By John DiSanto at ringside
Photos: Darryl Cobb Jr.

After a slow start, which included a fourth round trip to the canvas, North Philly’s Bryant Jennings, 24-2, 14 KOs, battled back to stop Hamburg-based Alexander Dimitrenko, 41-4, 26 KOs, in round nine of the main event at the Ocean Resort Casino.

The knockdown seemed to shift Jennings into high gear. Beginning in round five, Jennings took control of the bout and eventually wore down his giant opponent. Dimitrenko began to lose steam as Jennings surged in the middle rounds. In the eighth, Jennings floored Dimitrenko twice, first with a sweeping left hook and then again with an extended combination. Dimitrenko survived the round, but Jennings went back to work in the ninth. A violent right uppercut stunned Dimitrenko before another uppercut, moments later, sent Alexander to the canvas again. The moment Dimitrenko went down, referee Allen Huggins stopped the fight, despite the fact that Dimitrenko was getting up. The time was 1:56 of round nine. The victory earned Jennings both the NABO and the IBF-International regional tithe belts.

In a scheduled 10-round super middleweight fight, North Philly’s Jesse Hart, 25-1, 21 KOs, dropped Tacoma’s Mike Gavronski twice in round three and scored a TKO at 52 seconds of the same round. Hart used right hands to score both knockdowns and retained his NABF title with the win. Gavronski, 24-3-1, 15 KOs, got up both times but wobbled badly as referee Eric Dali checked him over after the second knockdown, prompting him to stop it.

2016 Olympian Shakur Stevenson, Newark, NJ, improved his record to 8-0, 4 KOs, with a dull but one-sided unanimous 8-round decision over Mexican Carlos Ruiz, 16-5-2, 6 KOs. All three scores were 80-72.

South Philly’s Christian Carto remained undefeated (16-0, 11 KOs) with an 8-round unanimous decision over tough Javier Gallo of Tijuana, Mexico (25-16-1, 13 KOs). This was Carto’s fifth win on points after the 11 bout knockout streak that opened his career. The official scores were 80-71, 80-72, and 79-73.

In an 8-round junior middleweight fight, Thomas LaManna, Millville, NJ, 26-2-1, 9 KOs, beat Matthew Strode of Marion, SC, 25-7, 9 KOs, by unanimous decision. All three official scores were 79-71.

Allentown, PA lightweight Joseph Adorno, 9-0, 9 KOs, scored another quick stoppage, this time against Agustine Mauras, Lawrence, MA, 6-5-3, 3 KOs, in a scheduled six rounder. Adorno stunned Mauras with a pair of left hooks, knocked him down with a right, and then stopped him moments later. The time was 1:39. The referee was Ronald Bashir.

In the opening bout at the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, heavyweight Oleksandr Teslenko, 14-0, 11 KOs, won by unanimous decision over Avery Gibson, 9-9-4, 3 KOs, in their 8-rounder. Teslenko scores a knockdown in the first round and won by scores of 60-54, 59-54, and 58-55.