By Derek Gionta, ringside: The Jimmy Lange franchise made another appearance at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on the campus of George Mason University Saturday night (2/11). The former Contender reality TV contestant defeated a battle-tested but outmatched Ruben Galvan over twelve one-sided, yet fairly entertaining rounds.
At stake for the Great Falls, VA resident Lange (38-4-2, 25 KOs) were two minor titles (WBU and NABU junior middleweight belts) and a must-win to continue his long run of boxing in his hometown on a well promoted show, lead by himself and father/manager Johnny Lange.
"The Modern Day Warrior" Galvan (27-21-4, 10 KOs), of Hammond, IN has played this part before as he journeyed around the map in his career taking on more than a few solid prospects, contenders, and even former belt holders. Falling short in all of them, he can make for a decent scrap for fighters looking to get some rounds.
The twelve round affair went the distance, as Lange outworked and outgunned Galvan, who did see a bit of success at times with solid counter-punching, mainly a right hand that found the target with some consistency.
Galvan showboated during and in between rounds looking to distract the hometown favorite, which did draw a bit of reaction from the crowd.
In the third round, which proceeded two clear 10-9’s in the bag for Lange, Galvan chased after a retreating Lange, who’s back was turned following a clinch, and landed a left hook to the side of the face that sent him to the canvas. Lange quickly rose to his feet as referee Joe Cooper did not rule it a knockdown. It was unclear to ringside observers if the fighters were told to break.
The rest of the fight played out in similar fashion as Lange was too much for Galvan, landing with relative ease in between continued showboating and taunting from his opponent. He did take a few punches, but not enough to encounter any danger of losing more than a few rounds.
Final tallies were 120-108 by all three judges.
In the co-feature bout of the evening, New Castle, Delaware native Michael "No Joke" Stewart (48-7-3, 25 KOs) defeated Pittsburgh’s Joe "The Heat is On" Wyatt (23-3, 15 KOs) by a 9th round majority decision in an uneventful fight that earned him the welterweight version of the WBU title.
After eight rounds of quiet action, which could have seen either fighter ahead at that point, Wyatt suffered a cut over his right eye due to an accidental head butt.
The doctor advised the referee to stop the fight at the 2:09 mark of the 9th round. The fight was scheduled for twelve and the cut did not look serious enough to prompt a stoppage.
The scorecards read 76-76, 79-73, and 78-74 for Stewart. The judges did not score the ninth round.
Undercard:
Tori "Sho Nuff" Nelson (6-0-1) of Ashburn, VA earned a ten round unanimous decision over Vashon "Lady V" Living (5-3-1, 1 KO) of Houston, TX securing the women’s WIBA middleweight title. Nelson, a mother of two teenagers, scored three knockdowns over the game Living, who showed heart until the final bell. Scores were 97-90 x 2, and 99-88.
Popular Fairfax, VA Junior welterweight Todd "White Lightning" Wilson (12-0, 3 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Puerto Rican Fernando "The Whip" Basora (8-8-1, 7 KOs) of the Bronx, NY. Wilson, a southpaw, controlled what was an entertaining scrap and punctuated his performance knocking down a trembling Basora with a check right hook in the final round. The scores all read 59-54 x 2 and 58-54.
Bridgeport, PA’s "Lightning" Harry Joe Yorgey (24-1-1, 11 KOs) defeated late sub Lawrence Jones (4-6-2, 1 KO) of Washington, DC in a six round middleweight contest. Jones fought hard but fell short by scores of 59-55 and 58-55 x 2. Yorgey kept the fight at close range against the taller Jones and found success on the inside on multiple occasions. Yorgey commented after the fight that he wanted to get some rounds in following a long layoff and hopes to fight again very soon, preferably against a ranked opponent.
Heavyweight Duane Mobley (1-0) of Upper Marlboro, MD had a successful pro debut against Dennis Benson (1-1, 1 KO) of Norfolk, VA winning a four round majority decision by scores of 38-38 and 39-37 x 2. Mobley attacked his southpaw opponent with right hands and left hooks throughout the fight, showing more of an effort than his game opponent to steal close rounds.
In the opening bout of the night, welterweight Kevin "The Scarecrow" Womack (3-0, 1 KO) of Baltimore, MD snuck away with a four round majority decision victory over Richie "The Rock" Andrews (3-1-3) of Stuarts Draft, VA. Andrews applied the pressure against his taller opponent and landed some decent shots from close range. Womack did not fight tall and obliged to a back and forth fight, which could have been easier for him if he doubled his jab more often and kept it on the outside. Finals scores were 39-37 x 2 for Womack and a more agreeable 38-38 draw.
Notables in attendance were former Heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, known trainer Pepe Correa, and former WBO 140-lb champ Demarcus "Chop Chop" Corley.
In a night consisting of close fights that all went the distance, the crowd witnessed a card of well matched, competitive matchups. Many times that is a hard thing to come by in boxing. Promoter Johnny Lange and matchmaker JD Brown did their part to give the fans competitive fights and the fighters did their part in the ring to compliment those efforts.
February 11, 2012
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