By Ken Hissner, Doghouse Boxing. -
The No. 1 WBO welterweight contender
Mike “MJ” Jones improved his record to 25-0 (19) Saturday night
at the South Philly Arena stopping Raul Munoz, 21-14-1 (16), of
Topeka, KS, in the second round at 2:29. Referee Gary Rosato stopped
the bout when the overmatched Munoz hit the canvas from a solid right
hand to the side of the head. He had been rocked in the first round
and Jones seemed to back off wanting some rounds.
It was the first appearance for Jones
in his hometown of Philadelphia in 2 years. Peltz Boxing and Top
Rank co-promoted the event. With WBO champion Manny Pacquiao set for
a late 2011 defense with Juan Manuel Marquez Jones needs to keep
winning. He is ranked in all 4 organizations with 2 of the champions
being from Europe. Victor Ortiz the lone American champion in the
division may be fighting former champion Floyd Mayweather in
September.
Jones is promoted by both Peltz Boxing
and Top Rank. He is trained by Vaughn Jackson while co-manager Jimmy
Williams also serves as cut-man. The other co-manager is Doc
Nowicki.
Glen Tapia of Passaic, NJ, kept
unbeaten improving to 10-0 (5), in a junior middleweight 6 putting a
beating on Taronze Washington for 2 rounds. Washington showed some
offense but not enough to win a round on all the official scorecards
losing 60-54. Tapia picked-up the offense in the sixth round and had
Washington in trouble at the bell. Tapia had a slight nick on his
nose from a Washington left hook in the second round. Benjy Esteves,
Jr. was the referee.
Cuban Yordenis “Baby Boy” Ugas, 8-0
(4), put a terrible body beating on Kenny Abril, 11-4-1 (6), of
Rochester, NY, finally dropping him to a knee in the fourth round.
It seemed to wake up Abril who went on the offense the rest of the
round. In the last 2 rounds of this welterweight bout whenever Abril
went on the offense Ugas went on the defense not willing to mix-it
up. Ugas is trained by former 2-division world champion John David
Jackson. Officials Steve Weisfeld had it 59-54, Dave Greer 59-55
and George Hill 60-53. The referee was Rosato.
In what looked like the best bet for
fight of the night between Osnel “Prince” Charles, 9-2 (1), of
Atlantic City, NJ, and Anthony “Flawless” Flores, 9-4-1, (6) of
Philadelphia never got through the first round. Both boxers were
exchanging Facebook messages what they were going to do. Flores got
into a slugging contest right up the alley of Charles and was beating
him to the punch for half a round. Suddenly an overhand right
dropped Flores like a sack of potatoes leaving him out for close to 5
minutes.
The referee Rosato immediately called a
halt when Flores hit the canvas. The emergency crew were right on
the spot. The stoppage was at 1:49 of the first round. It was the
first knockout for Charles and the third straight loss, first by
knockout for Flores. Promoter J Russell Peltz wisely called over a
Charles corner man to have Charles stop celebrating while Flores lay
unconscious. Flores finally got to his stool with an oxygen mask on.
He was able to leave on his own but will need sometime to think his
future over. In his first loss after 8 wins he suffered a fractured
eye socket.
Southpaw Mike Oliver, 25-2 (8), of
Hartford, CT, came in for a “warm-up” fight for his July 23rd title fight in Mexico against WBO featherweight champion Orlando
Salido and had a fight on his hands for the entire 6 rounds. Oliver
suffered a mouse under his left eye in the second round. In 11 of
his last 12 fights Oliver came in under 122 as he did tonight. “He’s
been off for a year and needed the work,” said John “The Iceman”
Scully, trainer of Oliver. Somehow Oliver was put into the WBO
ratings at No. 15 and will be a heavy underdog to Salido.
Phil “Mongoose” McCants, 9-2-1 (3),
of South Philadelphia and Kaseem Wilson, 12-3-1 (4), of North
Philadelphia did not give the fans much to cheer about in this
welterweight 6. Southpaw Wilson not known for his offense and coming
in off of a 2 year absence seemed to get the better of McCants for
the most part. McCants would get inside and wrap his left arm around
Wilson and fight with one hand continuously. He was warned several
times by referee Rosato for this. Though press row all had it for
Wilson, judges Weisfeld and Greer at 58-56 overruled Alan Rubenstein
at 57-57 for a majority draw win for McCants.
In one of the better fights of the
night Angel Cruz, 5-1-1 (4), of Juana Diaz, PR, fought to a draw with
Jose Rivera, 3-2-2 (0), of New Rochelle, NY, in a super flyweight 6.
Rivera was the aggressor and Cruz ran around the ring in the last
round blowing the win. All scores were 57-57.
In the only 4 rounder of the night
bantamweight Miguel Cartagena, 2-0 (1), of Philadelphia easily
defeated overmatched Jaime Gonzalez, 0-2 (0), of Aguada, PR, who
found himself on the canvas twice in the first round and once in the
second when referee Esteves wisely stopped the bout at the 0:49 mark.
“Cornbread” Ramsey and Fred Jenkins
were joined by former amateur boxer and now writer “Chicken”
George Hanson in the corner. It seemed very difficult for Hanson to
sit and watch McCants not follow corner orders. I’m sure we will
see Hanson back at the writers table for the next show. Speaking of
next show Peltz Boxing will have one in the Sands Casino in
Bethlehem, PA, Friday, July 1st. The main event should be
a barn burner with Bethlehem’s Ronald Cruz, 12-0 (9), taking on
Lancaster’s Doel Carrasquillo, 15-17-1 (13) who always has a
puncher’s chance. There will be 7 other bouts under the 10 round
main event.
