20-year old Super featherweight Joel Diaz, 11-0 (10), of Los
Angeles, CA, remained unbeaten stopping Puerto Rican southpaw Guillermo
“The Vampire” Sanchez, 14-7-1 (5), of Buffalo, NY, at the end of the 2nd
round at Bally’s in Atlantic City, NJ, Saturday night!
John
Lynch’s Pound For Pound Promotions had a stacked undercard of local and
nearby talent to support the two out of town boxers before a nice
crowd. The taller Sanchez did well in the first round reaching the
oncoming Diaz with straight left hands. In the second round Diaz landed
a pair of straight right hands that had Sanchez hurt forcing the latter
to hold on until the bell sounded.
After minutes of discussions
with the ringside physician, and referee (Ricardo Vera) in the corner of
Sanchez the fight was waved off. Ring Announcer Henry Hascup called
the end at 3:00 ending the second round of this 10 round main event. At
ringside for Diaz was Boxing 360 president Dr. Mario Yagobi who looks
like he has a puncher in the young L.A. prospect.
The lone 8
rounder on the card was a mismatch due to the late arrival and much
smaller size of southpaw Franklin Gonzalez, 15-11 (10), a Dominican out
of NY who was no match for Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia, 15-0 (9), of
Passaic, NJ, getting knocked out at 2:05 of the first round after
hitting the canvas twice.
Gonzalez didn’t seem ready to go after
the first knockdown caused by a glancing right hand on top of the head
but referee Lindsay Page let it go on. When Tapia dropped Gonzalez
immediately after the fight was allowed to continue Page could have
counted to 100. Why he even bothered to count was questionable at
best. Gonzalez had upset Ireland’s Eddie Hyland in January of 2012 but
is no middleweight.
Pat “Paddy Boy” Farrell, 8-1-1 (4), of Jersey
City, NJ, found himself on the canvas in the 1st round from a chopping
right hand by Wayne Hampton, 5-6- (3), of Capital Heights, MD, in a
scheduled round heavyweight match-up. Farrell was able to fight his way
back against the much bigger Hampton (+40) using a steady jab to keep
Hampton off of him until the bell sounded.
Hampton was trying
to capitalize on the knockdown throughout the 2nd round but was missing
as much as he landed. By the 3rd round he seemed exhausted holding onto
Farrell. After several warnings and a point deducted by referee Vera
for holding the fight was stopped in favor of Farrell. Hampton had
nothing left as he went to his corner resting his head on his arms onto
the ropes. It wasn’t the way Farrell wanted to win but he showed plenty
of heart in coming back to take the win.
In a battle of unbeaten
heavyweights it did not live up to what looked like a good fight on
paper. Philadelphia’s Joey Dawejko, 7-1-1 (3), looked like a sure
winner for 3 rounds landing what little was landed between the two. His
opponent Dorsett Barnwell, 7-0 (3), of Northport, VA, started putting
the pressure on in the 5th possibly feeling he may need a knockout to
win. Dawejko of Boxing 360 was able to slip most of Barnwell’s punches
but rarely capitalized. It was acknowledged by his trainer, former
Philly boxer Brian McGinley that Dawejko needs to be busier in the
future and letting his hands go. The judges were split with Rubenstein
having Dawejko ahead 59-55, while both Weisfeld and Stewart had it 58-56
for Barnwell. DHB had it 57-57 a draw.
Dawejko’s best punch
were left hooks to the midsection but rarely landed any
combinations. There was much too much posing on both parts of the
fighters. For Barnwell it was his second straight win in Atlantic City
making his promoter Dee Lee very happy with this mild upset. Dawejko
asked for a rematch feeling he pulled it out but it isn’t something the
fans need to see again. “Maybe with a loss on my record it will be
easier to get fights now,” said Dawejko. He had an ice pack on his left
forearm.
Thomas “Cornflake” Lamanna, 9-0 (5), of
Millville, NJ, won a split decision over Yolexcy “El Pitbull” Leiva, 5-4
(4), of Nashville, TN, over 6 rounds of junior welterweight
action. The fans liked this back and forth battle. The taller Lamanna
seemed to have his way with his long left jab and even dropped Leiva in
the 2nd round but couldn’t finish him off.
In the 3rd round
Leiva got Lamanna to fight his fight inside and seemed to all but even
the score going into the 5th except for the knockdown. Lamanna’s jab
seemed to keep Leiva at bay most of the round but it was close. In the
final round Lamanna outpunched Leiva 2-1 in taking the win. Alan
Rubenstein had it for Lamanna while John Stewart had it for Leiva with
identical 57-56 scores. The deciding vote from Steve Weisfeld agreed
with DHB’s 58-55 for the winner by split decision Lamanna.
In one
of the best fights of the night prospect Anthony “Pelion” (meaning
fighter) Gangemi, 1-0 (1) of Mine Hill, NJ, made it a successful debut
in breaking down the much taller Jimmy Ellis, 1-2 (1), of Florence, C.
forcing referee Vera to stop it at 2:26 of the 3rd round in favor of
Gangemi.
Ellis with that Thomas Hearns build got his licks in
though Gangemi had a good defense and a warrior mentality that was very
pleasing to the fans and this writer. Wearing patches on his trunks
from Italy and Colombia Gangemi came into the ring sporting a 70-15
amateur record going into 2012 and was the NJ amateur boxer of the year
in 2011 and should be a natural draw in the future. He is trained by Ed
Leahy.
Southpaw Tyrone McKenna, 1-0 (0), of Mt. Arlington, NJ,
was one of two of Ireland’s boxers debuting on the card. He looked
like Andy Lee utilizing his much taller southpaw stance defeating
Anthony Morrison, 0-1, of Philadelphia also making his debut in this
welterweight 4. All 3 judges had it 40-36 for McKenna. Morrison a well
built former MMA fighter showed his best round in the final one but was
much too small for the long armed McKenna.
Ireland’s Toka Khan
Clary, 2-0 (1), now out of Providence, RI, won his second fight in as
many months easily stopping fellow southpaw Jamel Winfield, 0-1, of VA,
at 1:16 of the 1st round when referee Vera had seen enough. Clary
dropped Winfield with a left hand to the head and though Winfield beat
the count he didn’t seem to be in very good condition. The referee Vera
let it go until a lead left dropped Winfield again. Vera finally
called a halt.
Former NJ GG super heavyweight champion Tyrell
Wright, 1-0 (0), of Jersey City, NJ, did enough to win a 4 round
decision over the much larger Dennis Benson, 1-3 (1), of Norfolk, VA, by
scores of 40-36 by Weisfeld and 39-37 by Rubenstien and
Stewart. Wright rocked Benson in the 2nd and 3rd rounds but seemed to
tire in the 4th in a close round. Page was the referee. Freddy
Blumstein was the time keeper.
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