Story and Photos by Bob Ryder
Promoters Kenny D. Moore and Tuong Vi Tran (Second 2 None Promotions) returned to DeCarlo’s Convention Center in the Detroit suburb of Warren with a solid card of pro boxing Friday night. Matchmakers for the night were Moore and Carlos Llinas. Plagued by fallouts and poor attendance in their initial outing this past April, the promoters attracted a near capacity crowd this time as they presented eight bouts headlined by Detroit’s Domonique Dolton. Dolton, making his second hometown appearance after taking some time off after his only professional loss, was impressive in walking through and knocking out Nicaragua’s Sergio Gomez.
Earlier this month Dolton did not impress in winning a decision on the Shields-Adler undercard as he struggled to land anything effective. This night he was much sharper, dominating the first round and scoring a knockdown over Gomez. The second round started off the same with Dolton scoring a knockdown early. Gomez arose but after feeling the pressure backed into his own corner where he took a knee to be counted out by referee Ansel Stewart at 1:10 of the round. Super welter Dolton is now (19-1-1, 10 KOs) while Gomez dips to (20-23, 16 KOs). Dolton was happy to be fighting at home again, “I’m going back to my roots, I started as an amateur at Kronk and I want to continue to fight here in the future. This was only my second fight with trainer Johnathon Banks and things are coming together. I just needed to work off the rust and stay active.”
The semi-main event turned out to be the fight of the night as two undefeated out of town super welterweights banged away for the six round duration. Chicago’s Vernon Brown (7-0, 6 KOs) won the unanimous decision over Toledo’s Angelo Snow (6-1, 5 KOs) by scores of 60-53 x 3 but it was a good fight. Brown set the tone in the first round for what would be the pattern for the contest as he aggressively pursued Snow. Despite the pleas of his fans and his corner, Snow attempted to fight off the ropes and counter and in the second round he paid the price for his tactics. Near the end of the round he was caught with a booming right hand and was dropped for the knockdown. Very badly hurt and stunned he managed to get to his feet and was saved by the bell ending the round. Showing tremendous heart and resiliency he survived a rocky third round. Brown however kept up his attack, landing hard body blows throughout the fourth and fifth rounds. Snow bleeding from the mouth in the fifth never stopped trying but could not hold the ever aggressive Brown off despite landing an occasional hard counter punch. Brown seemed to step off the gas a bit in the final round as he coasted to victory.
The night’s other six round contest also went the distance as Saginaw’s Ernesto Garza (9-2, 5 KOs) won by decision over Uganda’s Edward Kakembo (10-4, 3 KOs) by scores of 59-54 x 2 and 58-55 in a battle of featherweights. Garza was the aggressor throughout and although Kakembo was able to land some solid counters and moved well, too much holding did not help his cause. After several warnings, referee Stewart deducted a point from Kakembo in the fourth that aided Garza in scoring the win. After the fight Garza told Fightnews.com that he had hurt his leg in the third round, the calf injury hindering his ability to end it early.
The rest of the undercard featured all four rounders. Cruiserweight Taylor Grey Duerr stayed unbeaten at (4-0-1, 4 KOs) with a TKO 4 at 1:48 over Eric Moon (3-13, 0 KOs). Duerr had to work for this one as Moon had him missing and taking an occasional shot. Moon was winning the third round until suffering a knockdown that started the end for him. Three knockdowns in the fourth by Duerr sealed the TKO victory. Duerr hails from Owosso, Moon from Hazel Park.
In a female bout, Fremont, Ohio’s Alycia Baumgardner scored a ridiculously easy TKO 1 at :36 over Wilson, North Carolina’s Brittney Artis. Artis making her pro debut, looked as if this may have been the first time she ever had laced up gloves. After taking a jab in the face from Baumgardner, Artis bent over in her own corner and after telling referee Stewart “I think she broke my f*****g nose” called it a day. Baumgardner (4-0, 4 KO’s) deserves better. Promoters need to find this talented gal a super featherweight who can fight so she can showcase her skills and advance. In a welterweight match up Dearborn’s Gheith Karim used a first round knockdown over Toledo’s Diamond Mitchell to march to a decision by scores of 40-35 x 3. Karim now (2-0, 1 KO), Mitchell still apparently a diamond in the rough now (0-3). Heavyweight Curtis Head knocked down Buddy Tessling in the first and when Tessling did not respond appropriately to referee Stewart after beating the count, the fight was stopped at 1:57. Head hails from Southfield, MI ups his mark to (3-1, 3 KO’s), Tessling from Charelston, West Virginia is now (0-2). In the opening contest of the night lightweight Jalen Stephenson of Detroit made a successful pro debut by stopping Wilson, North Carolina’s Dikeem Robinson (0-2) at 2:38 of the first round. A hard uppercut to the head had Robinson bent over and unable to continue.
