Ennis stops Vazquez in 5 at the Blue Horizon!
By Ken Hissner at ringside (Feb 8, 2010) DoghouseBoxing  
USBA light middleweight champion Derek “Pooh” Ennis, 20-2-1 (13), from the Germantown section of Philly, used a strong body attack to stop Edwin Vazquez, 22-15-2 (8), of Santurce, Puerto Rico, at 1:26 of the 5th round at the legendary Blue Horizon Friday night. With a storm warning in effect, the crowd was smaller than usual, but made up for it with their enthusiasm.

This was a schedule 8 round non-title bout that had Ennis easily outboxing Vazquez for two rounds. In the 3rd round Vazquez landed three overhand rights bringing out the best of Ennis as he stormed back with strong body shots rocking his opponent into the ropes only by grabbing the top rope prevented him from going down. This should have been ruled a knockdown. He would land an overhand right of his own at the bell ending the 4th round. Body shots hurt Vazquez in the 4th but he landed an overhand right at the bell.

In the 5th round Ennis landed an upper cut to the solar-plexis causing a delayed knockdown. Vazquez beat the count but Ennis was on him like a cat landing a strong straight right to the ribcage dropping his opponent again. He beat the count but his corner was trying to get the attention of the referee Shawn Clark to stop the fight. I gather he didn’t have a towel to throw in. Time of stoppage was 1:26 of the 5th.

Matchmaker Don Elbaum put together an exciting show that had the fans buzzing on this Blue Horizon Boxing Promotion of Vernoca L. Michael’s. Five of the scheduled seven bouts ended in knockouts giving the fans plenty to cheer about.

In a 6 round bout Martinus Clay brought a 13-25-4 (5) record into the ring against some of the best in the business including Andre Berto and Kassim Ouma. His opponent Ronald Cruz, 8-0 (5), has been fighting a little over a year. Clay did well boxing in the 1st round, but in the 2nd round Cruz went to the body and took the legs out from Clay. In the 3rd Cruz landed good body shots until an uppercut dropped Clay. He didn’t look like he wanted to continue as referee Benji Esteves, Jr. counted him out. It could be the end of the line for Clay.

In what was the fight of the night the “Jamaican Sensation” Jackie Davis, 4-0 (1), of Philly, battled with Melisenda Perez, 6-2 (4), of Kansas City, MO, over 4 rounds in this light welter match. The southpaw Perez squared herself up making an easy target as Davis would put her head down and score with over hand punches round after round. Perez was always in there trying and wasn’t going anywhere. In the 3rd round the two had some wild exchanges that had the crowd on their feet cheering at the bell. They picked up where they left off in the 4th and again had the fans on their feet at the conclusion of the final round. Scores favored Davis, 40-36 (2) and 39-37. Esteves was the referee. Local favorite Ivan Robinson trains Davis who was a long time amateur standout before turning professional last year. New manager Chuck Diesel was quite pleased with the performance by Davis.

The long awaited Philly debut of amateur star Joey “Polish Thunder” Dawejko, 2-0 (1) didn’t disappoint. He landed hooks to the body with bad intentions that had his opponent Ricardo Johnson, (1-1), of Cinncinati, looking for a place to hide. A straight right hand floored Johnson at 0:47 of the round with him not making any effort to get up. Referee Clark counted him out. Dawejko just looks at home inside the four corners. Coming in at 224 he gave away 10 pounds to his opponent. He is trained by former local favorite boxer Brian McGinley and managed by Hasim Rahman. “I didn’t expect it to be that easy,” said Dawejko. Let’s hope we see more of him. He turned pro in September winning a 6 round decision in Louisiana.

Sweden’s heavyweight Andreas Gustafson, 4-0 (2), had an easy night stopping Levay King, 0-2, of Philly, at the end of the 2nd round when referee Esteves counted him out at the bell. Gustafson would switch to southpaw and looked just as comfortable.

Former Philly top amateur Eric “Outlaw” Hunter, 12-1 (5), hit veteran Roberto Bonilla, 22-12 (14), of Ciudad Sandino, NIC, with a left hook to the solar-plexis and down he went. He looked to his corner with the look of quitting. The time of stoppage was at the end of the round when referee Esteves waved it off.

The opener pitted a pair of Philly light welterweights making their debut. Clement Bethea, 1-0, and Henry Northan, 0-1, gave it all they had over 4 rounds to start the night off right. The decision was split with Al Dorsey having it 39-36 for Northan, while judges Dewey LaRosa and Joe Pasquale scored it 39-37 for the winner Bethea. This writer agreed with the 39-37 for Bethea.

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Ken at: kenhissner@yahoo.com

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