“Hammerin” Hank Lundy Dazzles Justo Sanchez in Philly!

“Hammerin” Hank Lundy Dazzles Justo Sanchez in Philly!

By Ken Hissner at ringside for Doghouse Boxing (Sept 27, 2009)

South Philly’s “Hammerin” Hank Lundy, 15-0-1 (9), put on a show for his fans Saturday night in stopping the veteran Justo Sanchez, 17-24-1 (0), at 0:21 of the 6th round in a 10 round junior welterweight UBC title bout. It was Donna Cohen’s Bionic Bull Promotions first event at the Yesha Center at 23rd & Snyder.

At times Lundy reminded the older fans of the late “Gypsy” Joe Harris as he rattled off so many punches at a time and even threw a right behind his back which got him a warning from referee Benji Esteves, Jr. I’ve seen Ray “Windmill” White in 1974 do the behind the back punch along with his “double whammy” punches, now it’s “Lundy time” as this 25 year old took us down Memory Lane! It was the second fight Lundy has had trainer Sloan Harrison in his corner.

Sanchez tried his best to no avail against Lundy. He has been in with current WBO featherweight champion Steve Luevano, former champion Jorge Paez and in his last bout going the distance with highly regarded Verquan Kimbrough. He had a bloody nose and was upset at the stoppage, but not being a puncher, he had no chance of victory. “I didn’t want to jump in and get caught in the 4th round (had scored 2 knockdowns) so I just continued to break him down,” said Lundy. It looked like a third knockdown occurred prior to the bell sounding in the 5th round, but the referee ruled it a slip. “I want Edner Cherry or any of the other contenders from 135-140,” said Lundy. A Cherry fight almost came about before Sanchez filled in. Seems Cherry is dropping to 130 with new management/promoter per today’s news so he’s out. Lundy has made the “step up” thanks to his new manager Ivan Cohen. He formerly had IBF light middleweight champion Buster Drayton, who happened to be in the crowd Saturday night looking quite fit with that signature smile of his. Half of Lundy’s fights have been in New England where promoter Jimmy Burchfield’s CES has used Lundy. Now Bionic Bull Promotions has an option to showcase Lundy in the Philly-Atlantic City area. A national cable appearance is in the making for fight fans throughout the country to enjoy what fans in the East have seen. Philly is rich in talent with young unbeaten boxers from 140-147 such as Rock Allen, Danny Garcia, Ray Serrano and “New” Ray Robinson, though Lundy may be the only one that could make 135.

The semi-windup 8 round UBC Intercontinental super middleweight title bout was entertaining enough to be a main event in most clubs. Near-by Upper Darby boxer Dhafir “No Fear” Smith, 22-19-6 (4), won a split decision over veteran Demetrius Davis, 19-16-5 (7), coming in from the nation’s capitol in DC. Davis seemed to start off a little busier until the 3rd round when a right-left combination dropped him on the seat of his trunks. Not only did he get up but took it to Smith the remainder of the round. In the 6th round both fighters exchanged right hands that seemed to rattled their opponent. Smith has a natural jab and if he can put that right hand together with it he could probably score a higher ratio of knockouts than he has. Like Davis, he is not afraid to go into his opponent’s backyard and their records are a reflection of it. Smith had held the WBF All-American title in the past. It seemed except for the knockdown the fighters fought on even terms for the most part throughout.

“I owe a lot to my trainer Jimmy Shedrick (retired in 1978 at 5-0-3) who has put his time in on improving me. I would like 2 more fights and challenge any of the super middleweights out there,” said Smith. “I knew the knockdown changed everything. He has long arms but didn’t put them to as good use as he could have,” said Davis. “He took the fight on 10 days notice, but was in training,” said his father and trainer Adrian Davis. It was brought to my attention by John DiSanto (Philly Boxing History) that the elder Davis’ former record was very similar (21-19-2) to Smith’s. “I was willing to come to Philly so maybe Smith will return the favor by coming to DC for a rematch,” added the younger Davis. On the front belt of his trunks reads Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” Ring announcer Larry Tornambe announced “split decision” with Alan Rubenstein scoring it 77-74 Davis, but being out voted 77-74 by Steve Weisfeld and George Hill.

The return of Philly’s Eric “Outlaw” Hunter, 10-1 (4), after a 13 month absence, showed no ring rust as he had his way with Wilshaun Boxley, 5-2 (3), of Coon Rapids, MN, from the 2nd round on. Hunter, who punches with “mean intentions” switched to southpaw in the 3rd round and never missed a beat. In the 5th round a left hook had Boxley out on his feet at the halfway point of the round. In the 6th and final round of this featherweight fight Boxley suffered a cut on the outside of his right eyebrow. Dewey LaRosa had it 60-54 while Weisfeld and Rubenstein scored it 60-53 all in favor of Hunter.

Belinda Laracuente, 24-25-3 (9), New York/PR and Lakeysha Williams, 9-15-3 (1), gave the fans plenty to yell about in a 4 round super featherweight match. Laracuente had a 4 ½ pound weight advantage and it seemed to give her an edge with scores of 40-36 (2x) and 39-37. It’s hard to understand how the winner has so many losses on her record but she is probably a victim of on the road hometown losses. Well, she was treated fairly in Philly.

“Madman” Dan Grafton, 1-0 (1), Wallingford, made his awaited debut a success by halting southpaw Patrick Johnson, 0-2 (0), of Kokomo, IND, at 2:25 of the 4th and final round in this heavyweight match. Johnson had Grafton’s nose bleeding and a welt under his right eye in the 1st round. In the 2nd round Grafton came back with a swarming amount of punches that had Johnson against the ropes and on defense the rest of the way, as cut-man Joey “I” stopped any bleeding. Referee Shawn Clark rescued Johnson from any more punishment. Grafton had quite a large following in his first fight out.

In the opener Natalie Brown, 5-2 (3), of Mississagua, Ontario, came up short against southpaw Rachel Clark, 3-2-1 (2), by a majority decision in this 4 round welterweight match-up. Judge’s Hill and LaRosa saw it 39-37 while Rubenstein declared it a 38-38 draw as did this writer.

All in all it was a great night of entertainment at a new venue for Philly fans put on by Bionic Bull Promotions with Renee Aiken, as matchmaker. It was announced that on November 13th at the Tri-State Sport Complex, in near-by Aston PA GG champion Paul Koon, of South Philly, will make his debut. Also on the card will be another GG (state) champion, Pedro Martinez, 5-2 (3), who fought a spirited 3 round exhibition tonight with Ron Boddie. Martinez also has Sloan Harrison has his new trainer and looked sharp the entire way. His original opponent took another fight a week ago and the replacement failed to show. All who turned out seemed to be quite pleased with the 39 rounds of scheduled boxing!

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Ken at: kenhissner@yahoo.com