By John DiSanto at ringside
Photos: Daryl Cobb
In the main event at the 2300 Arena, North Philly junior lightweight Avery Sparrow, 8-1, 3 KOs, outworked Canadian Joey LaViolette, 6-1, 4 KOs, and took the eight round decision by majority verdict. LaViolette was aggressive at times and appeared to have some power, but despite the one even score, he never threw or landed enough to construct anything resembling a victory.
On the other hand, Sparrow, quicker and busier, boxed well and plugged along to the finish line, putting six of the eight rounds in his column, on my card. The official scores were 80-72, 79-73 and that puzzling 76-76.
In the walkout bout, middleweight southpaw Omar Kabary Salem, 1-0, made a successful debut against North Philly’s Leon DeShields, 0-1. Salem scored a knockdown in the second, and went on to win a unanimous decision by three scores of 40-35.
The show was promoted by Peltz Boxing, BAM Boxing, Joe Hand Promotions and Raging Babe.
In a North Philly crossroads fight, Isiah Wise, 6-1, 3 KOs, defeated fellow-up towner Fred Jenkins Jr., 10-5, 3 KOs, by entertaining but one-sided unanimous decision. Wise floored Jenkins twice in the first, but the well-schooled fighter survived the storm. However, the aging Jenkins felt every punch that Wise threw for the rest of the night. There were several two-way exchanges, but each time, Wise punctuated his rally with a hurtful blow that kept him way ahead on the cards. After six rounds, Wise took the decision by scores of 60-52, 59-53 and 57-55.
In a sloppy lightweight four-rounder, Vinnie DeNierio, 2-2, Elmira, NY, won a majority decision over West Philadelphian Jae Ho Kim, 6-5-1, 2 KOs. The scores were 38-38, and 40-36 & 39-37 for DeNierio.
The judges finally got some work in the sixth bout of the night. After six full rounds, NJ junior welterweight Julian Rodriguez, 16-0, 10 KOs, remained undefeated with a unanimous decision over Mexican Dario Ferman, 14-3, 11 KOs. All three judges scored the fight 59-55, in favor of Rodriguez.
Baby-faced southpaw Victor Padilla, 4-0, 4 KOs, Vieques, PR, made short work of San Juan’s Javier Garcia, 8-16-2, 3 KOs, in another quickie at the 2300 Arena. Padilla controlled the first round before clobbering Garcia with an overhand left that landed as the bell to end the round sounded. Garcia crashed to the deck, and referee Ronald Bashir waved the fight over. The time was 3:00 of round one.
It took North Philly junior welterweight Marcel Rivers, 3-0, 2 KOs, almost four rounds to land a telling shot on wily old pro Osnel Charles, 11-18-1, 1 KO, but when he did, he made it count. Rivers nailed Charles with an explosive right hand as the closer-than-expected bout wound down, and scored a picture-perfect knockout at 1:41 of the fourth and final round.
Germantown junior middleweight Elijah Vines, 5-0, 5 KOs, kept the quick kayos coming, with a stoppage of Ishmael Altman, 0-1-1, Arapahoe, NC, at the end of round one (3:00). Vines dropped his opponent twice before the bout was stopped in the corner, prior to the start of the second.
The ten-bout card at the 2300 Arena in South Philly started with two quick knockouts.
First, Shirley, NY middleweight, LeShawn Rodriguez, 6-0, 5 KOs, blasted out Floridian Fadoul Louis, 3-4-2, 1 KO, with a left-right combination at 2:02 of round one.
Then, super middleweight Brandon Robinson, 6-1, 5 KOs, Upper Darby, PA, dropped Brandon Clark, 2-1, 1 KO, Columbus, OH, twice in the opening round, and scored a TKO AT 2:07.
