Dhafir “No Fear” Smith Wins in Philly

Dhafir “No Fear” Smith Wins in Philly - Full Boxing Report

By Ken Hissner at ringside, Doghouse Boxing (Jan 30, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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Percy “Buster” Custus of James Shulers Gym presented 5 bouts Saturday night at the First District Plaza in Center City Philadelphia. There was also a “Smokin” Joe Frazier Tribute that his daughter “Sister Smoke” Jacqui Frazier-Lyde accepted an award from 2011 Silver Glove champion Rasheen Brown, 75 lb’s and nephew of Custus.

Light heavyweight Dhafir “No Fear” Smith 25-22-7 (4), of Philadelphia was paired with southpaw Quinton "the Renegade" Rankin, 4-2 (3), of Charlotte, NC, in the main event 6 and ended a 3 fight losing streak since defeating former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy.

In the first round Smith was able to counter Rankin’s missed jabs with counter left hooks and jabs of his own. It was a good opening round. In the second round Smith ended up going to the body near the end of the round with strong combinations. It seemed Rankin was in the “survival mode” in moving if not running from Smith in the third.

In the fourth Rankin landed a left lead to the chin and all of a sudden he was in the fight. After the bell Rankin got one in for good measure and before referee Eddie Cotton got between the fighters Smith landed several punches of his own. Throughout the fight Rankin was spinning Smith trying to catch him off guard. Referee Cotton did little to warn Rankin which caused both fighters to fall to the canvas and Smith several times himself.

In the fifth Smith got back control and seemed to drop Rankin with a left hook to the body. When Cotton hesitated to make a decision on this Smith unleashed another punch while Rankin was on a knee. Cotton could have taken a point away from Smith but instead called it a slip. It was very confusing to the audience and press row. Though not impressive, Smith seemed to have a solid lead going into the sixth and final round.

Neither fighter seemed to want to close the show in a close round. At best Rankin may have won the fourth and sixth. Judge Rich Hopkins, Jr., had it 58-55, while both George Hill and Pierre Benoist had it 59-54 all for the winner Smith. This writer had Smith winning 4 rounds and the sixth even. All in press row had Smith ahead.

Rankin was quite upset and made a bad scene in the dressing room afterwards. He gave away the first half of the fight and should look at the replay before complaining. Smith was disappointed he didn’t have a better showing in front of the home crowd. “I don’t do well with southpaws. I’ll do better next time,” said Smith.

Gym owner and promoter Percy “Buster” Custus in an attempt to showcase some of the boxers from his gym fell short in getting an opponent for former USBA light heavyweight champion Yusaf “Mack Attack” Mack. Mack did do a round each with Prince Badi Ajamu and Frank Walker. Custus named the gym after his long time friend James “Black Gold” Shuler who was a 1980 Olympian though the USA did not enter a team.

Another exhibition produced former IBF junior middleweight champion Buster Drayton against police offer “Sugar Boy” Floyd Richards. Both work at the Veteran’s Hospital in Center City. They gave the fans that showed up to see them some laughs. Drayton still has some of the old moves! Former IBF junior middleweight Rob “Bam Bam” Hines was in Drayton’s corner while the Mitchell twins, Eric and Aaron were in the corner of Floyd.

The show opener had Albanian Skender Halili, 3-0 (3), fighting out of New York stopping Terrell Boggs, 0-4, out of Philly at the end of the second round. Referee Cotton wisely waved it off. Boggs got his licks in at the start but in the second round took too much punishment. Jason Strout is trainer/manager for Halili who was from Dallas, TX. “I’m sorry I didn’t end it in the first,” said Halili. This was a 4 round junior middleweight match.

Kareem McFarland, 1-0 (1), had it easy stopping Joel Nieves, 0-4, of Allentown, PA, at 1:01 of the first round. McFarland never allowed Nieves to land a punch with a strong offense of punches having referee Hurley McCall save Nieves from any more punishment. McFarland had 15 amateur bouts and at 28 felt it was time to turn professional. “I feel good now that it’s over,” said McFarland. His father Caswell, Custus and veteran trainer/cut-man Willie Folks were in the corner for the winner.

Philadelphia southpaw Alex “Macho” Barbosa, 2-0 (1), had a large following as he was in an interesting 4 round super bantamweight bout defeating Luis “The Wolf” Rivera, 0-2, of PR. Barbosa rocked Rivera just before the end of the first round. In the third Barbosa used a good body attack while taking the last round with left uppercuts. All 3 judges had it 40-36. Cotton was the referee. “I have to listen to my trainer more in order to execute what he wants,” said Barbosa. Custus, Folks and Hines were in the corner. Barbosa gave credit to his father David and his brother Jesus who was 4-3-1 ending in 2009. Barbosa is also a graduate of Temple Univ.

In one of the better fights of the night Althea “Lady Thunder” Saunders, 3-0-1 (0), of Atlantic City, NJ, showed her “old school” style in using a good jab, good footwork and a chopping right hand taught to her by veteran trainer Bill Johnson. Her opponent DJ Morrison, 2-12 (2), of Billings, MT, put up a good fight. Watching a female boxer with few pro fights pick-off punches is rare. She had Morrison in trouble with a good right lead body shot at the start of the last round. Benoist and Hill had it 40-35 while Hopkins scored it 40-36. The referee was McCall. This was a junior lightweight 4 rounder.

Former two-time IBF cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham and wife/manager Livvy could not attend due to having left for Germany this past Tuesday. Cunningham trains out of Shuler’s Gym and is seeking to win back the crown that Cuban Yoan Pablo Hernandez won in October on a controversial technical decision in Germany where Hernandez is now a resident. Their bout takes place February 4^th in Frankfurt.

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