Philadelphia’s Garrett “The
Ultimate Warrior” Wilson, 13-5-1 (7), knocked out Andres
“Taylor-Made” Taylor, 20-2-2 (7), of Johnstown, PA, at 2:50 of
the 12th and final round to add the vacant
NABF cruiserweight title to his USBA title! The Peltz Boxing
Promotions show at Bally’s in Atlantic City, NJ, Saturday night
cheered their local hero in beating the foe that 18 months prior to
this got a disputed draw with him in Johnstown. There was no
question about this one for Wilson.
Wilson started out circling the ring
like a lion ready to attack his prey as Taylor stalked him. Suddenly
a Wilson left hook scored a knockdown over as Taylor’s gloves
touched the canvas. He came up smiling but was definitely hurt. “I
had him hurt in the first round and failed to follow-up,” said
Wilson.
In the second round Wilson landed
almost a dozen punches as he had Taylor against the ropes prior to
the bell. In the 4th Wilson again hurt
Taylor who came back in the 5th putting
Wilson halfway thru the ropes but before referee Earl Brown could
make a decision whether it was a knockdown or not Wilson retaliated
that fast coming back at Taylor. In the 6th and 7th rounds Wilson again rocked Taylor
who was holding on each time at the bell.
In the 8th Taylor started landing lead rights as Wilson was in front of him
looking to end it. This got his many vocal fans from Johnstown on
their feet until Wilson ripped a right to the body that got Taylor’s
attention. In the 9th Taylor landed 5
straight punches without return and again in the 10th he was scorng with wide rights.
Was Wilson tiring? If he was he was
able to come back in the 11th to land a
devastating left hook that put Taylor on the canvas face first. As
he struggled to get up his legs were like jelly reminding this writer
of Berbick against Tyson. As the bell came to Taylor’s rescue the
fans were not sure if referee Brown had waved the fight off or not.
It seemed most unwise of the Taylor
corner to allow their fighter to come out for the 12th and final round. He was fighting on heart alone as Wilson was
looking to close the show. “I stopped him with a right hand,”
said Wilson. Taylor hit the canvas on his back and was out cold as
Brown got to 3 before finally waving it off. The EMT’s rushed into
the ring as Wilson was watching Taylor recover before celebrating.
Since Rodney Rice has taken over as
trainer Wilson has been unbeaten in his last 5 fights. Wilson with
Rice signed a promotional contract with Peltz who is a Peltz kind of
a fighter willing to “fight anyone, anywhere”! His record is
deceiving!
When asked if he was praying for
Taylor at that time Wilson remarked, “I started praying for him
when he signed the contract.” In the ring being interviewed by
GFLive’s Marc Abrams Wilson said “I thought I won the first
fight!” Wilson admitted being hurt once during the fight and had
nothing but praise for Taylor.
Going into the final round all 3
judges had Wilson ahead. Joe Pasquale had it 105-102 while Lynne
Carter and Lawrence Layton had it 106-101 as did this writer.
Taylor was taken to the hospital
afterwards for immediate evaluation. Outside of a bleeding mouth he
seemed unmarked. “I hope to get a shot at (Yoan) Hernandez’s IBF
title,” said Wilson. A Cuban, Hernandez fighting out of Germany
defeated Philly’s Steve “USS” Cunningham in a controversial
bout for the title but won a decisive re-match in February. Wilson
was No. 7 going into this bout by the IBF and will certainly move up
from his No. 21 ranking by the WBC by adding the NABF title. Wilson
is one of the most likeable fighters in Philadelphia.
In a thriller of a 6 round
lightweight bout just prior to the main event Detroit’s Christopher
Finley, 5-4 (4), scored a mild upset in stopping the 8 fight win
streak of Atlantic City’s Osnel Charles, 9-3 (1), originally out of
Haiti.
The action started from the start as
a possible overconfident Charles landed a left but got countered by a
Finley right into the ropes for a standing count by referee Earl
Morton. In the 2nd round both of Finley’s
mouthpieces were knocked out by Charles. In the 3rd Finley’s combination drove Charles into the ropes for a second
knockdown. In the 5th an overhand right
rocked Finley who had a cut under his right eye on the cheek bone.
Charles failed to go all out in the
6th and final round and showed good
sportsmanship applauding for Finley who won on all score cards.
Debra Barnes had it 59-53 while Julie Lederman and George Hill scored
it 58-54 all for Finley as did this writer.
Philly’s junior welter Naim Nelson
kept his unbeaten mark now at 6-0 (1), scoring his first stoppage at
1:53 of the 4th round over Dontre King,
6-10-2 (2), of Cambridge, MD. Though the stoppage seemed pre-mature
by referee David Fields, King didn’t seem as sharp as usual losing
for the first time in his last 4 fights. He complained to no avail.
Nelson was cut in the first round but veteran cut-man Jim Williams
did a good job in closing it to the end. He and co-manager Doc
Nowicki seemed pleased with Nelson’s toughness overcoming the early
cut.
In a 4 round junior welter match
Philly’s Korey Sloane, 2-3-1 (0), and Julio DeJesus, 5-3-2 (3), of
Franklinville, NJ, gave the fans something to scream about the entire
way. Sloane’s jab kept DeJesus at bay in the first 2 rounds before
the latter’s overhand rights hurt Sloan in the 3rd round causing swelling under his left eye. The final round was up
for grabs with Sloane possibly pulling it out against the NJ warrior
but the judges were split. Lederman had it 39-37 for DeJesus while
Barnes had it the same for Sloane. When Hill’s 38-38 was announced
by ring announcer Larry Tornambe’s the locals were not happy but it
seemed fair for both boxers.
Joshua Reyes, 2-0 (0), of Millville,
NJ, was the aggressor throughout as Elvis Rodriguez, 0-1, of
Manchester, CT, was your usual southpaw cutie who didn’t have
enough power to keep Reyes off of him. This featherweight match went
to Reyes by scores of 40-36 by Lederman and Hill with Barnes having
it 39-37 all for Reyes with Earl Morton the referee. Reyes did not
look like the winner with a cut under his left eye in the 2nd round and another mark over the same eye. His head first style
probably caused both.
In the opener another fighter who
did not look line the winner afterwards was Gabriel Pham, 5-0 (2), a
tall southpaw out of Atlantic City who had to work hard taking all 4
rounds over Michael Mitchell, 0-1, of Paterson, NJ, who at 34 was
making his debut at super middleweight. Pham was cut outside of
right eye and between the eye brows. Referee was Morton. Pham’s
jab controlled the fight.
In a show closer prospect Todd
Unthank-May, 3-0 (2), of Philly, made quick work over a previous
decision win opponent Ronnie Lawrence, 0-2, of Pottstown, PA, with a
3 punch combo at 0:27 of the first round in a light heavy bout.
Peltz Boxing and Bam Boxing returns
May 12th in Newtown, PA, at the Newtown
Athletic Club featuring “New” Ray Robinson. Peltz back at
Bally’s May 19th with Harry Joe Yorgey
against Jamaal Davis with Chuck Mussachio in co-main event. Brittany
Rogers of Bam Boxing is co-matchmaker with J Russell Peltz.
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