Wolak Batters Barrett in New York

Jerry Glick reporting: Pawel Wolak, 154, 24-1 (16), Mt. Arlington, NJ, kept up the pressure on the game, but outclassed Vinroy Barrett, 154, 22-8 (11), Nashville, TN, to capture a unanimous ten round decision on Lou DiBella’s Broadway Boxing show held at Capital One Theater at Westbury, NY on Friday, June 5th.

Round after round repeated itself as Wolak hammered Barrett along the ropes and in the corners in what became the pattern of the fight. Barrett spent most of his time covering up. Every so often Wolak would open Barrett’s defenses up and fire a barrage of punches that had Barrett reeling along the ropes. Most of Wolak’s punches appeared to be arm punches that were delivered with less power than if he put his body behind them. Nevertheless, Wolak landed enough to break down Barrett’s defenses and on a few occasion had him close to being KO’d. Barrett did a lot of holding; so much so that referee Benji Estevez deducted a point from him in round eight.

It was a dominant performance by Wolak who is a fan favorite among his Polish countrymen. Barrett began to show signs of wilting by the seventh stanza but he struggled to a unanimous decision loss with scores of 99-89, 100-88, and 100-89, all for Wolak. Wolak has now won three straight since suffering his lone defeat to highly regarded Ishe Smith.

Rosinsky vs. Mancera
Undefeated lightheavyweight prospect, Will Rosinsky, 172, 8-0 (6), Ozone Park, NY, was not his usual fired up self against journeyman Alex Mancera, 171, 8-3 (5), Rego Park, NY, and was forced to go the six round distance for the second consecutive time after scoring six knockouts in a row.

Rosinsky was the stronger of the two, but he did too much head hunting and paid not enough attention to his foe’s body. Mancera appeared soft and a body attack might have slowed him down. Much of the fight took place in close where they traded shots and wrestled too much. This reporter had Rosinsky ahead because he was the busier man, but neither competitor was especially effective. Two judges gave it to Rosinsky, 58-56, but the third had it even at 57-57, so it goes into the books as a majority win for Rosinsky. Ricky Gonzalez refereed.

Algieri vs. White
Rising star Chris Algieri, 143, 7-0 (4), Greenlawn, NY, looked very sharp out slugging journeyman Henry White, 141 ½, 3-3-1 (2), Cleveland, OH, in the best fight of the night, taking a unanimous six round duke.

Algieri was too fast. He landed quick combinations that started with White’s head and most often ended with a powerful left hook to the body. Algieri used his superior skills to out box and out fight White. White’s best round was the fourth when he hammered home some hooks to Algieri’s body and was the busier man. Algieri seemed to be taking the round off, because he came roaring back in the fifth and sixth to secure the win. The tallies were 59-55, and 58-56 twice. Steve Smoger refereed.

Ruiz vs. Gray
After losing his first two outings, rugged Mike Ruiz, 153, 8-4 (5), Merrick, LI, reeled off eight straight wins including five knockouts. Things were really looking up for Mike Ruiz, then a tough loss to the hard to figure out Daniel Sostre (Sostre then upset Tommy Rainone in his next fight) who outpointed him, and now he had to get off the canvass to drop a six rounder to awkward Chris Gray 153 ½, 12-9 (1), Vero Beach, FL, by scores of 57-56, once for him and twice for Gray.

Ruiz took control in the first three but a big right dropped him like a sack of flour on the canvas in the fourth round. He got up in good shape and got back into the fight. He tried hard to save the win as he dominated the final two heats. He had Gray in trouble in the fifth and landed more often in the sixth and last round but came up short in the eyes of the Judges. Smoger refereed.

Howard vs. Page
Kasim Howard, 218, 8-1 (4), Gainesville, FL, is tall, rangy, well muscled, with long legs; in short he looks like he is the future of the heavyweight division. Unfortunately it took trial horse Zack Page, 200 ¼, 17-21-2 (5), Warren, OH, less than three rounds to expose Howard’s chin by knocking him out at 2:39 of the third of six rounds scheduled with two big right hands.
After two uneventful rounds Page suddenly fired a right that found a home on Howard’s chin and down he went. He looked confused and shocked as slowly got to his feet. Within a few seconds another right took the life out of Howard’s legs and he was counted out as he struggled to get up. Back to the drawing board. Howard did show tremendous heart as he tried to get up to fight. Gonzalez officiated.

Ormond vs. Ganjalashvilli
Sergi Ganjalashvilli, 134, 4-3-1 (0), Key West, FL, was a late sub and maybe he will give it more thought next time he says yes at the last minute because he had a pint sized hurricane in front of him in Steve Ormond, 135, 4-0 (1), Westbury NY, who came out like a mini Joe Frazier. He threw punches in bunches, as they say. Ormond fired rights four or five short chopping ones inside. He worked Ganjalashvilli’s body after rushing in with an overhand right that always found its mark. He hammered him on the ropes and in the middle of the ring, it didn’t matter, he just kept up the pressure. Ormond had a point deduction at the end of round two because he hit Ganjalashvilli after the bell ending the round, way after the bell. It was more a product of his attacking style than an attempt to cheat by Ormond. Ganjalashvilli was kept in a defensive position and was unable to mount an affective attack of his own. The decision was unanimous when all three Judges agreed at 59-54 for Ormond. Ref: Estevez.

Marshall vs. Hart
Southpaw Dameon Marshall, 171, 1-2, Richmond, VA, ruined the debut of Brian Hart, 0-1, 170 ¼, Woodside, Queens, NY, when he out fought him in a four rounder. The fair skinned Hart’s faced began to redden almost as soon as the fight began. Both were awkward but game as they both came to win. They traded and the battle was close but Marshall copped the majority decision with scores of 39-37 twice for Marshall, and 38-38. Ref: Estevez.

Douglin vs. Richardson
They call him Momma’s Boy, but he fights nothing like one. Dennis Douglin, 160, 3-0 (2), Marlboro, NJ, out punched Vernon Richardson, 160, 0-3, Rocky Mountain, NC, almost KOing him in the second of four rounds. Scores: 39-35, and 40-36 twice. Ref: Smoger.

Karalides vs. Nelson
In the show opener, Lambros Karalides, 154 ½, 3-0 (2), Astoria, NY, had too many guns for Troy Nelson, 157, 0-4, Columbus, OH, winning a unanimous four round decision after pressing the action from the first bell. Nelson, to make matters worse, lost a point for holding in the fourth and final round. That was the same round that blood from a gash above Karalides’ left temple began to cascade down his face. Karalides won the decision by a score of 40-35 from the three Judges. Gonzalez refereed.

PUNCHLINES
On hand to watch the action were former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, former 140 pound champion Paulie Malignaggi and Emile Griffith, former six time world champion.

Promoter Lou DiBella is very interested in seeing his man Kermit Cintron face Cory Spinks, “If someone could get me a network to show it,” said the head man at DiBella Entertainment and Broadway Boxing.

Riddick Bowe isn’t done yet. Just give him the chance to fight again, “I’d love to,” said Big Daddy, “If someone would give me the chance.”

Chris Algieri was a happy winner. “I got to go six rounds for the first time,” said one of boxing handsome bright lights. “He definitely came to win. He thought he was going to win from what I could tell. I wish I had worked behind my jab and made it a little easier on myself. I think I learned a lot, and it was a good victory.”