By John DiSanto at ringside
In the main event, Baltimore welterweight Malik Hawkins, 13-0, 9 KOs, won a competitive ten round decision over Philly’s Raymond Serrano, 24-5, 10 KOs on Friday night at The Fillmore in Philadelphia. Serrano surged in the middle rounds and kept others rather close, but Hawkins kept his lead until the final bell. The scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94.
In a heavyweight contest, Darmani Rock, Philadelphia, 11-0, 7 KOs, knocked out Austin’s Ronny Hale, 4-12, 4 KOs, at 1:07 of round two. After chasing Hale for a round, Rock trapped his opponent in the red corner and finished the fight with a pair of body shots and an extra right to Hale’s head as he folded to the floor. Referee Ron Bashir counted Hale out as he struggled to get up.
In a four round lightweight bout, Philly’s Branden Pizarro, 9-1, 4 KOs, bounced back from his first pro defeat with a shutout decision win against San Diego based Mexican Pablo Cupul, 9-24, 5 KOs. All three official scores were 40-36.
In a quick junior welterweight fight, Philadelphian Samuel Teah, 13-2-1, 6 KOs, won by TKO in the first round over Orlando Rizo of Nicaragua, 19-13, 11 KOs. Clearly Rizo was in no mood to fight, for each time Teah came in punching, Rizo found a reason to go down, whether a significant punch landed or not. He made four trips to the canvas overall. The first time, referee Ron Bashir, ruled it a slip. However, the next three were called knockdowns after grazing shots found the visitor. Finally the fight was stopped after just 2:33.
In an entertaining punch out, Philly lightweight Jeremy Cuevas, 8-0, 6 KOs, came off the floor in round two to beat Efrain Cruz, of Puerto Rico, 4-5-1, 1 KO, over six exciting rounds. Both fighters landed throughout the fight, but Cuevas had the edge most of the way. Cuevas showed a good chin, and Cruz definitely came to fight. After six, all three judges had the bout scored 59-55.
In a free-swinging super middleweight fight, Ronald Ellis, Lynn, MA, remained unbeaten, 15-0-2, 10 KOs, with a wide-margin unanimous decision over Philly’s Taneal Goyco, 9-11-1, 4 KOs. Goyco, often a spoiler against rising prospects with good-looking records, could not pull another upset on this night. Ellis dominated the action, hurting Goyco in round one and scoring a knockdown in the fourth. Goyco remained dangerous, tossing occasional bombs, but just couldn’t get anything going in the fight. The scores were 59-54 and 60-53 twice.
In a six round featherweight, New Haven southpaw Tramaine Williams, 15-0, 5 KOs, pounded out a comfortable unanimous decision over Mexican Antonio Rodriguez, 12-21-1, 5 KO. The official scores were 60-53, 59-55, and 58-56.
In the opening bout, middleweight Joey Alday, Odessa, TX, 7-0, 7 KOs, dropped Smyrna, DE’s Mike Crain, 1-2, once in round two and once again in round three, en route to a third round TKO. When Crain rose from the body punch that put him down in the third, referee Shawn Clark stopped the fight. The time was 1:28 of the third.