Diamond Boxing-  Ring Side Report www.diamondboxing.com

 
Last night at BB King Blues Club in Times Square a special “Pink Night” boxing card was held in support of breast cancer awareness month, with all of the proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  All fighters who participated wore pink gloves and the ring canvas was also pink in support of the nights cause.

The action was crisp all night long in the main event former WBO Junior welterweight champion Randall Bailey faced off against another former champ DeMarcus “Chop-Chop” Corley. Bailey was looking to avenge an earlier 2003 lose to Corley. Both fighters came to win, delivering solid shots on a consistent basis throughout the eight round bout. It was Bailey who got the best of Corley in the third, Bailey connected with one of his bullets that landed Corley to the canvas. Corley was able to get back to his feet, once back on his feet Corley shook his head at Bailey to acknowledge the Bailey blow which caught him. After the third round knockdown Corley was able to hold his ground the rest of the way and often produced staggering shots of his own. The fight ended with Bailey getting the unanimous decision from the judges who scored the bout all for Bailey 78-73, 79-72 and 79-72.With the victory Bailey improves to 38-6, 34KOs while Corley drops to 31-10,17KOs.

In the other featured bout local Staten Island favorite Gary Stark Jr. (22-2, 8 KOs) took on Leivi Brea (16-8-3, 8 KOs) in a six round junior featherweight clash. It took Stark’s a few rounds to find his groove and he found it big time in the third. Stark’s with his fans cheering him on took Brea to the canvas in the third with a series of body blows. The quicker Starks was at it again in the sixth decking Brea for the second time to make matters worst for Brea the referee dedicated a point from him for holding during he round as well. At the end two of the three judges gave all the rounds to Stark with scores of 60-51 while the third judge scored the bout 59-52 for Stark. After the fight the humble Stark thought he was still not at his best feeling he was a little sluggish, especially in the first few rounds. Super Bowl Champion NY Giant Brandon Jacobs helped Stark celebrate the victory in the middle of the ring. 

Two-time NY Golden Gloves champion and 2008 National Golden Gloves champion Tor Hamer, a recent Penn State graduate, made his pro debut at heavyweight taking on Joe Rabotte (2-4, 1 KO) in a four rounder . The 225 pound Hamer who had a 34-1 record as an amateur, lived up to expectations  by taking out Rabotte in the second round to record a TKO victory. 

Brooklyn’s Philip Jackson Benson making his pro debut as a middleweight knocked out Robert Harris in the first round.

In an entertaining opening bout Hajro Sujak (3-0, 1 KO) from the Bronx, NY scored a majority decision victory over Richmond Dalphone (0-4-2).

The card was cut short when two bouts had to be cancelled, fan favorite Edgar Santana’s bout against Luis Rodriguez from Mexico was called off due to visa issues for Rodriguez and Wil Rosinsky had his bout cancelled due to a injury suffered by his opponent.

Ringside Bling – Many great local sports and boxing stars were hand to take in the action including super bowl champion NY Giant running backs Brandon Jacob, Armad Bradshaw and former NY Knick Charles Smith. Fresh off his first round knockout victory on the Hopkins – Pavlik undercard Danny Jacobs was at ringside along with his gym mate and 2008 Olympian Sadam Ali. Former champions Iran Barkley, Emile Griffin and Junior Jones were also in attendance.      
More great photos can be found at http://www.diamondboxing.com/pics.php

BY: Robert Epstein www.diamondboxing.com

Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik was pitted against Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins in a twelve round light heavyweight battle from Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Pavlik listed as a heavy favorite at 4 to 1 odds and is looking to be the first one to knock out the future Hall of Famer Hopkins.

Hopkins who entered the ring last wearing a black executioner mask was looking to get back on the winning track after dropping his last fight back in April, losing by split decision to Joe Calzaghe. The undefeated Ghost Pavlik who hails from Youngstown, Ohio was not only the betting favorite he also was the favorite among the fans.

The old warrior Hopkins came out in the early going looking quick and on the offense which goes against his customary defensive style. Hopkins in round two earned Pavlik’s respect after landing a hard left to Pavlik’s face and stunning the younger Pavlik. In rounds three and four Hopkins continued to be the first to the punch and producing more output, Pavlik still on the defense at this point. In the fifth Pavlik started to take to the offense opening it up slightly however, the ageless Hopkins still was able to deliver the greater connect rate. Through five this bout was all Hopkins pitching a shut out.

Hopkins looking strong as the fight entered the middle rounds and in the seventh round in un Hopkins like fashion hit Pavlik in the face with a showboat windmill right hand. Pavlik still on the defense in the eighth lost a point for hitting while holding. Pavlik recovered the point when Hopkins was penalized in the ninth also for hitting and holding. Hopkins did not let Pavlik mount any type of offense, Hopkins landed the cleaner, harder and more effective punches throughout the middle rounds.

Pavlik knowing he needed a knockout in order to keep his undefeated streak going still could not reach Hopkins in the latter rounds. The tenth and eleventh rounds still went to the fresh Hopkins as he landed in consistent fashion to the head of Pavllk. In the twelve Hopkins stood in the middle of the ring and ripped bullets square to the face of Pavlik. The bout ended with Hopkins and Pavlik still going at it afterwards the never shy Hopkins just looked into media row and gave all the press who doubted him a long stare down.

This one did not need the judges the whole world knew the outcome but for the official record the bout was scored 119-106, 118-108 and 117-109 all for Bernard Hopkins.

Undercard Action

The WBC World Featherweight Title was on the line when Billy Dib (21-1, 11KOs) challenged champ Steven Luevano (36-1-1, 15KOs) in a 12 round bout. In the early going both fighters did not produce much output as the sized each other up. Luevano took this one over in the middle rounds dominating the light punching Dib. The 27 year old Luevano went on to score a unanimous decision victory winning on all three of the judge’s score cards 116-112, 115-113 and 117-111.   

Marco Rubio faced off against Enrique Ornelas in a 12 round WBC Middleweight title eliminator. Rubio entered the bout as a three to one favorite, however the tough Ornelas stood toe to toe with Rubio throughout the twelve rounds. Both fighters fought this one in the center of the ring exchanging blows round after round. Midway through the fight Rubio was able to land several solid shots to the head of Ornelas causing swelling around Ornelas eyes. This one was even going into the eleventh, Rubio took charge in the eleventh landing numerous combinations which hurt Ornelas. In the twelve Rubio came out strong looking to take out Ornelas however, Ornelas had other plans. Ornalas was able to fire back in the round landing a nice right that got Rubio’s attention. Both fighters closed bout exchanging blows to the crowds delight. The judges had their work cut out for them in scoring this hard fought close bout. The cards came back with a split decision, giving the victory to Rubio, two judges gave the fight to Rubio 115-113 and 116 -112, while one judge had Ornelas the winner 115-113.

Daniel Jacobs hailing from Brooklyn New York took on Tyrone Watson in a 6 round middleweight bout. Jacobs the Golden Child did not have to break a sweat in taking out Watson in the first round. Jacobs using both hands landed devastating shots to both the head and body flooring Watson twice in the first round. The first knockdown came on a viscous right to the head, Jacob’s finished Watson seconds later with two left hooks to body. After the second knockdown Watson laid on the canvas for a few minutes in pain from the Jacob’s body shot barrage. With the victory Jacob’s improves to 11-0, 10KOs while Watson’s record dropped to 7-2, 4KOs.

Yuri Forman improved to 26-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Vinroy Barrett.

Hot young Golden Boy prospect Danny Garcia recorded a third round TKO over Deon Nash. With the knockout victory Garcia ups his record to 8-0, 7KOs.

To start the night unbeaten Qu’id Muhammad dropped Samuel Gutterez in the forth round taking away a TKO win.  

For complete fight photos check out the photo gallery http://www.diamondboxing.com/pics.php