54, 59 – 55 & 58 – 56 all for Matthews who improves to 7 – 0 with 5ko’s.
Queens NY featherweight Joselito Callado out boxed and out rumbled a determined, yet limited Jason Rorie of NC over 6 rounds. There were spots where Joselito would literally box circles around his opponent, but to the delight of the fans he opted to make a toe to toe fight of it for half of the fight and got the better in the two way exchanges. The only thing Callado lacks is pop but aside from that you can tell he is a very good, well rounded fighter. The cards read 59 – 55 x 3 for the Queens native. Before the fight, special guest ring announcer Mike Missinelli was booed mercilessly but when it was over the fans gave both fighters a standing ovation.
Jr. Lightweight Paul Fernandez got back on the winning track with a 4th round KO over TN’s Joseph Francisco, a fighter who all but gave up after an impressive 1st round. In the beginning Fernandez slowly moved forward, stalking in a Jason Vorhees manner and Francisco took full advantage using the ring, landing a few shots and getting out of there. As the fight wore on Francisco kept showboating but stopped throwing where as Fernandez began to land good combinations upstairs. Down the stretch, Fernandez dropped his opponent twice and it got to the point where referee Gary Rosato stopped it at 2:57 of the final round.
Welterweight Ronald Cruz stayed undefeated in a decent showing against a very in shape Shannon Hill of Cincinatti. Cruz loaded up a lot and did connect with some heavy bombs as Hill tried to circle and box for most of the fight. Cruz was most effective on the rare times he went to the body, something he should keep in his arsenal for the future. If he slipped in a few jabs, we could have a threat on our hands…. Take nothing away from Hill who did come to fight but in the end all the judges were in agreement that Cruz was the winner by scores of 40 – 36 x2 and 39 – 37.
In the opener, Taneal Goyco and Davit Davitashivili put on a wild, somewhat sloppy slugfest much to the delight of the crowd. Goyco landed some bombs early but Davit fought back hard in the middle. Davits face looked like an old piece of roast beef near the end with cuts and swelling on both eyes but he gave it all he had. Goyco did his thing as well and did more down the stretch to secure a unanimous decision win by scores of 39 – 36 x 3 as Davit was deducted a point for head butting in the 3rd.
Click this link to see the fight photos from Anthony Gargano http://pixgargano.com/boxing1.aspx
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Boxing returns to the Legendary Blue Horizon this Friday night but I must say – this card was very poorly constructed. Step it up Elbaum – these tickets are expensive!
Boxing returns to mothers house as Vernoca Michael & Don Elbaum present what is looking like an 11 fight card at The Legendary Blue Horizon on September 11th. The theme of the night is “Public Saftey” and to be totally honest, there are some really safe fights for the house prospects. There are also a couple that could turn out to be really good. Here is the breakdown
The big lumberjack from Minnesota, Joey Abell (24-4, 23 KO’s) did it again, pleasing the crowd with 3 rounds of target practice which led to a stoppage over Houston’s Billy “The Kid” Willis (12-14-1, 9ko’s). Abell looks to have added a jab to his arsenal, a punch he threw a lot of in the 1st which would set up that wrecking ball of a left hand. Give Willis credit, he ate some SCUD missiles and still had the audacity to connect with a strong right hook as round 1 ended, a punch that surely caught Abell’s attention. The fight continued and it was more of Abell hammering the concrete head of Willis. The first knockdown came early in the 3rd which from my vantage point actually looked like a slip. Willis jumped right up but was attacked on the ropes and referee Blair Talmedge jumped right in to stop what could have been a severe beating. Video with Abell below.
