By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

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In a battle for the WBO InterContinental light heavyweight championship, Richard Vansiclen went up against Juan Carrillo over 10 scheduled rounds. Carrillo came out confidently stalking Vansiclen, throwing single pot shots, often catching Vansiclen. Coming out for round two, Vansiclen already had a mouse under his right eye. Early in round three Carrillo landed two right hooks to the temple of Vansiclen, dropping him near a neutral corner. Vansiclen rose and continued the round on his bicycle. In round 4, Carrillo hurt Vansiclen again and moved in for the kill, albeit a little bit recklessly. Despite looking like he was ready to drop, Vansiclen countered and hurt Carrillo, dropping him with the follow-up combination! Vansiclen seemed immediately buoyed by this turn of events and had a look of confidence on his face to end round four. The two southpaws battled on even terms through round six. It was give and take over the last four rounds, with Vansiclen seeming to take the 10th round more seriously. Whenever he landed a good shot, Carrillo would mug and shake his head “no,” often talking to his own cornermen during the action. The final tallies were close: 94-94 in 95-93 twice for Juan Carrillo who picked up the WBO intercontinental light heavyweight strap and moves to 11-0, 8 KOs. Vansiclen suffers his first setback at 13-1-1, 6 KOs.

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In the first televised bout of the evening Australia’s Clay Waterman took on Kenmon Evans of New Smyrna Beach, FL in a scheduled eight round light heavyweight battle of undefeateds. The first two rounds were a cat and mouse affair as the extremely rangy Evans used his jab and lateral movement to try and pot shot the very squat built Waterman who was looking to unload. It wasn’t until the 3rd when Waterman caught Evans in the corner and landed some telling blows, drawing a vociferous reaction from the crowd. The pattern continued with Waterman stalking and Evans retreating off the jab. The telling blows were almost always landed by Waterman as Evans slowed noticeably. In the end it was a unanimous decision by scores of 77-75 and 78-74 twice all for Waterman who now moves to 11-0, 8 KOs. Evans loses his first to slip to 10-1-1, 3 KOs.

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Welterweight contender Mykquan Williams faced off with Brazil’s Paolo Cesar Galdino in a scheduled eight rounder. As early as the second round, the right side of Williams’ face began to support red abrasions from the cheekbone up to the forehead. Galdino, well the slower seemingly less skilled fighter, was nonetheless a juggernaut. He was undeterred by Williams’ counters, but made up for it in volume and non-stop aggression. As the rounds wore on, the question would be: would it be Williams’ head snapping one punch shots for Galdino’s voluminous output that would win the day? In the end, neither would prevail as one judge had it 77-75 for Williams while the other two judges saw it 76-76 for a majority draw! Williams now moves to 19-0-2, 8KOs, while Galdino holds at an unlucky 12-7-2, 8KOS.

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Local boy Bryce Mills went up against Jonathan De Pina in a scheduled six round super lightweight go. Mills went on the tactical attack right from the get-go. In a first time ever for this writer, as referee Mark Nelson separated the two fighters from a clinch, Mills signaled to him that his mouthpiece was upside down, and Nelson quickly reversed it! The pace slowed if only just a tad in the third, but Mills maintained a come forward, tactical offense while De Pina opted for counters. Early in round 4, De Pina sprung a leak from his right eye the blood dripping down to his right shoulder. While the pace couldn’t maintain the last three rounds, pattern was the same: Mills coming forward making the fight and De Pina looking for the home run counter. But it was not to be as Mills won a lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 59-55 and 60-54 twice. Mills now moves to 12-1, 4KOs while De Pina slips to 12-2, 5 KOs.

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Former world title challenger Maciej Sulecki took on Angel Hernandez in a scheduled eight round super middleweight tilt. This was Sulecki’s first fight in 18 months. Hernandez came out like a bull, trying to engage Sulecki in rough house tactics. Sulecki used his formidable skills in managing the rushes of Hernandez. With 10 seconds to go in round one, Hernandez was wobbled, but managed to weather the storm. It wasn’t for long though, as another right to the temple in round two dropped him flat on his back. He only managed to get to a sitting position where he took the full count of referee Benjy Esteves, at 0:16 of the second round. Sulecki moves to 31-2, 12 KOs, while Hernandez falls to 19-22-1, 14 KOs.

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Fellow undefeated prospects Moses Johnson and Walter Burns went at it in a scheduled six round heavyweight clash. Within seconds, Johnson was on the canvas courtesy of a Burns barrage in his own corner. He didn’t seem to be hurt and tried to take the play away from Burns when action resumed. Little over a minute in, Johnson was down again courtesy of a right hand to the temple. This time he was badly hurt but told referee Mark Nelson that he wanted to continue. It didn’t take Burns long to turn the trick again and Johnson was down and defeated via TKO at 1:57 of the opening stanza. Walter “Third Degree” Burns is now 7-0, 5 KOs. Johnson drops his first to go to 9-0-2, 7 KOs.

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Fabio Rodriguez and Robert Hernandez both made their pro debuts against each other in the opening bout of the Salita Promotions ShoBox card during Hall of Fame weekend in nearby Verona, New York. In a sloppy, lumbering affair, Rodriguez came away with a 39-37 unanimous win to go to 1-0 while Hernandez starts out at 0-1.

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