Nelson and Dawejko Win at the 2300 Arena in South Philly Friday night!

	<a href="http://www.doghouseboxing.com/" target="_blank"></a> ---

By Ken Hissner at ringside, Doghouse Boxing (May 17, 2014)

Follow @DoghouseBoxing

Bam Boxing

Tweets by @DoghouseBoxing

Peltz Boxing and Bam Boxing returned to the now 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia Friday Night putting on a good show! J Russell Peltz and Brittany Rogers were the matchmakers.

In the Main Event light welterweight Naim Nelson, 12-0 (1), of Philly won a hard fought decision over southpaw Jerome Rodriguez, 6-1-3 (2), of Allentown, PA, over 8 rounds.

In the first 2 rounds Rodriguez seemed to have had an edge. In the 3rd and 4th Nelson became the aggressor having Rodriguez tying him up at the end of the 4th. In the 5th Rodriguez landed a straight left to the chin of Nelson that seemed to have little effect. Nelson came back well having Rodriguez holding at the bell. Nelson seemed to be the better conditioned of the two and kept coming forward.

In the 6th Nelson seemed to have and edge but in the 7th Rodriguez had Nelson backing up. In the 8th and final round Nelson was cut by the left eye due to an accidental clash of heads. Rodriguez seemed to get the best of it but before the bell Nelson drove Rodriguez back with a flurry of punches.

Judges Lynne Carter had it 79-73, Pierre Benoist 80-72 and Alan Rubenstein 77-75. DHB had it 77-75 for Nelson. A draw would not have disappointed but the conditioning of Nelson was a factor. Referee Steve Smoger did a good job allowing the fighters to fight. “It was a tough fight. I caught an elbow early in the fight outside my right eye and the head butt (accidental) opening the cut in the last round. Did you think it was a good fight,” replied Nelson. “Yes,” said this writer. “It was a good fight. Whatever the judges had it they had it,” said Rodriguez.

In the co-feature in a pair of Philly heavyweights pitted against each other Joey Dawejko, 10-3-2 (3), defeated Mark Rideout, 4-1-2 (1), over 8 rounds. In the opening round Dawejko controlled landing left hooks to the body and some lead rights to the head of Rideout who tied him up and landed short rights to the head while in a clinch. Dawejko landed a left jab that had Rideout acknowledging it was a solid punch. Dawejko took the 2nd round landing the harder punches as the taller Rideout used his jab effectively though Dawejko blocked his share of them. In the 3rd Dawejko rocked Rideout with a left hook to the head. Dawejko’s cheering section kept yelling “Joey, Joey”.

In the 4th and 5th Dawejko stayed in control as things slowed down. Rideout lost to the more experienced Dawejko in the amateurs and his D&D Management team felt he was ready for Dawejko who just came off a 10 round win in his last fight with Derek Rossy. In the 6th Rideout seemed to be busier winning the round. In the 8th and final round both fighters let it all hang out. The referee was Shawn Clark.

The judges had it 78-74 and 79-73 twice as DHB also had it 79-73.

In a bout with a pair of Philly lightweights prospect Anthony “Bad Boy” Burgin 7-0 (1), of Philly, defeated veteran Ramon Ellis 4-11-2 (2), over 6 rounds of action. In the second round Ellis had Burgin hurt and holding on. In the 4th round Burgin had Ellis in a corner rocking him with a left hook. In the 5th round Burgin hurt Ellis and drove him into the ropes. Ellis was always dangerous and fighting back only to be put on the defense by Burgin at the bell. In the 6th and final round Burgin turned southpaw and had the mouth of Ellis pouring out blood. Smoger was the referee. All 3 judges and DHB had it 59-55.

“It was a great learning experience defeating an older guy. He is very strong but was looking for one punch,” said Burgin. His trainer Chino Rivas agreed with that statement.

Light welterweight Milton Santiago 5-0 (3), of Philly remained unbeaten in defeating veteran Josh “Steamin” Beeman 5-17-4 (6), of Providence, RI, over 6 rounds.

The 17 year-old Santiago was put in with the experienced Beeman and showed good defense moves early having Beeman miss even when Santiago was backed into a corner. It was a good learning experience for Santiago as he won easily. He is a top prospect. Clark was the referee. “He took a good punch and it’s good experience defeating someone with as many fights as he has,” said Santiago.

Light welterweight David Gonzales 4-0 (2), Philly, defeated Omar Brito, 2-1 (0), of Pleasantville, NJ, over 4 rounds. It was a workman like win. All scores including DHB were 40-36. Clark was the referee.

Welterweight Nathaniel Rivas, 4-0 (1), of Lindenwold, NJ won over Jovan Sosa 2-1 (0), of the Bronx, NY, scoring 3 knockdowns.

In the opening round Rivas dropped Sosa twice with a straight right for the first knockdown and the second knockdown with a left hook, both on the chin. Sosa was fighting back well before Rivas again hurt him just prior to the bell. In the 2nd round Rivas dropped Sosa for a 3rd time with a right to the chin. “I hurt my right hand in that round. He took some good shots,” said Rivas.

In the 3rd round it was Sosa who got the better of the exchanges. In the 4th and final round it was back and forth with both fighters trying to pull out the fight. “My son did well considering he hurt his hand in the 2nd round and felt pain he never had before and fought through it,” said Chino Rivas (father and trainer). All 3 judges had it 38-35 as did DHB. The 3 knockdowns were the difference. Smoger was the referee.

Middleweight southpaw Vincent Floyd, 1-0-1 (0), of Philly defeated Sharif Jones, 0-1 (0), also of Philly over 4 rounds while scoring a knockdown in the 1st round.

In the opening round the much taller Floyd dropped Jones. The next 2 rounds were competitive with Jones taking the 3rd round. In the 4th and final round referee Smoger warned Jones for use of his head. Scores of the judges were 40-35 and 39-36 twice with DHB 39-36. In the opening bout cruiserweight Aaron Leonard, 1-3 (1), of Philly was in a war while it lasted being stopped in the 3rd by Hector Perez, 2-0 (1), of Pleasantville, NJ, with referee Clark waving it off. “I thought it was a quick stoppage,” said Fred Jenkins (trainer of Leonard).

Philly junior welter David Gonzales, 5-0 (1) shut out Omar Brito, 2-2 (1), of Vineland, NJ, over 4 rounds in good fashion. All 3 judges had it 60-54 as did DHB. Clark was the referee.

The press have been banned by Boxing Director Greg Sirb and Commissioner Rudy Battle from ringside and they seem to keep getting moved further and further from the ring. This writer likes being around the 50 yard line at football games but when you are 50 yards from the ring and on an angle with a pole and GFL.com-TV cameramen in front of you it is hard reporting what goes on in the ring.

While the promoters feel pitting Philly fighters against each other make for good fights this writer and many fans may not agree. You have half of them celebrating while the other half are very disappointed. When you get to know the fighters like this writer has it’s nice seeing them who win but hurts seeing them who lose. Top area ring announcer Larry Tornambe may have worked his last fight in the tri-state area as he will be moving to Phoenix, AZ. Tornambe is a very popular and well liked individual who will be missed by many including this writer! We all wish him well with the hope he will continue his ring announcing in AZ.

Ken Hissner responds to all his emails at: kenhissner@gmail.com