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Photos © Brendon Pierpaoli
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On Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville Ct, Nate Campbell stopped Edelmiro “Tiger” Martinez in four rounds after hurting the tough Bronx fighter repeatedly and putting him down three times in round two. Referee Mike Ortega went on to disqualify Tiger Martinez in round four after several very low blows hurt Campbell. The end came at 1:50 of round number four and it was clear that Martinez’ penchant for swinging at Campbell’s cup was part of a desperate effort by Martinez to go out in some other way than on his back.
Nate “The Galaxy Warrior” Campbell, who charged right out and stunned Martinez with a lead right hand at the bout’s opening, said later that he had watched his first encounter with Martinez over and over and he knew the Tiger was open for the right.
In the second, it was Campbell’s right that first cracked Martinez on the chin and put him flat on his back for the first of three knockdowns in the round. When he got up Martinez was clearly hurt and Campbell rushed him, cornered him, and dug at the Tiger’s body with both hands. Martinez was dropped again by Campbell but when Ref. Mike Ortega let the bout continue a Campbell uppercut strayed low causing the referee to deduct a point from the Galaxy Warrior. A third knockdown scored by Campbell ended the round leaving Martinez behind on the scorecards by at least four points.
 In the third, Campbell worked hard to try and finish off his injured opponent and Martinez did whatever he could to prevent from going out on his shield. Ref. Ortega was busy warning both men for low blows and holding & hitting during the wild round, but it was Martinez who lost a point for a blatant low blow thrown in hopes of getting himself off the hook while still stunned from the punishment he took in the second.
In the fourth, Martinez continued retreating as Campbell stalked him trying to finish him off. Hoping to prevent the inevitable, Martinez chose the distasteful but effective method of fouling his opponent rather than letting himself get knocked out. When Martinez landed a hard uppercut between the legs of Campbell, Ref. Ortega had seen enough and waved off the bout.
Campbell, who was fighting for the first time since his knockout loss to Robbie Peden in March, spoke of his return to the title picture at Junior Lightweight.
“I am back where I started, (in the world rankings)” Campbell described his dedication and commitment to the sport by explaining how close to fighting weight he stays at all times.
“I walk around at 138,” said Campbell. “I’m the Bernard Hopkins of my division.”
With the victory Campbell re-enters the upper echelon of the 130 pound class with a record of 25-2-1 (21kos) while Edelmiro “Tiger” Martinez drops to 21-3-1(9kos).
  In other action, Aneudi Santos was bedeviled a second time in a rough and sometimes ugly scrap, by Sam Reese and his southpaw one-two. Santos was hurt several times and was unable to land more than a handful of clean blows on his awkward opponent throughout the fight. Reluctant to move inside and bang at the body, Santos hesitated too long on the outside letting Reese catch him again and again with the right-left from the southpaw stance. Unable to cope with the pressure and southpaw angle of Sam Reese, Santos was raked with straight punches only to fall into clinches once within punching range. Santos dropped a unanimous decision with scores of 78-74, 77-75, and 79-73, all in favor of Sam Reese.
Sam Reese’s record now climbs to 13-11-4 (5) while Aneudi Santos drops to 11-2 (8).
 Ehinomen (Hino) Ehikhamenor banged out a bruising six round unanimous decision win over a gutsy and durable Gary Gomez of Butte, Montana. Gomez won the crowd with his toe-to-toe style and tucked chin defense that saw him taking 2 or 3 punches at a time while looking to land a single return blow of his own. Ehikhamenor, who has fought well behind a jab on previous visits to Mohegan Sun, was content to stand and trade with Gomez throughout the fight which delighted the fans, even though they appreciated Gomez’ persistence and durability over Hino’s busy offense of chopping punches.
After six rounds, the judges, Julie Lederman, Dick Flaherty and Tom Kaczmareck scored the bout 57-56, a win made slightly closer for Hino after a third round low blow cost him a point deduction at the hands of referee Frank Cappuccino.
 Ehikhamenor remains unbeaten at 6-0 with three wins by way of knockout while Gomez drops to 11-4 with 4 kayos, Ehikhamenor, who was booed after the decision, fought well, if not intelligently, having made the calculated risk of standing and slugging with Gomez he may have learned something about his own raw toughness.
In the third bout of the evening, Bridgeport’s transplanted son, now fighting out of Queens, Jaidon Codington, met James North at ring center with swarming aggression and heavy hooks to both sides of the ribcage. North, of West Virginia, was clearly outgunned by the end of round one and at the start of the second a two fisted assault on the body put North down. North rose from the knockdown only to be saved from further punishment by referee Cappuccino at one minute and eight seconds of round number two.
 
Codrington’s power impressed in the tko win and now at 2-0 with as many knockouts the NY/CT fighter has found a friendly atmosphere in which to keep hammering away at the division. James North falls to 4-4(2) after the loss.
Ronald Hearns; son of the Motor City Cobra himself, Thomas Hearns, who was in attendance, remained unbeaten in the third bout of his career. Using his superior height and reach coupled with the pheno-typical Hearns physique and long snappy punches, Ronald cruised to a shut-out unanimous decision victory over Baltimore’s Billy Johnson. Hearns’ record now stands at 3-0 with 2 kayos while Johnson falls to 1-2 with 1 kayo.
In the evening’s first bout Detroit’s Jonathan Banks made his successful pro debut with a four round unanimous decision win over Deandre McCole. McCole’s record falls to 3-8-2.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
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By Alex Pierpaoli (August 3, 2004) Photos © Brendon Pierpaoli, DHB 
