By Bob Ryder
Promoter/Matchmaker Carlos Llinas had an all Detroit showdown set for his next installment of his Night of Knockouts series inside the MotorCity Casino-Hotel this Friday, June 7 when Taylor Duerr’s opponent James Ballard suffered a leg injury necessitating his withdrawal a couple of weeks back. Fortunately, Llinas was able to secure a more than capable replacement in Pittsburgh’s (by way of Ukraine) Lyubomyr Pinchuk. Duerr (9-0-1, 7 KOs) and Pinchuk (10-1, 7 KOs) will be contesting for the USNBC (World Boxing Council United States) cruiserweight title in the ten round main event.
This will be a severe test for both and could provide some serious fireworks as each has shown knock out power. It’s a step up in competition also in that neither fighter has been in a scheduled ten round contest up to now with Duerr only having been in several six rounders and Pinchuck in several eights. This one may come down to not only who can take a better punch but who will have the conditioning to fight into the later rounds. It’s a solid, intriguing matchup with no clear favorite, usually a recipe for an exciting battle.
In a supporting six round super lightweight bout Frank Martin (8-0, 6 KOs) puts his unblemished record up against Larry Ventus (9-12-1, 4 KOs). Ventus’ record is deceiving and this could be one of the best fights of the night. Ventus had been on a three fight win streak until dropping a majority decision to the hometown fighter in Brooklyn in his last outing. If Ventus comes to fight an upset is possible if Martin is not at the top of his game.
Another six round contest finds heavyweight Rydell Booker (25-2, 12 KOs) returning home after his ShoBox appearance against Jermaine Franklin to take on Florida’s Dieuly Aristilde (9-9, 2KOs). Aristilde has dropped his last five and Booker will most likely extend it to six on Friday night. In the only other six round bout middleweight Darryl Cunningham (41-9, 17 KOs) has a rematch with Raul Casarez (22-9, 10 KOs). Cunningham scored an easy second round stoppage in their first match last October and Casarez is looking to reverse that result this time around.
Six bouts scheduled at four rounds each make up the rest of the ten bout card. Two heavyweight matches find Matthew Price (1-0, 0 KOs) vs Charles Brown (0-1) and Curtis Head (4-3, 3 KOs) taking on Armonte Summers (1-0, 0 KOs). Two cruiserweight contests have Derick Miller Jr making his pro debut against Henry Wright (0-4) and Scott Davis also making his pro debut vs Michael Shipp (1-4, 1 KO). Garrett Ross (1-0, 0 KOs) takes on Andre Murray Jr (0-0) in a super welterweight clash. A female lightweight bout pits Nicole Reinhart making her pro debut against Khadija Sanders (0-4).
Doors for Night of Knockouts XVI Friday, June 7 open at 6:30 PM with the first bout set to go off at 7 PM. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com or at the Sound Board box office inside the MotorCity Casino-Hotel.