By Morrison Brandon at ringside
Photos by Scott Foster
Square Ring Promotions, in conjunction with promoter Dean Toole, hosted “Island Fights 48” at the Civic Center in the historic downtown district of Pensacola, FL this past Saturday. The card featured four-action packed displays of the Sweet Science with 3 of the 4 bouts not going the distance. In the main event, hometown favorite Devin Cushing (8-0, 5 KOs) out of the gym of Roy Jones Jr., faced late substitute Dylan Blakesley, who was making his pro debut.
Cushing was all business, as he relentlessly stalked Blakesley in rounds one and two. Cushing increased the pressure in round three, as he backed Blakesley into the corner and landed a jolting right hook to the body. Cushing continued the assault with a barrage of clean, crisp punches against a defenseless Blakesley, which compelled referee Tommy Kimmons to put an end to the beatdown at 1:53 of the third round.
“I’m not too hot of my performance tonight, I feel like I should have done better,” Cushing said of his performance. “I wasn’t as loose as I wanted to be, and I think that had a lot to do with the switch of opponent at the last minute — other than that I felt good. I was in shape and the hard work displayed itself tonight.”
Also in action, Michael Williams Jr (5-0, 5 KOs) from Fayetteville, NC – also training out of the gym of Roy Jones Jr. – faced off with Justin Ramer out of Atmore, AL in a junior welterweight contest. Ramer – who was making his pro debut – came out strong from the opening bell overwhelming Williams with his attack. Ramer knocked down Williams early in the second. From ringside, Roy Jones Jr. urged Williams to “keep that stick on him” referring the stiff jab of his pupil. Williams followed the advice of his legendary trainer and trapped Ramer against the ropes. Williams utilized his jab to set up a perfectly placed right hand that dropped Ramer late in round. The time of the stoppage came at the 2:57 mark of round two.
Jr middleweight from “Fes” Mohammed Faisal (2-0) from Haddonfield, England – another stablemate with the Roy Jones Jr. gym – had a rematch with Lawrence Purifoy (0-8) of Marion, AR. In their first meeting, Faisal got off the canvas in the opening round to come back strong and win a decision. The rematch wasn’t much different from their first encounter, except for the early flash knockdown of Faisal. “Fes” earned a split decision, with one judge leaning to Purifoy 39-37, while the two judges awarded the victory to Faisal scoring the bout at 39-37.
In the opening bout, Swedish transplant and now-local resident Shady Gamhour (8-0, 7 KOs), trained under Roy Jones Jr., stepped in against Houston, TX native Starr Johnson (6-28) in a middleweight encounter. It didn’t take long for Shady to find his rhythm, as he piled up two knockdowns in the opening frame. Shady floored Johnson twice more in round two, with the second knockdown ending the action at 1:17.
