Yuriorkis Gamboa, Mikey Garcia and Teon Kennedy Remain Unbeaten in Atlantic City!
By Ken Hissner at ringside, Doghouse Boxing (March 27, 2011) Doghouse Boxing
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Mikey Garcia Photo © Chris Farina / Top Rank
WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, 20-0 (16), of Cuba, now living in Miami, FL, easily stopped challenger Jorge Solis, 40-3-2 (29), of Guadalajara, MEX, after scoring 5 knockdowns in 1:31 of the fourth round. Referee David Fields should have stopped this fight much sooner. Solis took a bad beating in the final round.

Gamboa dropped Solis in the second round twice, the third round once and two more times in the fourth and final round. He was chopping down Solis to the back of the head for the final knockdown as Fields looked on. The Solis corner screamed at Fields for the back of the head blows throughout the fight. It would not have made any difference in the end. Solis begged his corner not to stop the fight after the first knockdown in the fourth round. Gamboa was much too fast for him.

Mikey Garcia stopped previously unbeaten Matt Remillard at the end of 10 rounds. Teon Kennedy defended his USBA title defeating previously unbeaten Jorge Diaz in a war. This was a Top Rank/Arena Box promotion at Boardwalk Hall Ballroom in Atlantic City Saturday night. Garcia’s fight was on HBO After dark.

In the semi-windup Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia, 25-0 (21) stopped Matt “Sharpshooter” Remillard, 23-1 (13), of Manchester, CT, winning his NABF and NABO featherweight titles at the end of the tenth round.

In the first several rounds Garcia was painting Remillard’s face red. In the third the pressing Remillard started outlanding Garcia. In the fourth Garcia seemed back in charge in a close round.

In the fifth round Remillard was using an effective jab. Garcia seems very patience. It could be since he has only had 4 fights go the distance he is concerned about going 12 rounds. In the sixth round the action started to pick up. The crowd had been growing impatient after following the Kennedy-Diaz fight.

In the seventh round Garcia became more aggressive as well in the eighth. Just prior to the bell, Garcia hurt Remillard who was holding on at the bell. In the ninth Garcia dropped Remillard. He was up but in trouble. An uppercut dropped him a second time and it looked like it could be stopped. He got up just prior to the bell.

In the tenth round Remillard was dropped and took a terrible beating. Referee Ricardo Vera could have and should have stopped the fight be Remillard got through the round. His corner finally had seen enough and stopped it.

In a 12 round USBA super bantamweight title bout champion Teon “The Technician” Kennedy, 17-0-1 (7), successfully defended his title against Jorge “King” Diaz, 15-1 (9), New Brunswick, NJ, by decision. Pound for Pound Promotions and Peltz Boxing promoted this bout.

It didn’t take long for this anticipated war to get started with Diaz pressing Kennedy with body shots and Kennedy countering with right hands. A clash of heads and referee Steve Smoger was right in there warning Diaz. The round went to Diaz.

In the second round Diaz landed a combination that hurt Kennedy. As Diaz came in to follow-up he was caught with a vicious uppercut from Kennedy. The rest of the round had Diaz landing to the body and head.

In the third round Diaz was landing punch after punch when he got caught with a short left hook from Kennedy and dropped to a knee. Kennedy came in to follow-up but Diaz seemed just as strong after the knock down as before. Kennedy has an abrasion on the right eye.

In the fourth round Diaz continued to outland Kennedy who was able to get his share of punches in. In the fifth round Diaz was pressing but getting countered by the jab of Kennedy. Diaz won another round but may have started tiring.

In the sixth Kennedy became the aggressor and if it’s a battle of nutrition the edge goes to him who has put in more rounds than Diaz. A right hand dropped Diaz. He beat the count but was hurt as Diaz tried to come back but was hurt again with Kennedy snapping
the head of Diaz back. Some referee’s may have stopped the fight but Smoger proved in the next round there was still a lot of fight left in Diaz.

In the seventh Diaz got his second wind and controlled the round as both fighters landed but Diaz seemed stronger and back in the fight. In the eighth Kennedy countered well rocking Diaz with a left hook. Diaz received a warning for a low blow and complained to the referee Smoger who is on top of the action.

In the ninth Kennedy landed an uppercut and was countered by a left hook. Diaz was warned for a low blow. Both fighters mixed it up with Kennedy getting the edge. In the tenth Kennedy landed a straight right hand to the jaw of Diaz. With Diaz now backing up and trying to box his legs are not strong enough. Diaz has a swollen left eye. Referee Smoger calls the doctor in at the end of the round to check the swollen eye of Diaz.

In the eleventh both fighters had their moments as Kennedy stalks Diaz but is hit with counters. Diaz is warned for obvious rabbit punches and complains again. He isn’t winning any points from the judges by complaining so much. The twelfth round was nip and tuck with Kennedy seemingly going for the knockout while Diaz was more on target. Kennedy was cut over the left eye below the brow just before the bell.

This fight deserved HBO coverage and the local fans knew it from the start. I doubt if they would have much luck arranging a rematch. The judges had it a lopsided 115-111 by Steve Weisfeld, 118-109 by Alan Rubenstein and 117-109 by John Poturaj. Weisfeld seemed to be the only one in the ball park. This writer had it Kennedy by 3 points which amounted to the knockdown rounds.

In talking to Kennedy he felt he won the fight and it was his toughest fight. “I thought I had him in the sixth,” said Kennedy. His co-manager Doc Nowicki pointed out Kennedy had a bite mark on his shoulder which happened in a clinch. No one at ringside noticed this. It was suggested to Kennedy’s promoter J Russel Peltz to get him an easy one next. “That was the easy one,” said Peltz. Diaz was not taking any interviews.

Former Notre Dame Captain and current Baltimore Raven’s safety Tommy Zbikowski, 3-0 (2), of Arlington Heights, IL, came in under the cruiserweight limit giving away 20 pounds to MMA fighter Caleb Grummet, 0-1-1 (0), of Grand Rapids, MI, in a 4 round bout.

Zbikowski came out southpaw and worked the body of Grummet good in the opening round. In the second he came out orthodox and returned to southpaw bloodying the nose of the ever pressing Grummet. In the third Grummet received his third warning for low blows. After the fourth warning for a low blow the referee Allan Huggins took away a point from Grummet.

Prior to that Grummet was getting the better of Zbikowski. Grummet continued to land punches taking the round. Both fighters looked tired and checking the clock. In the fourth Grummet continued to land to the head of a spent Zbikowski. 39-36 on two scorecards and 38-37 as this writer had it all for Zbikowski. The difference was the point taken away as both fighters won two rounds.

Prospect Glen Tapia, 9-0 (5), of Paterson, NJ, stayed unbeaten defeating Eberto Medina, 5-6 (1), of Newark, NJ, over 6 rounds in a super welterweight match. Tapia landed nice combinations to the body of Medina in the first round.

Tapia came out with bad intentions in the second round rocking Medina and backed off. Medina came forward and Tapia landed a straight right to the jaw knocking Medina’s mouthpiece. In the third round a right hand dropped Medina on a delayed knockdown.

Medina kept coming forward and Tapia had to be wondering what was holding him up. It was a good learning experience for Tapia. Medina never stopped coming forward. Tapia never seemed to go for broke in this one respecting the chin and heart of Medina.
All 3 judges gave it to Tapia. The referee was Brian O’Melia.

Pro debuting Miguel Cartejena, 1-0 (0), of Philadelphia, defeated Omar Gonzales, 2-6 (0), of San Antonio, TX, in a 4 round super bantamweight match. In the second round Cartenega’s timing seemed to pick up after a close first round as he started to land good jabs and hard left hooks to the head of Gonzales. In the third round both boxers started teeing off on each other with Cartejena having a slight edge.

In the fourth round Cartejena started throwing the lead right and landed several throughout the round. Gonzales ended the round landing a flurry as Cartejena covered up. All 3 judges had it 40-36 for Cartejena.

“I felt good in there and didn’t have a problem with him being a southpaw,” said Cartejena. He has had a very impressive amateur record. In his corner were trainers “Bozy” Ennis and Javier Valerio. Look’s like co-managers Moz Gonzales and Eddie Woods have another winner in their stable of fighters. Allan Huggins was the referee.

In the swing bout middleweight Philadelphia’s Rashad Brown, 3-0 (1), stopped Darryl Parker, 2-1 (2), of Louisville, KY, at 1:41 of the third round. Parker was down numerous times and the fight should have been stopped earlier by referee Huggins.



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