By Jason Marchetti at ringside
In the main event of the evening, Anthony Marsella, Jr. (11-0, 5 KO’s) peppered Mexican Jorge Rodriguez (10-4, 10 KO’s) into submission after three short rounds. The card was promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s CES Boxing at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI.
Marsella cut off the ring, established his jab, and landed his signature quick combinations on Rodriguez who claimed he tore his bicep during the bout. Rodriguez hung tough for a few rounds but was totally outclassed and overmatched by Marsella’s pedigree. Marsella earned the vacant local IBA Americas Junior Welterweight Championship with the victory.
Heavyweight Juiseppe Cusumano (17-2, 14 KO’s) destroyed Michael Marrone (21-10, 15 KO’s) in the 1st round. Cusamano smothered Marrone with punches and Marrone fell to the canvas immediately. Marrone beat the count, only to visit the canvas again in another few seconds, as the taller, stronger Cusamano set up a finishing right hand.
Amanda Pavone (6-0, 2 KO’s) earned a unanimous decision over Karen Dulin (3-16, 1 KO) in a 6 round bout at bantamweight. All judges scored the bout 60-54.
Kendrick Ball, Jr. improved his record to (11-1-2, 8 KO’s) after he completely annihalated and TKO’d Zain Shah (6-4, 3 KO’s) in the 4th round. Ball, Jr. controlled the contest from the opening bell, but most notably rocked Shah with heavy, wide, hooks in the 3rd. Ball, Jr. cut off the ring in the 4th, and once the referee deducted a point from Shah for excessive holding, Ball, Jr. finished his opponent in exciting fashion. The ref rightfully stopped the bout in the 4th.
Cido Hoff (2-2-1) impressively defeated Davon Shelton (1-1) in an exciting 4 rounder at 140 lbs. The fight was an even back-and-forth affair for the first three rounds. Hoff scored on the inside with a short right hand upstairs. Shelton, when keeping his distance, proved a dangerous left hook. However early in the 4th, Hoff dropped Shelton with a solid combination ending with a left hand. In case any of the judges had it close, and with both fighters landing heavy shots, Hoff dropped Shelton again with seconds left in the fight. The final scores were 39-35, 40-34, and 37-36.
Nicholas Briggs (2-0, 2 KO’s) knocked down Stacy Anderson (0-3) at the end of each of the first three rounds in which Anderson was saved by the bell. In the 4th, Briggs finally caught Anderson who was literally running around the ring after each exchange. Anderson, another MMA fighter, was officially stopped in the 4th despite hitting the canvas 4 times earlier in the bout.
Ethasor Akpejiori (2-0, 2 KO’s) TKO’d James Advencola (0-1) in a brief bout at heavyweight. After only a few exchanges the TKO was awarded to Akpejiori after Advencola twisted his knee and could not continue. The bout was stopped at only 40 seconds into the fight.
In the second bout of the evening at jr. middleweight, Victor Reynoso (2-0, 2 KO’s) dropped Carlos Galindo (1-7) four times in the bout, earning himself a TKO victory in the 2nd round. Reynoso attacked the body and softened his opponent until he went upstairs and finished the job on his lesser skilled opponent from MMA. Both Reynoso and Powell train in Providence with trainer and former Olympian, Jason ‘Big Six’ Estrada.
Lamont Powell (2-0, 1 KO) opened the evening with a 1st round stoppage over Marcos Rosa (0-1) at jr. middleweight. Powell dropped Rosa with his first combination of the night which ending with an overhand right hand. Rosa got off the canvas for a few more moments until Powell ended the bout for good with another combination to the body.