Garcia decisions Lyimo in Delaware

By Rick Scharmberg and Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside

Ismael “Tito” Garcia (11-0-1, 4 KOs) won a unanimous eight round decision over Fabian “The Bee” Lyimo (23-9-2, 15 KOs) in front of a standing room only crowd at the Hockessin PAL Center in Hockessin, Delaware. In the co-feature, wildly popular decorated war veteran Stefan “The Freak” Talabisco (3-0, 3 KOs) remained unbeaten with a second round KO over Michael Shanks (6-32, 2 KOs) in a heavyweight contest. The big ten-bout card was promoted by Dee Lee Promotions.

Returning to the ring after a two year layoff, Tito Garcia didn’t need much time to shake off the ring rust against the awkward and aggressive Fabian Lyimo. Garcia is a fighter who has the ability to stand in front of you and make you miss with head movement. Lyimo came out of his corner and fired a long left-right that sailed over Garcia’s head. Garcia went on to take the opening round with hard rights to the body and head of Lyimo.

Round two was another good one for Garcia. Always pressing forward, Lyimo was missing most of his punches. Garcia made him miss, and then made him pay by countering with combinations. Garcia countered Lyimo with a left hook, before landing a right uppercut-left hook combination midway through the round. He closed the round with a counter right-left combo.

Round three was close, with Lyimo using his jab and Garcia landing some rights to the body as Lyimo tried to maul him. Looking sharper with each progressing round, Garcia took it to a higher lever in the fourth. He landed another left-uppercut, left hand combination, only with more pop this time. He followed that up with a hard right to the head, and then closed the round by landing a double left hook.

Round five was a better one for Lyimo. He was able to jar Garcia’s mouthpiece out with a left hook, but Garcia pounded Lyimo’s body with lefts, and brought his uppercuts into play. Garcia had the edge in this round based on his landing the harder shots.

Garcia now knew that he could handle anything that Lyimo threw at him, and he began putting more power into his shots. He landed a hard right to open the sixth, and followed up with two clean right uppercuts. Lyimo was able to land a few shots throughout the round, but Garcia landed four hard lead right hands in the final minute. Urged by his trainer to turn up the power, Garcia dominated the final two rounds with a vast assortment of power shots.

The scores were 80-72 and 79-73 (twice) in favor of Ismael “Tito” Garcia.

After the fight, Garcia said, “He was tough. He was awkward. It took me a bit to get my timing down. It didn’t help that I was off a year and a half. It was good to get that eight rounds because it helped me get that rust off. Once I felt he couldn’t hurt me, I was more comfortable putting my punches on him and using my head movement.”

In his last bout, Garcia fought the hard-punching Tyrone Brunson to a split draw, which gave him the only blemish on his record. “I thought I was in front, so I took the final round off because I was cut. I should have just planted my feet and fought the man. We were in his hometown, Philly. I thought I won. Luckily, they didn’t rob me completely. I didn’t get a loss. We tried to get that one back, but couldn’t. Tyrone, if you’re listening, we would love to get that one back. I heard he is the Pennsylvania state champ. If you are interested, we want you. Let’s get it done.”

Talabisco drops Shanks

It takes longer to read Stefan Talabisco’s military and law enforcement accomplishments than it did for him to dispatch his opponent Michael Shanks.

After a brief amateur career, Talabisco joined the Marines and was deployed to Bosnia and Yugoslavia. After retiring from the Marines, Talabisco joined the Delaware Army National Guard and assisted law enforcement with its war on drugs. He is currently a state constable.

Talabisco, a southpaw, went right to the body of his larger opponent. Together, Shanks (289.4) and Talabisco (269.6) topped the scaled at 558 pounds. Talabisco dropped Shanks a minute into the round with a series of lefts to the body. Shanks rose, but was met with two left hands from Talabisco that drove him into the ropes for an official knockdown. Shanks made it out of the round, but wouldn’t get much further.

In round two, Talabisco landed a right to the body followed by three lefts to the head that sent Shanks to the floor, where he took referee Bill Clancey’s ten-count. The time was 1:35.

Baldwin draws with Williams

Schmelle “The Real Deal” Baldwin (3-0-1, 2 KOs) continued her education in the ring against burly, in-your-face powerhouse Kayla “Lady Beast” Williams (0-3) in a four round super middleweight bout. Williams, a late sub, came right out and threw a big flurry of punches to let Baldwin know what she was in for. Williams then shifted her focus to the body.

Baldwin, who improves with every fight, was up to the challenge, and landed countering combinations throughout the opening round. Baldwin took the first round handily, and the second round by a slimmer margin, while Williams continued to invest in a solid body attack.

Williams continued her whirlwind attack to the body, and won the third round with her non-stop punching. While Baldwin appeared to wilt briefly at the end of round three, she sucked it up and came out determined to finish strong.

In the final round, with Williams applying constant pressure, Baldwin began landing right uppercuts. She also landed two three and four punch combinations to trump the body attack of Williams.

The scores were 39-37 for Williams, 39-37 for Baldwin, and even at 38-38.

During the fight, people in the crowd were saying this was the best bout up to that point. Afterwards, Schmelle confirmed that going forward, she will use her jab to discourage pressuring opponents like Kayla Williams from walking in.

Mullins hammers Haggler

Brandon “King Bran” Mullins (4-0, 2 KOs) stopped awkward, wild punching Hassan “Havoc” Haggler (1-3, 1 KO) at 2:16 of the opening round of a scheduled four round super middleweight bout. Haggler came out throwing roundhouse punches with both hands, which momentarily took Mullins by surprise. While Haggler didn’t land anything significant, Mullins decided he wasn’t giving Haggler the opportunity to land a haymaker.

Mullins blitzed Haggler with 20 unanswered shots, pinning Haggler in his own corner. Haggler escaped, but immediately found himself in the same position in Mullins’ corner. Mullins made sure Haggler didn’t get free, and unloaded again. This time, his punches started landing flush, and ref Clancey made a timely stop.

Afterwards, Mullins stated, “He was awkward. We were sparring with top-notch guys, and their punches come from normal angles, but his were not. I wasn’t worried about punching myself out because I do a lot of running, and we really work on my stamina so it would never be a problem.”

Kirkley stops Underwood

Vinnie “Hollywood” Kirkley (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Joshua (Hitman) Underwood (0-1) at :55 seconds of the third round of a scheduled four round lightweight bout. After a close opening round, Kirkley turned it up in round two. He dominated the round and punctuated it with a right-left-left combination at the bell.

Seconds into the second round, Underwood suddenly pulled up lame and stopped fighting. Apparently, his right hamstring cramped up on him and the fight was stopped.

Morris destroys Haneschlager

In a battle of two debuting heavyweights, Jerome Morris (1-0, 1 KO) used his heavy right hand to stop Brian Haneschlager (0-1) at :49 seconds into the opening round of a four round heavyweight contest.

Morris came out and landed an overhand right to Haneschlager’s head. Morris continued landing clean right hands with Haneschlager backed into his own corner. Morris was a punch or two away from ending it, before referee Bill Clancey made an excellent stoppage when he physically stopped Morris from landing the finisher against his defenseless opponent.

Tiberi decisions Borteye

“Jolt’N” Joey Tiberi Jr. (17-3, 9 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Benjamin “J-J” Borteye (4-6, 4 KOs) in an entertaining four round lightweight bout. Tiberi looked sharp in taking the opening round against the hard-punching Borteye. He landed an assortment of shots, while Borteye pressed forward trying to land his money punch, the left hook.

They were cruising along in round two, when the fight broke out. After trading furiously in the opening minute, Tiberi took his attack downstairs to Borteye’s body. With 30 seconds left in the round, the fighters again went toe-to-toe, banging away with Tiberi getting the better of the exchange.

Tiberi opened round three with a big right-left combination. He countered Borteye with a nice right hand, before Borteye landed a nice left hook. Tiberi fired off a nice three-punch combination, before getting caught with a massive left hook while against the ropes. Fortunately, the round ended before Borteye could follow-up.

Tiberi weathered the storm by jabbing and holding to begin the final round. He landed a big right hand that opened a cut along Borteye’s left eye, which required an inspection by the ringside physician. Fully recovered, Tiberi went on the take the round.

The scores were 40-36 (twice) and 39-37 in favor of Tiberi.

Afterwards, Joey said, “He was tough and threw some wild shots. He caught mne with a couple of shots that I shouldn’t have been hit with. One of the things we have been working on in the gym is to keep my composure when I get caught. I did that tonight.”

Gonzalez outpoints Dulin

In a fight that was closer than the score cards indicated, Natalie “Tuffy” Gonzalez (5-0, 1 KO) overcame a slow start to take a unanimous decision over Karen Dulin (3-17, 1 KO) in a four round bantamweight bout.

The first round was close, with Gonzalez landing a nice left hook in the opening minute, and Dulin landing a hard right to close the round. Dulin appeared to round two, as she landed a nice counter right hand early, and a hard right followed by a right-left combination later on.

Gonzalez, a fighter with promise, seemed to be shaking off the effects of a year out of the ring, found her rhythm in round three. She raised her energy level, and began taking it to Dulin’s well-conditioned body. She continued to pound Dulin’s body in the fourth and final round, and bloodied her nose in the process. The fight ended, but Gonzalez looked like she was just warming up.

The scores were 40-36 (twice) and 39-37, all for Gonzalez.

Riley and Smith draw

Justin Riley (0-1-1) and Hakim Smith (1-1-1) fought to a spirited draw in a four round lightweight contest. Smith took the opening round, landing more punches while Riley found his range. The action picked up in round two, as Riley moved forward and pressed the action. There were two extended exchanges during the round, with Smith appearing to getting the better of them.

Smith appeared to be tiring in round three, as Riley landed some hard right hands. Riley continued to box smartly in the fourth round, as Smith slipped to the canvas twice. Smith did bounce back to land
a hard right and a solid left hook at the final bell.

All three judges scored it even at 38-38.

Kasprzak TKOs Anderson

The opening bout of the evening saw Dillin “Dangerous” Kasprzak (1-2-1 KO) got into the win column with a first round stoppage of Mike “Top Notch” Anderson in a scheduled four round light heavyweight bout.

Anderson came out strong and impressively, starting with an overhand right to start the contest. He worked his right to the head and body of Kasprzak. Bleeding from his head, above his left ear and looking much worse for wear, Kasprzak came alive in the second hale of the round.

Kasprzak came up with a debilitating body attack in the final 90 seconds that left Anderson gasping. He retired on his stool and did not come out for round two.

Dee Lee Promotions announced their next show on May 28, at the same venue. Tentatively headlining that card is Hector Camacho Jr.

Ring Announcer: Nino Del Buono
Matchmaker: Nick Tiberi
Referees: Bill Clancey and Vic Dewysocki

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