Back to the 70’s in Philly! By Ken Hissner at ringside (Aug 4, 2010) Doghouse Boxing
They say promoters talk out of both sides of their mouth. Friday night in South Philly J Russell Peltz promised to bring Philly back to the good old days when like American Bandstand everyone looked up to the city of Brotherly Love. If the first show is any indication of the future for Philly fans they will be getting more than their share of attention. The only thing missing was “Bad” Bennie Briscoe, Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, “Boogaloo” Watts, Willie “The Worm” Monroe, Stanley “Kitten” Hayward and the ghost of “Gypsy” Joe Harris all back from the 70’s when Philly boxing was what it was all about!
Derek “Pooh” Ennis, 22-2-1 (13), of the Germantown section of Philly successfully defended his USBA light middleweight title over 12 rounds against “King” Gabriel Rosado, 14-5 (8), of North Philly. The Arena in South Philly was packed and the buzz throughout the arena when the main event fighters came out brought back memories of the 70’s. One section during the fight was yelling “Gabe, Gabe” and then you heard “Pooh, Pooh”, and the undercard almost matched the main event.
The much taller Rosado seemed to outwork Ennis who was setting up his opponent with quick jabs and an occasion lead right that he probably could have landed all night with his eyes closed. Rosado was certainly hyped for this one while Ennis rarely changes his expression and is cool, calm and collective. As early as the second round Rosado rocked Ennis and you wondered if it was going to be a short night for the likeable Germantown champion.
Ennis picked up the action in the third round. It was like a light bulb was turned on realizing he is the faster of the two and can crack a little. The fifth round was the best of the early rounds with Ennis double jabbing and landing that right to the left eye of Rosado. By the mid-way point Rosado came back to even the score after six on this writer’s card. Rosado would be dangerous up until the final bell keeping the Ennis corner on pins and needles.
In the seventh Rosado drove Ennis into his corner while Ennis landed a combination and spun out of the corner and danced away. Ennis used the feints very good while Rosado would occasionally bull his way in being the obvious stronger of the two. By the ninth there was noticeable swelling outside the left eye of Rosado from being hit by so many right hands. By the eleventh knowing the fight had slipped away from him Rosado started letting his hands hang down trying to bait Ennis in to no avail. There was no way Rosado was going to outsmart Ennis. There were some good exchanges in the eleventh with Rosado gaining the edge.
In the twelfth and final round with the fans screaming throughout the match it got even louder. Rosado trying for a knockout got countered and driven across the ring as if he was going down. He would come back and have Ennis hurt and holding on. Something Rosado didn’t seem to be able to figure out when he got hurt he wouldn’t hold on. With both corners holding their fighters up looking for the victory the scores were being totaled up by the commission. When veteran George Hill’s score came out with a “safe” 114-114 the fans groaned. Then came Pierre Benoists score of 117-111 and 116-112 by Joe Pasquale which matched this writer’s score for the winner by majority decision and “still” the USBA light middleweight champion Derek “Pooh” Ennis!
Both corners were complaining of fouls afterwards as the top Philly ref Gary Rosato tried to keep both fighters in check. There should have been no complaints from the Rosado corner. The Ennis camp should not be looking for a rematch but a top ten or five ranking in the IBF up from their No. 13. Rosado had nothing to be ashamed of for a gallant effort. He was obviously very dejected by his own performance hoping for a knockout. This main event lived up to the hype!
The undercard had some clean knockouts and some very good boxing performances. The younger brother of Ennis, Farah “Quiet Storm” Ennis, 15-0 (9), took on late sub Demitrius Davis, 20-24-5 (8), of DC, who losing for the tenth time in eleven fights and should think about retiring now at 40. Ennis had Davis rocked in the first round and in the third round landed a crushing right hand that dropped Davis whose head was under the bottom rope. He beat the count but could not convince referee Blair Talmadge he was all right to continue at 0:27 of the third round. These were super middleweights scheduled for six.
The other top prospect in the super middleweight division was from the Kensington section of Philly in Dennis “The Assassin” Hasson, 10-0 (3), returning to the ring for the first time in eight months. His jab and left hooks controlled the fight. His opponent was hard punching Dominican Alberto Mercedes, 14-16-1 (10), now out of West Allis, WI, who fought from a coiled stance like a cobra ready to spring that right hand on Hasson at all times. Hasson at times showed a little resistance in using his right hand which he may have hurt in landing several three punch combinations.
Hasson took his share of right hands that brought swelling under the left eye by the end of the fight. His fan base was screaming at his return. The judge’s scores of 60-54 and 59-55 twice were a mere formality. This writer had him ahead 59-55 only losing the fourth round when Mercedes was landing some right hand bombs. “He’s a very smart boxer who can punch. I have known about him since the amateurs,” said Mercedes. Hasson had attended his last two years of high school in WI, before entering Northern Michigan University under Al Mitchell of Philly. “I felt good after the long lay-off and was quite aware that he could punch,” said Hasson. Hurley McCall was the referee of this schedule six.
Anthony Flores, 9-1-1 (6), showed an arsenal of body shots that could have had the fight stopped as early as the third round over Gustavo Dailey, 4-9 (1). It didn’t look like Dailey was coming out after the fourth but he tried his best until the sixth when he was dropped by Flores. Dailey beat the count but the referee Talmadge who finally waved it off several rounds too late. Dailey took more punishment then he should have. This was a super featherweight six. Flores is a pleasure to watch.
Philly heavyweight Bryant Jennings, 4-0 (2), rocked Bernell Stewart, 1-2 (0), of Columbus, OH, throughout the four round bout with right hands but couldn’t put him away. The judges had it 40-36 twice and 39-37 all for Jennings who is making the adjustment from a football career.
Angel Ocasio, 3-0 (1), has given Philly fans much to cheer about in his amateur career and tonight finally got that first professional knockout and it was a good one. A straight right hand had his opponent Sidell Blocker, 0-3 (0), of Pleasantville, NJ, on his back for the count at 1:29 of the second round of a four as referee Rosato didn’t have to bother counting.
In an all Philly cruiserweight six Garrett Wilson, 8-5 (3), took some powerful jabs from Reshawn Scott, 2-5 (0), in this rematch. I don’t recall Wilson landing a punch until a right came out of no where and down went Scott for the count at 1:29 of the first round. Talmadge was the referee.
Andre Hemphill, 9-16-2 (6), of Philly easily beat Anthony Pietrantonio, 6-6 (5), of Youngstown over six rounds in this light heavyweight match. Left hook body shots by Hemphill dominated the fight. The scores in his favor were 60-54 and 59-55 twice.
This writer who has been critical of Philly fighters fighting each others has to admit it makes for good fights. There are not as many top Philly fighters as in the 70’s so it will be interesting who promoter and matchmaker Peltz lines up next. September 25th he will have unbeaten Teon Kennedy, the USBA super bantamweight champion back in action at Bally’s in Atlantic City.
NEW: Follow DoghouseBoxing on FaceBook! For more Headlines and Free Online Videos, visit our homepage now.
