Report/Photos by Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

Former undefeated NABF cruiserweight champ Alante Green moved up to test the heavyweight waters against fellow undefeated true heavyweight George Arias in a scheduled 8 rounder. It was a difficult bout to score with it being a tale of two fights: one a track meet with Arias backpedaling and Green in tactical pursuit and the other fight- a case of phone booth warfare along the ropes. It depended on what the judges were looking for, but neither man was marked, cut, or hurt at any time in the bout. In the end, Don Trella saw it 77-75 for Green, while both Tom Schreck (78-74) and Eric Marlinski (77-75) had it for Arias, who remains undefeated at 18-0, 7 KOs, while Green loses his first at 10-1-1, 7 KOs. Green did himself no shame but might choose to return to cruiser.

Opening the ShoBox telecast were undefeated lightweights Chann Thonson of Brossard, Quebec, Canada and Tyler Tomlin of Cheatham County, TN. It was a fast paced, highly skilled match right from the get-go. For the first two-and-a-half rounds it appeared there was little separating the two. Thonson started to connect with hard shots late in round three, causing some blood from the nose of Tomlin. In round four, blood from the mouth, nose and left eye brow were now flowing freely from Tomlin’s face. Thonson went for the kill but couldn’t achieve it in round four. Between rounds, the ring physician checked the damage and allowed the action to continue. Thonson kept up the brutal attack, unable to drop Tomlin but further punished him, blood flying everywhere in and out of the ring. Another doctor’s check proved to be the end of Tomlin, the time being 1:01 of the fifth round. Thonson improves to 11-0, 8 KOs while Tomlin suffers his first defeat at 13-1, 9 KOs.

Heavyweights Amron Sands and Joe Jones met in a 8 round match-up that, for the first 5 rounds, was more a game of cat & mouse. The much smaller Jones, (by 72 lbs!) was fleet of foot, offering pitty-pat jabs and avoiding most of Sands’ offense. In the sixth, Jones complained of a low blow, but referee Benjy Esteves wasn’t buying it, allowing Sands to pound away and bring the crowd to its feet. Somewhat gassed, Sands seemed to let his foot off the pedal in the seventh with Jones possibly stealing it via several head snapping rights. Sands got his second wind in the eights and finals round, sealing the deal with a unanimous 77-75 win. Sands is now 12-2, 9 KOs while Jones falls to a hard luck 13-5, 10 KOs. Jones might consider a move to cruiserweight.

New Haven, CT resident Charles Foster doled out a systematic beating over four tortuous rounds to Carney, OK dweller Bo Gibbs, Jr. of a scheduled 8 round light heavyweight tussle. Gibbs went down late in round one courtesy of a Foster left cross. Gibbs proved durable if not smart in taking punishment as he tried in vain to mount his own offense. In the fourth, Gibbs’ mouthpiece went flying, (seems to be a theme up to this point of the night) and he sustained more punishment from Foster’s follow up. As referee Fitch called time to replace the guard, Gibbs’ legs did a dance, bringing the crowd alive and causing an Oneida Nation inspector to hop up onto the apron to notify Fitch who was fetching the mouth piece. The bout was called off at 2:48 of the round. Foster moves to 21-0, 11 KOs while Gibbs dips to 23-3, 9 KOs.

2020 US Olympic Bronze medalist O’Shae Jones made her pro debut against Sonya Dreiling in an exciting female welterweight clash. Dreiling hung tough but was bleeding from the nose by the end of the first round. At the end of the second, her mouth piece was sent flying. In round four, ditto as Jones connected hard with several head shots. It was more of the same for the remainder of the bout, but neither could seriously dent the other. Scores were 60-54 across the board all for Jones, now 1-0, while Dreiling goes to 4-3, 2 KOs.

In the opening bout taking place during the IBHOF Trilogy induction weekend, Nicolas Tejada Made relatively short work of Syracuse’s Mike Taylor Welterweights. Debutant Tejada mixed head and body shots to finally knock Taylor’s mouth peace out and force him to turn his back in his own corner. Referee Charlie Fitch stepped in to save Taylor at 2:11 of the second stanza. Tejada is now 1-0, 1 KO while Taylor slides to 0-4.