Ran Nakash Stops Dave Brunelli in 7th round at Blue Horizon!
By Ken Hissner at ringside for DoghouseBoxing (April 7, 2009)  
It was billed as Israel versus Italy at the legendary Blue Horizon Friday night as Israel’s Ran “Sweet Dreams” Nakash, 18-0 (14) stopped Philly’s Dave Brunelli, 8-5 (3) in the 7th round when referee Gary Rosato called the ring physician in to check Brunelli’s cut’s.

Blue Horizon Boxing Promotions promoter Vernoca L. Michael has this matchmaker named Don Elbaum who has been around boxing longer than Moses was in the desert. Elbaum brought in Jewish
and Italian ring announcers and singers for this event that had the fans cheering throughout. Nakash who comes into the ring in his Philadelphia Phillie shirt won for the 9th straight time at the Blue Horizon. Brunelli showed a very good jab that kept Nakash at bay not allowing him to get off to a fast start like he is known to. As early as the 2nd round Nakash had Brunelli’s nose flowing with blood. The much shorter Nakash was giving away several inches in height though he held a 5 pound weight advantage. You have to give Brunelli credit since he hadn’t fought for 11 months coming off back to back losses and the last one a 1st round stoppage by Olympian Devin Vargas.

“He kept on coming forward with his jab and he was not easy to get to,” said Nakash. Halfway through this 8 round cruiserweight bout Brunelli suffered a severe cut on the right eyebrow. “My right eye was blurry,” said Brunelli. At ringside the judges had it 59-55 (2x) and 58-56 Nakash. “I think I would have stopped him in the next (8th) round,” said Nakash. When asked about his next fight Elbaum said “he could be fighting in Miami, New York or Sweden.” Elbaum has a working connection in the Scandanavian country. This writer thought the fight was closer than the judges but Nakash was ahead.

Julias “Marvel” Edmonds, 5-3, had his head in the chest of Tyric “Too Sweet” Robinson for the entire 6 rounds in this battle of Philly super lightweights. Robinson just couldn’t get off with his jab and ended up fighting Edmonds fight. For Edmonds it was his 3rd straight win, all at the Blue Horizon, winning on two scorecards 60-54 and the other by 58-56. Referee Blair Talmadge had an easy one in this battle.

Highly touted Reading cruiserweight Julio Cesar Matthews, 7-0 (5), had the toughest fight of his career against the veteran William Gill, 9-22 (7), of Toms River, New Jersey gaining all the 3 judges votes by 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56. Gill took the fight Sunday but had been in camp in Texas with the Direll brothers. The southpaw Matthew’s whose fans expect a knockout every time he steps into the ring used his jab to good effect against the aggressive Gill. Both fighters were rocked in the 5th round. By the 6th and final round Matthews had a mouse under his right eye. “He is a tough guy. It was good to get the rounds,” said Matthews. Gill wasn’t as kind with his words. “I got robbed. The guy never hurt me and I want a rematch for 8 rounds,” said Gill. Though all the rounds were close I thought Matthews was a clear winner though the fans greeted the decision with mixed emotions. Matthews was supposed to fight Kamarah Pasley but has been re-scheduled for May 8th.

Joselito “Chello” Collado, 7-0 (2), from the Dominican, fighting out of Queens, showed a variety of skills against Jason Rorie, 2-3-2 (1) of Winston-Salem, who never stopped trying. With Rorie fighting off the ropes in the 5th round the fans were on their feet as the two took turns rocking each other. Then Collado would move around the ring switching to southpaw and back to the frustration of Rorie. All 3 judges had it 59-55 in favor of Collado in this 4 round super featherweight bout.

Joseph Francisco, 1-2 (1), of Jacksboro, Tennessee, started off well taking the 1st round from Philly’s Paul Fernandez, 4-2-1 (2), but was worn down from the 2nd round on before being dropped in the 4th round by a right hand. As he got to his feet Fernandez stormed him with punches until referee Rosato came to his rescue at 2:57 of the 4th round in this 4 round super featherweight bout.

Bethlehem’s Ronald Cruz, 4-0 (2), was accidently head butted in the 1st round by Shannon Hill, 1-1 (1), of Pinneytown, Ohio, causing a gash that cut man Jimmy Williams stopped between rounds. Cruz didn’t seem to get on target until the 3rd round of this super lightweight 4 round match but was a clear winner on the judges scorecards by 40-36 (2x) and 39-37.

In the opening bout it started out like World War III as southpaw Davit Davitashvili, 0-2, from the country of Georgia, now out of Philly, fought off the ropes to rock Teneal Goyco, 2-0 (1), also of Philly, in this 4 round cruiser bout. In the 2nd round Goyco seemed to take over with his jab and straight right hands opening up a cut on the right eyebrow of Davitashvili which caused a good size lump by the end of the fight. In the 3rd round out of frustration he purposely butted Goyco that cost him a point by referee Rosato. All 3 judges agreed with scores of 39-36.

At ringside were the former heavyweight champion Riddick “Big Daddy’ Bowe and the IBF cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham. This promotion will be back next May 15th with a heavyweight rematch between Joey Abell and Arron Lyons. In December of 2006 Lyons upset Abell with a controversial 1st round stoppage.

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Ken at: kenhissner@yahoo.com




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