Report/Photos: Boxing Bob Newman
Bryant Pappas’ Valid Boxing LLC put on an entertaining card at the Berkeley Recreation Center in Martinsburg, WV Saturday night. Seven pro and one amateur bouts thrilled the fans, with several Mountaineer boxers on the card. Kudos to matchmaer Brian Dillon as there were upsets, close calls and thrilling KOs, something to satisfy every boxing fan’s palate.
Super welter Christopher Trae “Lights Out” Stout, Frametown, WV, locked horns with Seattle, WA born Izaiah “Ice-T” Vargas in the main event.
It was apparent early on that Stout is a student of the game, utilizing the fundamental left-right combos to head and body, countering, good head movement, the works. In each of the first two rounds, it appeared Stout had Vargas ready to go, but couldn’t finish him. Vargas rallied in the third to avoid his previous troubles along the ropes. Finally, in the fourth, a prolonged, non-stop barrage in Vargas’ own corner promted the ref to stop matters at 1:12 of the final round. Stout goes to 3-1, 2 KOs, while Vargas plummets to 1-8, 1 KO.
In the opening bout, a scheduled 4-round middleweight clash where “someone’s ‘0’ had to go,” Kevin Spraags, Phoenix, AZ, took on Jeremy Melvin, Wilson, NC. In this case, the ‘0’ referred to the win column, as both combatants entered the fight with identical 0-2 records! Barring a draw, one of them would erase their dreaded ‘0’ and move into the win column. After a very awkward feel-em-out two-and-a-half minutes, Spraags laid Melvin out with a hard right flush to the chin for the count. Time was 2:48 of the opening stanza. Spraggs is now 1-2, 1 KO, while Melvin goes to 0-3.
Super middle Daniel Castro, New York, took on Raekwon Williams, Ahoskie, NC in a scheduled 4-rounder. The much shorter Castro stalked the lanky Williams around the ring until he caught his foe with a barrage in his own corner, finally landing a crushing right to the ribs. Williams dropped to all fours and took the full ten count, ending the abbreviated affair at 1:31 of the first round. Castro is now 4-2, 3 KOs, while Williams falls to 1-4, 1 KO.
Super lightweights Marcos Suarez, Bronx, NY and Wesley “Horse” Rivers, Dearbon, MI, went at it in a scheduled 4-rounder. There was an edge cominginto this bout as Rivers riled Suarez at the weigh-ins, patting him on the head like a little boy and threatening Suarez to drop the extra 0.6 pounds he was over the limit (which never happened). This was a higly skilled and competitive bout, Rivers ever pressing forward with hard jabs while Suarez looked to counter with his own hard rights. It was a case of Rivers coming forward, throwing and seeming to land more, while Suarez landed the harder, if not fewer shots. By the end of the four rounds, Suarez’ face showed the effects of Rivers’ voluminous work rate. All three judges saw it the same, 40-36 for Rivers, who now moves to 4-3, while Suarez drops his first, to dip to 6-1-2, 2 KOs.
Super bantam Emanuel Lee, Yonkers, NY. made his pro debut look easy against, Ft. Lauderdale’s Kenneth Sabino. Lee stalked and dominated Sabino with beautiful, fast combinations from the outset. Finally, a viscious right hook the the body dropped the tough-as-nails Sabino for a 9 count. A followup hook to the temple dropped him again, promting the ref to halt matters at 2:04 of the second. The promising Lee starts out at 1-0, 1 KO, while Sabino drops to 0-4.
Fellow Mountaineers and amateur heavies John Fox and Hearl Collins rumbled and lumbered over 3×2-minute rounds. Fox was cut at the corner of his right eye in round two. Both men had their moments in this one, with hard head shots and good work to each other’s ample bodies! In the end, the scores read 30-27 twice and 29-28, all for Collins, now 2-0, 1 KO as an amateur, Fox loses his first amateur fight.
Taylor Bohrer, Cumberland, VA and KeynanWilliams, Winchester, VA squared off in a 4 round cruiserweight go. A hard left from the southpaw Bohrer dropped Williams to the seat of his pants in the first, but he survived, if barely. Incredibly, Williams used his unorthodox style to catch Bohrer with shots that were as wild as his own blue colored hair. Bohrer was hurt with body shots in the fourth round, but rallied the buckle Williams’ knees, both men were spent at the final bell. The judges were split- seeing it 38-37 for Williams and 39-36 twice for Bohrer, who moves to 2-0, 1 KO. Williams remains unlucky and winless at 0-6.
Fairfax, VA super lightweight Nick Papanicolas went at it against North Carolinian Vonshetha Miller in a scheduled four. Both novices looked just that, flailing wildly and fanning the crowd with their misses. Adding to the awkwardness was Miller’s southpaw stance. Papanicolas’ lefts were effective, but his right was more a slap than anything else. Miller’s wildness paid dividends in the third as he caught Papanicolas with a long, hard left cross, dropping him in the opposing corner. He beat the count unsteadily and was driven to his own corner where he absorbed four more alternating lefts and rights, prompting the ref to step in and save him from further punishment. Miller wins his first at 1-1, 1 KO, while Papanicolas drops his pro debut, 0-1.
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