On Friday 10/8/10 at The Arena, a Danny Garcia (19-0, 13ko’s) left hook all but ended the career of one time world title contender Mike Arnoutis, scoring an explosive 4th round knockout in the Golden Boy Promotions main event. Read more…
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In the evenings main attraction, “The Boxing Barber” Victor Vasquez of North Philly and Paul Fernandez of Vineland NJ will take part in a 6 round lightweight bout. Read more…
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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.
October 16, 2009 in Philadelphia. Before we talk about today, take a walk with me for a minute as I take a flash back to Philadelphia, circa 1999. Looking back, it was a year of change for this great city with many tall tasks and lots of uncertainty ahead. One of the all time Philly greats, Ed Rendell, was stepping down from his big office at room 215 in City Hall wrapping up one of the most successful runs in the history of the country as mayor of a big city. The people chose a 19 year veteran of City Council, John Street to lead the charge into the new millennium. The big building across from the street from the clothespin hasn’t been the same since. It was also a new day in Eagles country as 1999 marked the beginning of the Andy Reid- Donovan McNabb era whose goal was to give a fresh breath of life into a franchise that hit the bottom of the barrel. Say what you want about Big Red and his adopted son’s reign but five NFC Championship games later, the Birds as a well-respected and very lucrative franchise. The Phillies were still light years away from becoming World F. Champions but Overbrook’s Will Smith just putting down the mic to hit Hollywood for a career that saw him become one of the highest grossing actors of all-time.
Flying below the radar was Greg Robinson, a young ex-boxer with ambitions to stay in the game he loved. With family roots that ran deep into the heart of Philly boxing, he gave birth to his Power Productions promotional outfit in late 1999. In the one sport that is truly here today, gone tomorrow, Robinson has survived and even thrived in this landscape where only the strong, smart and crazy survive. Ten years later, Power Productions has become a Philly boxing club show main stay, producing some of the best action fights this town has seen in the 21st century. For that I tip my cap to the man. Like Greg said at the press conference, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that make this a very tough business at times, but this is the sport we choose. For that we continue on doing what we love. Read more…
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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. Read more…
Photo by Chris Sembrot / www.chrissembrot.com
On March 6, 2009 Peltz Boxing Promotions returned to the Legendary Blue Horizon with a bang, putting on a card that didn’t have one stiff on the line up which resulted in good fights from A- Z. After an 8 year absence, the Philly fight fans were excited about the return and came out in high volumes to see an evenly matched 7 fight card highlighted by the towns hottest prospect Mike Jones who is rated in all major sanctioning body rankings. Jones was originally set to take on former amateur standout Larry Mosley of LA but at the last minute Mosley called out with a back injury so in comes Dario Eslas, a well traveled veteran with knockout power and a light bulb chin. The over under on this one was 3 rounds.
The co-feature was an interesting one as another highly touted, undefeated Peltz boxing prospect Teon Kennedy took on the world rated Andre Wilson on Missouri in an 8 round Super Bantamweight showdown. This one got interesting as Wilson showed he is no fluffed up mid westerner but Kennedy showed the heart of a fighter as he had to deal with a lot of elements he hasn’t come across before inthe ring. There was a lot on the line for both as Wilson was hungry for better pay days and respect as he wanted to shed the “opponent” label. Kennedy was one win shy of qualifying for his teams goal of getting a crack at the USBA title. Read more…
They said it would never happen in a million years…but to the surprise of many it was recently announced that J. Russell Peltz struck a 6 fight deal which will bring his promotional outfit back to the building he made famous, The Legendary Blue Horizon. The talk of the boxing town starts with a potential lights out card on March 6th which will see the world rated and current NABA Welterweight champion Mike Jones make his first title defense against LA’s Larry Mosley (15-3-2, 6ko’s) in the 10 round main event. Jones is a hot name right now and was even pegged by the well respected Steven Kim of www.maxboxing.com as the sports prospect of the year in 2008. Read more…
Philly boxing 2008… overall it was another good year but in the same breath it has to mentioned that there was a significant drop off in the amount of action as only 17 professionally sanctioned cards happened in this year. Most nights were solid though we did have a few duds and also a few memorable barn burners. Through my eyes, there was no clear cut fight of the year winner in 2008 so I will not designate one particular match. Instead, I will highlight some of the best performances of the year. As always, it is open to discussion, feel free to comment if you agree, disagree, omissions etc. At some point in 2009, www.phillyboxinghistory.com will give out the Briscoe Awards which will recognize one fight as the best of ’08. Visit the site and cast a vote there if you wish.
Without further ado, I give you the Philly Keith Sports 2008 nominees for Fight of the Year!
Rasheem Brown vs. Jameel Wilson – 4/18/08 @ The National Guard Armory
This 10 round Super Middleweight fight capped off the most action packed boxing card in Philly for the year 2008. The state title was on the line and the then newly signed Rasheem Brown was thought to be put in prime position for a career push after recently returning from a lengthy layoff. Wilson on the other hand did not come to lay down. Brown started strong and it looked to be an easy night but Wilson came alive taking the middle rounds and both men went toe to toe down the stretch to cap off a non stop action bout. The only disappointment in this one came outside of the ring, as 3 blind judges scored only one round for Wilson on the offical cards while everyone in press row agreed that this fight was even money that could have gone either way. Regardless of the outcome, this fight proved once again that when you match two Philly fighters against each other, the fans are always in for a treat!
Ryan Belasco vs. Victor Vasquez 5/11/08 @ The New Alhambra
Coming into this fight, Delaware’s Ryan Belasco was looking to erase the stink of three consecutive sub par performances and Philly’s Victor Vasquez was taking his first real test against an area known fighter with a record above .500. While most thought it was a solid fight when it was announced, few expected to be treated to such an action packed rumble. It was give and take with Belasco carrying a slight lead as he was able to effectively box the non stop Vasquez. Belasco’s non stop jabbing caused Vasquez left eye to swell like a ballon, leaving the referee no option but to stop the fight and the commission no choice but to order a 6 month medical suspension. Vasquez is back, medically cleared to fight and wants a rematch “sooner, rather than later”. I have a feeling that Russell Peltz will be putting this together very soon.
Gee Cullmer vs. Jameel Wilson @ The Legendary Blue Horizon 9/16/08
When this one was signed, you just knew it would be a close fight. At the time, Gee recently pulled out a few tight majority decision wins while Wilson was on the wrong end of a quite a few razor thin decisions. In this one, Gee put on a boxing clinic early, Wilson showed his grit in the middle and final rounds were tooth and nail. Fittingly, this fight could have gone either way and ended in a majority decision for Cullmer who after the fight earned the designation of PA’s #1 Super Middleweight contender slot by the state athletic commission. Click the link to watch this fight in its entirety on Go Fight Live.
Mario Mina vs. Pedro Calla @ The Legendary Blue Horizon 4/11/08
Two fighters who learned their craft half a world away came to Philadelphia to make their pro debut and in the process put on a 4 round Blue Horizon classic. Mina of Ecquador was said to be a former amateur star and Peru’s Pedro Calla was no slouch either. This was a wild, two way leatherfest that ended with Calla splattered across the canvas mid way through the final round, much to the delight of the fans, who gave both men a standing ovation when the dust finally settled. Watch this fight in its entirety on Go Fight Live
On a national level, recognition goes to Steve “USS” Cunningham, who may have lost his IBF Cruiserweight title, but in the same breath won over millions of fight fans for his show of heart against Tomasz Adamek live on Versus. Cunningham won a lions share of the rounds but was also knocked down 3 times in this non stop slug fest between two of the worlds best. A rematch just has to be in order. The TV demand and money will be there you can be assured of that. The only liability here is if Adamek decided to hide.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik
Last but certainly not least, recognition has to be given to Philly’s main representative in the sport of boxing, Bernard Hopkins for his one sided spanking of Kelly Pavlik over 12 rounds in a fight where next to no one was giving him a shot in hell to win. Once again, people were saying he was too old or he was slowing down just as they did before his fight against Antonio Tarver and even before that in his fight against Felix Trinidad. On this night, B-Hop reminded the world that it is a terrible mistake to under estimate the Germantown native.
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
photos by Mike “Teek” McGuigan
The streets of Philly were soggy on November 14th, but that didn’t stop the fight fans from once again packing into the New Alhambra for a J. Russell Peltz / Top Rank boxing collaboration which was carried live by the soon to be defunct Solo Boxeo series. The main event pitted two undefeated outsiders who traveled east for their big chance in a division where the well of opportunity is bone dry. The co-feature gave us a glimpse of a prospect on the rebound and the under card showcased the skills of quite a few young hopefuls from our area who are making their way through the local ranks. Some are still in the early stages of their career while others or on the cusp on making the leap to the next level. There were a lot of knockouts on a night where a new NABF super flyweight champion was crowned, a boxing barber quickly faded out a competitor and a young prospect inches his way closer to a world ranking. All this and more from the South Philly fight hall, scroll down to see how it all went down. Read more…
