UK’s Darren Barker, 23-1 (14) came in
a big underdog though being the WBC’s No. 3 contender, Euro,
British and Commonwealth champion. He proved at the Boardwalk Hall
in Atlantic City Saturday night he could hold his own with one of the
3 best p4p boxers in the world in the WBC Diamond middleweight
champion Sergio Martinez, 48-2-2 (27). Martinez scored an 11th round knockout at 1:29 to retain his title landing a left to the ear
of Barker. The challenger tried to get up but stumbled back down to
the canvas forcing referee Eddie Cotton to call a halt as Barker’s
handlers were coming to his rescue.
Barker put up a good defense for the
first 4 rounds countering Martinez enough to win 3 of the first 4
rounds and drawing blood from the nose of the champion in the 4th.
Martinez started to mount an offense from the 5th round on
in this DiBella Entertainment promotion.
Martinez landed a solid straight left
prior to the 6th round ending after a good exchange by
both fighters. In the 9th round Martinez landed over 20
consecutive punches without return. It seemed Barker was ready to
go. In the 10th Barker landed 3 straight punches with
Martinez returning the same. In the 11th with both eyes
battered Barker was caught with a left to the ear and down he went.
He proved to be a worthy challenger and should hold his own in the
future with the other champions. Don’t be surprised to see him and
Andy Lee the previous bouts winner opposing one another.
Martinez was well received entering the
ring which was a big improvement prior to the second Paul Williams
match. The fans seemed to finally be warming up to the champion from
Argentina, now living in Oxnard, CA. He knows how to play to the
crowd in daring his opponent while having his hands to his side to
throw a punch.
Though Martinez has been rumored to
fight Pacquaio or Mayweather, he has a No. 1 contender in Marco
Antonio Rubio to contend with. There is no way Top Rank is allowing
WBC Champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., to fight Martinez. Lee who won
the previous bout on the card is currently the No. 6 contender in the
WBC ratings.
Speaking of Lee, 27-1 (19), of
Limerick, Ireland, fighting out of Detroit, MI, he reversed his only
loss defeating Brian Vera, 19-6 (12), of Austin, TX, in an
interesting 10 rounder. Vera was always the aggressor trying to work
his way in hoping to land an overhand right bomb as he did in their
first encounter 3 years previously when he stopped Lee.
Behind an effective jab Lee kept on the
move countering Vera well. An occasion left uppercut would stop Vera
in his tracks. Vera received a cut of the left eye that never proved
to be a factor in the fight. The 8th was an exceptional
round for Lee. Vera was holding his own during the 9th before catching a straight left just prior to the bell. At the end
of the 10th and final bell, Lee dropped to his knees and
raised his hands acknowledging he finally erased the defeat by Vera
in their rematch. Scores of 99-90 (twice) and 98-91 proved correct.
Referee Steve Smoger did his usual top notch job.
It was a little unusual for the 2 main
fights to be the best of the night but it was good for HBO who
telecasted both. Besides Martinez, Lee has the other organization
champions from Australia, Germany and Russia to challenge.
South Africa’s Issaac Chilemba,
18-1-1 (9) had little resistance from Jameson Bostic, 23-10 (13), who
may rule in NZ but will never do the same in the US. The former
Philadelphia boxer showed little skills before being stopped at 1:48
of the 2nd round after taking over 10 punches and dropping
to the canvas. He showed no effort to want to continue in this light
heavyweight 10 as referee Sammy Viruet waived it off.
Ireland’s Sean Monaghan, 9-0 (6),
took about 3 rounds to start to get to Kentrell Claiborne, 2-4 (1),
of Cleburne, TX, as his many fans urged him on. He seems to be
learning his craft considering his little experience and is a crowd
pleaser. His body shots from a good left hook caused Claiborne’s
corner to call a stop to referee Viruet at 0:54 of the 4th of a scheduled 6 in the light heavyweight division.
Russia’s southpaw Magomed
Abdusalamov, scored his 10th straight knockout win since
turning pro getting little resistance from out of condition and
overweight heavyweight Kevin Burnett, 13-5-1 (8), of Miami, FL, in
1:19 of the first round scoring 3 knockdowns as referee Smoger waived
it off. Every lead left seem to land on the button.
It took New York’s prospect Steve
Martinez, 11-0 (9), a couple rounds to warm-up before stopping Jay
Krupp, 14-5 (7), of Catskill, NY, at 0:38 of the 5th round. A continual landing of his left hook finally drove Krupp into
the ropes causing the stoppage by referee Smoger. Krupp did better
than expected.
Southpaw Army Capt. Boyd Melson, 6-0
(3), of White Plains, NY, seemed to have his way against Russ
Niggemyer, 2-4 (2), of OH, over 6 rounds. Melson, a southpaw, gave
Niggemyer a boxing lesson winning on scores of 60-53, 60-54 and 59-55
in a light middleweight 6. Viruet was the referee. Melson donates
his purses to spinal cord injuries and has a nice following.
Kevin “Kid” Rooney, 2-1 (1), of NY,
lost a mild upset to Danny Logo, 1-1 (0), of Harrisburg, PA, who
fooled all by coming out southpaw. This writer has seen Logo in the
amateurs and in his pro debut and never saw him anything but
orthodox. After a close first round Logo seemed to have his way in
the 2 middle rounds before Rooney rocked Logo. Logo immediately
pushed Rooney into the ropes and took him to the canvas as Rooney
moved in for a follow-up attack. This seemed to give Logo enough
time to re-coup and hold his way to the end.
“I haven’t sparred with a southpaw
in 2 years,” said a dejected Rooney. A rematch is warranted but
doubtful Logo would want it. Rooney is trained by his father, Kevin,
Sr., who trained Mike Tyson and Vinnie Paz. The referee was Smoger.
J’Leon Love, 9-0 (6), of Detroit, MI,
won a lackluster 6 over Eddie Hunter, 4-8-2 (2), Kent, WA, who put up
more resistance than expected in this middleweight bout. Scores of
60-53 and 60-54 twice kept Love’s unbeaten record. Viruet was the
referee.
In the opening bout Troy “KO”
Artis, 3-2-1 (2), stopped Israel Duffus, 2-1 (2), of San Miguelito,
PAN, at 2:03 of the 3rd after scoring 3 knockdowns.
Referee Smoger waved it off at this point.
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