J. R. Jowett reporting from ringside: Marshall Kaufmann (Kings Prom’ns) ran a card at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on 9/14/18. As usual in this hot fight town and popular little venue, a good crowd of about 1000 turned out at the circa-1400 building. There were no upsets. Alice Grady kept time, Mark Fratto announced and Marc Abrams was publicist.
In the local headliner, Brandon Robinson, 166 ½, Phila., 11-1 (8), romped over Ernest Amuzu, 166 ½, a Ghanaian fighting out of Prichard, AL, 24-4 (22), scheduled eight. It promised to be a bombs-away, and it was, except all the bombing was by Robinson. The stocky, muscular favorite walked right through the hapless underdog. Amuzu tried to be mobile, but couldn’t hold off the onslaught. In the third, Robinson corralled him in a neutral corner where a furious, prolonged exchange took the measure of Ernest. The African flailed his punches while Robinson put the weight of his body behind his. A thudding right stunned Amuzu and he desperately fled the corner on shaky legs, but Brandon was on him like death. When another booming right left him still upright but limp and sagging, referee Blair Talmadge stopped it, over a mild protest, at 2:04.
In the marquee main event 10, Terrell Williams, 146, LA, 17-0 (13), got about as much as he wanted out of David Grayton, 145 ¾, Wash., DC, 15-3-1 (11). This was a bad fight and a good one, depending on perspective. Early in the first, during an exchange, Williams popped a short right lead on the southpaw foe and dropped him. Not a lot happened in the rest of the round, with both trying but unable to put anything together. In the second, virtually the same thing happened again, with Grayton dropped once more. Grayton wanted to mug Williams by swarming him on the ropes, which he did in the third. Williams seemed to be waiting on the lead right again. Terrell at last began to mix it up in the fourth and worked well with solid rights that kept David from closing in. But in the fifth, the inconsistent favorite was again being swarmed on the ropes. The see-sawing action went to long range in the sixth with Williams keeping Grayton at bay until again the right lead sent him down. On none of these knockdowns did David appear shaky upon arising, giving wonder to the condition of his legs. Action stayed outside in the seventh, with Williams controlling. But in the eighth, the persistent underdog again had the favorite worked over on the ropes as Terrell seemed to be at last wilting from David’s refusal to fold. The last two were a death struggle as both combatants were trying but seemed to have left their best game in the hard-fought earlier rounds. Williams won the unanimous decision, Lynne Carter 97-92, Jimmy Kinney 98-89, and Dewey LaRosa 98-90. An inconsistent effort by the touted Williams, as without the knockdowns, where would he have been?
In another scheduled eight, Anvar Yunusov, 130 ¼, a Tajikistani fighting out of Phila., 5-0 (2), blew out Angel Monreal, 130, Monterrey, MX, 10-11-1 (3), in 2:39 of round one. The underdog knelt and prayed in his corner until introduced. What good it did him, heaven only knows, but at least he walked out of the ring after being demolished. Yunusov, a terrible-looking, gawky southpaw, scored a flash knockdown in the opening exchange. Then, after some sparring, Anvar maneuvered him to the ropes and speared him like a fish in a barrel with a long, straight left. Monreal went down limp and ref Eric Dali waved a TKO without count.
Alejandro Jimenez, 117 ½, New Hope, PA, 3-0 (1), pounded out a well-earned unanimous decision over Jerrod Miner, 117 ¼, Phila., 1-2-2 (1), in a furiously contested four. Miner tried to box but was overwhelmed by the recklessly aggressive “Alexander the Great”. Jimenez repeatedly bailed out with overhand rights. Miner tried to slip them instead of blocking and got tagged again and again. He was never seriously hurt, but couldn’t get an offense going while constantly ducking incoming artillery. All 40-36.
In a sensational rock-‘em, sock-‘em four, debuting James Bernadin, 133 ¾, a Haitian fighting out of Lancaster, took the measure of ambitious and aggressive Christopher Burgos, 132 ¼, Phila., 1-3-1. With Burgos attacking vigorously, Bernadin kept his poise and hands moving as he back-pedaled away. Action was brisk and heated until Burgos ran into an overhand right that buckled his knees midway in the first. But he straightened back up and got into the action. Undaunted, Chris regained his momentum in a hard fought second. Bernadin was in reverse, but did remarkably well in keeping his hands moving with quick, sweeping punches that kept the popular Burgos from turning the action. With the contest already in high gear, action revved up by another level in a furious third. Both applied their respective styles in a seesawing battle for supremacy until a long right spun the attacking Burgos to the canvas. He got up, in distress, and went to his own corner where referee Talmadge looked at him and stopped it, over Christopher’s protest, at 2:19.
Similarly, Yueri Andujar, 124 ½, Reading, debuted in a sensational scheduled four against Crystian Peguero, 126 ½, Caguas, PR, via Phila., 2-1 (1). Both mixed freely from opening bell, with free-swinging action in fearless abandon. Andujar took control with quickness and good body-head combinations. Peguero was very much in the mix but getting the worst of torrid action. A right hurt him to the bell in round one. The heated pace began to tell on Peguero in the second as Andujar’s offense was overwhelming. By the third, Yueri had taken control and was dishing out punishment full tilt until a right hand bolo punch snapped Crystian’s head up and he went into retreat, gamely trying to stay in the fight but fading until Dali stopped it, at 2:06.
Keeshawn Williams, 149, Wash., DC, 3-0-1 (1), won about as he pleased over Farhad Fatulla, 147 ¾, an Azerbaijani out of Salt Lake City, 1-2, by unanimous decision, four. Perhaps Fatulla is unfamiliar with American-style boxing, as he seemed not to know that a no-hitter is only good in baseball. The solidly-built and full-bearded Fatulla stomped forward, making all sorts of feints without seeming to know that a feint is intended to set up a punch. Meanwhile, Williams, calling himself “The Next Big thing”, seemed content to take advantage of a day off, throwing just enough conservative punches to win a unanimous shutout.
Daiyann Butt, 140 ¼, Phila., 2-0, also won pretty much as he pleased but did get more opposition out of Anthony Smith, 138 ¼, Fresno, fighting out of Stroudsburg, 1-3 (1), four. The tall and rangy Butt boxed conservatively while keeping the fireplug underdog at bay. Smith did try to fight at the start, but a big volley by Daiyann in round two seemed to force him into defensive mode, as he was unable to get past Daiyann’s long reach. All 40-36.
Little of note happened in a dull four between Shyngyskhan Tazhibay, 146, a Kazakhstani out of Wash., DC, 7-0 (2), and spoiler Justin Johnson, 144 ¾, Pittsburgh, 6-18-6. The tricky underdog can be a challenge to the unschooled, but Tazhibay had just enough poise and an occasional long right to keep Johnson in safety mode until he began to fight too late in round four. Carter gave Johnson a sympathy round 39-37 while Justin Rubenstein and LaRosa gave Tazhibay a shutout.
