Yusaf Mack and Fernando Guerrero win in ESPN2 bouts


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Yusaf Mack and Fernando Guerrero win in ESPN2 bouts

By Ken Hissner at ringside, DoghouseBoxing (Feb 8, 2009)

Prize Fight Boxing returned to the Wicomico Civic Center over the ESPN2 network with two very good fights Friday night. In the main event Philadelphia’s Yusaf Mack 27-2-2 (16) won a hard earned split decision over Houston’s Chris Henry 23-2 (18) for the NABF light heavyweight title over 12 rounds.

Local standout southpaw Fernando Guerrero 13-0 (11) met his toughest opponent to date in winning a hard fought decision over Philadelphia’s Gabriel Rosado 10-3 (6) in a middleweight 8 round bout.

Mack seemed to be the victim throughout the fight while referee Kenny Chavalier’s continuous warnings toward Henry went without a point being taken. Henry was allowed to hit low, head butt and rabbit punch with frequency. Mack was fortunate under these circumstances to gain Henry’s NABF title on two of the scorecards by 116-112 and 115-112 while Henry received a 115-113 on one scorecard. Mack is rated #9 by the WBA while Henry is rated #6 by the WBC. It was Mack’s 4th consecutive win since moving up to the light heavyweights.

The crowd went nuts when Guerrero entered the Center. This former amateur star was about to meet his biggest test. In Rosado’s corner was Naseem Richardson and Billy Briscoe. Richardson is the trainer of Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley who was in Rosado’s corner for the first time since Rosado was in camp with both fighters. Briscoe has been with Rosado out of the 5th & Allegheny Rec Center since day one and also handled the cuts. He kept the swelling down that started midway in the fight keeping the doctor from stopping the fight.

Rosado took the 1st round easily using a straight right effectively. The 2nd round was close but Rosado still seemed to have an edge. In the 3rd round a straight right hand not only dropped Guerrero but seemed to wake him up. He was up in a flash and was firing away at Rosado the rest of the round. This could easily have been scored 10-9 Rosado instead of the usual 10-8 with a knockdown occurring. Rounds 4 through 6 were all Guerrero. His straight left hand couldn’t seem to miss its mark. The 7th round was much closer with Rosado starting to use the left hand more but the round went to Guerrero. The 8th and final round showed the inexperience of Guerrero as he showboated but did little more as Rosado was trying to pull the fight out with a knockout. Rosado simply outworked Guerrero. One judge had it 76-75 while the other two were much more generous with 77-74 scores in favor of the local Guerrero. This writer had the fight even.

To Rosado’s credit the original weight of 154 was changed to 157. At the weigh-in Thursday Rosado came in at 157 give or take a pound while Guerrero was 159. “The officials claimed the scales were off,” said Rosado. Briscoe complained about the weight and was told the scale is off ¼ pound. Guerrero simply removed his trunks and was allowed at that weight. “They told us we are using 8 ounce gloves instead of 10 which favor’s the puncher Guerrero,” said Briscoe. “Anything over 147 you do not use the smaller gloves,” he added. The rounds were changed from 10 to 8 but actually worked in favor of Rosado due to the swelling he received. “I saw the best of Guerrero tonight, but he hasn’t seen the best of Rosado,” said Rosado. These two may meet again somewhere down the line.

Philadelphia’s Farah Ennis 9-0 (4) won his 9th straight defeating Chris Archer 10-6 (6) of Pittsburgh in a 6 round super middleweight bout. Ennis is one of Prize Fight Boxing’s fighters. His dad/trainer Derrick “Bozy” Ennis worked the corner. Archer is scheduled to fight Rasheem Brown 19-3 (15) March 13th in Philadelphia. Brown along with Ennis and his brother Derek “Pooh” 17-2-1 (12) are all co-managed by Moz Gonzalez and Eddie Woods.

Olympic alternate Shawn Porter 5-0 (4) of Akron, Ohio went the distance for the first time winning a decision over Philadelphia’s Cory Jones 4-4 (1) who is trained by Ennis. Porter is another one of Prize Fight Boxing’s fighters.

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Ken at: kenhissner@yahoo.com