Israelis Continue Invasion of Philadelphia’s Blue Horizon!


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Israelis Continue Invasion of Philadelphia’s Blue Horizon!

By Ken Hissner at ringside, DoghouseBoxing (Feb 10, 2009)

Israel’s unbeaten cruiserweight Ran Nakash 17-0 (13) won for the 8th straight time at the Legendary Blue Horizon Friday night stopping Ryan Carrol 7-2 (4) of Delaware, Ohio at 2:06 of the 2nd round of a scheduled 8 round bout.

In the co-feature fellow Israel welterweight Elad Shmouel 19-2 (11) returned to the same ring where in his last fight he suffered his only knockout loss in December of 2007 in Philly’s fight of the year with Lenny DeVictoria. On this occasion he had a much easier foe in front of him in Pittsburgh’s Khristian Geraci 4-6-1 (3) stopping him in 1:23 of the 2nd round of a 6 round bout.

Nakash scored his 8th straight knockout (even wore the number 8 on his Phillies Jersey) after a feeling out 1st round with about 10 seconds to go when he dropped Carrol with a left uppercut during infighting. Even though Carrol got up the fight was taken out of him. In the 2nd round Nakash again dropped Carrol halfway through the round and got to his feet with his hands to his side which most referees recognize as a sign of surrender. Instead referee Steve Smoger let the onslaught continue with Nakash dealing a terrible beating as Carrol lay defenseless against the ropes. With the fans screaming “stop the fight” Smoger finally pulled Nakash off of Carrol. Asked about his future plans Nakas said “I want to be champion.” Nakash entered the ring with a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap and before mentioned jersey while his cornermen waved not only the flag of Israel but the world championship flag of the Phillies. The fans ate it up. Camden’s Max Alexander 14-3-2 (2) who drew with then rated Rob Calloway who is trained by nearby Reading’s Marshall Kauffman or Kauffman’s 38 year old unbeaten Julio Cesar Matthews 6-0 (5) would be interesting opponents next time around for Nakash.

Shmouel started out very defensively while Geraci who comes as game as they are but had no business in the ring that night. Time and again Shmouel hit Geraci with borderline punches until near the end of the 1st round when one went very south of the border while referee Smoger never issued a warning while Geraci pleaded his case. The 2nd round was more of the same with the body shots taking the wind out of Geraci who stayed on his feet before being rescued in the corner by Smoger. “I was getting hit low without warnings and on top of that the body shots took the wind out of me. Besides that I have lost quite a bit of weight before this fight but have no complaint about the stoppage,” said Geraci.

In 6 rounds of non stop inside punching Julias Edmonds 4-3 of Philly and Linwood Hurd 2-1-3 of Atlantic City let it all hang out. The usual style of Hurd is moving more but Edmonds would not let him have any breathing room in this fight. Edmonds coming in at 141 had a 6 pound weight advantage over Hurd and it proved to be too much. Edmonds has won 4 out of 5 at the Blue. The referee was Vic deWysocki. The judges all agreed on the winner 58-56 (twice) and 59-55 all in favor of Edmonds.

The show opener had welterweights in Bethlehem’s Ronald Cruz 2-0 (1) scoring his 2nd win in 3 weeks stopping Adam Duncan 0-1 of West Philly making his debut in 2:52 of the 3rd round. Cruz had Duncan down twice in the 1st round starting with a left hook and then a combination of 6 punches dropping Duncan again. Duncan came out in the 2nd round moving effectively using a jab on Cruz to his credit before an overhand right rocked Duncan causing deWysocki to stop the bout to the disagreement of Duncan. It did seem he was hurt more in the opening round. Trainer Alec Morales and manager Jimmy Deoria have a crowd pleasing fighter in Cruz who trains out of Phoenixville.

In 2 rounds of wild action Marcus Bianconi 2-0 (2) of Houston, fighting out of Gleason’s gym in New York was staggered by Philly’s John Turner 1-1 (1) only to come back and rock Turner with right hands on 2 separate occasions before the round was over. In the 2nd round Bianconi had blood all over the side of Turner’s face from his nose when referee deWysocki called for the doctor with just 1 second left in the round. The fight was allowed to continue but the doctor was called into the corner of Turner who seemed to suffer a possible broken right hand. The doctor had no other recourse but to stop the fight. Official time of stoppage was at the end of round 2. Bianconi looked like a possible prospect while Turner with a little better conditioning will be a crowd pleaser.

A pair of Philly welterweights in a 4 round bout had Ardick Butler, 1-1, who was a novice champion in 2007 before losing his debut in New England on ESPN2 last May returning to action and winning a split decision over Anthony Abrams 1-6 who didn’t seem to be able to pull the trigger enough over the back pedaling Butler who used an effective jab. Abrams got a vote by 39-37 while Butler received votes of 40-36 and 39-38.

Promoter Vernoca Michael presented an award of merit to long time Philly referee Frank Cappuccino who is now retired and serving as a judge in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The matchmaker was the legendary Don Elbaum. The next show this promotion will present will be April 3rd with Chuckie “The Professor” Mussachio 12-0-2 (5) of South Philly now living in Wildwood, New Jersey on the card who was without an opponent for this one. Mussachio is a former two-time NCBA champion at Lock Haven University.

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Ken at: kenhissner@yahoo.com