Farah “Quiet Storm” Ennis Wins NABF title in Atlantic City!
By Ken Hissner (Nov 20, 2010) Doghouse Boxing  
From the Germantown section of Philadelphia Farah “Quiet Storm” Ennis, 17-0 (11), won the vacant NABF super middleweight title Friday night stopping Victor Lares, 15-5 (4), of Corpus Christi, TX, at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City! In a 7 bout card called “Battle II-The Battle for the Belt” promoted by Spartan Fight Promotions Chazz “The Gentlemen” Witherspoon , 28-2 (20), stopped Alexis Mejias, 11-6 (5), of Puerto Rico, in the co-feature.

Derrick “Bozy” Ennis, who is the father and trainer, was quite pleased with his son’s performance along with co-managers Moz Gonzalez and Eddie Woods. Cheering his brother on was USBA light middleweight champion Derek “Pooh” Ennis at ringside. Now there are 2 champions in the family.

The opening round was a feeling out round before the taller Ennis added some straight right hands to his power jab. In the 3rd round a straight right to the mid-section caused Lares to fall into Ennis. Later in the round Ennis was warned for a low blow. Linares too little time to continue due to a fighter’s heart.

In the 4th round a wicked body attack by Ennis had Lares in trouble when a straight right to the body followed by a chopping right hand to drop Lares. In the 5th round Ennis decided to ‘take the round off” by boxing Lares who followed him around the ring and out landed Ennis who had a bloody nose by the end of the round.

In the 6th round a body shot by Ennis caused lares to take a knee. His left eye had a cut by the eyebrow at the end of the round. In the 7th the referee Eddie Cotton cold have stopped it earlier in the round before a power right hand on the left side of the jaw of Lares put him down. Cotton waved it of at 2:34 of the round. This writer could not say enough about the courage of Lares who was out gunned from the much stronger Ennis.

This was the first time Ennis had gone into a fight over 8 rounds with the scheduled bout being for 12. He seemed to skip a 10 rounder along the way. It will be interesting what his promotional group Fingerman Promotions has in store for him next. At 27 and with only a dozen amateur fights behind him Ennis is learning on the job.

Witherspoon who trains in Philadelphia and lives in Paulsboro, NJ, won his second fight of the year since suffering the second loss of his career last December. At the start he used a power jab against Alexis Mejias until a straight right caused an abrasion under the left eye of his opponent. Mejias came back with a left hook of his own stunning Witherspoon.

Witherspoon was outworking Mejias who was in the fight from the start. By the end of the 3rd round Mejias face was puffy around the eyes from the shots he was taking. By the end of the 4th round his corner called a halt. “I hurt my ankle several weeks ago in training and didn’t have much mobility,” said Mejias. “It was good to get some work in and look forward to keeping busy,” said Witherspoon. Earl Brown served as the referee.

In a 6 rounder Atlantic Cty’s Lavarn Harvell, 7-0 (3), used a good body attack to halt southpaw Khalil Farah, 6-7 (1), of Philadelphia at the end of the 1st round claiming a left shoulder injury. The southpaw came in at his highest weight (cruiser) and was not in top shape for the young prospect who was just over the light heavy limit. The referee was Sammy Viruet.

Ismael Garcia, 2-0 (0), of Millville, NJ, opened the show winning all 4 rounds in a very competitive middleweight bout over Corey Preston, 0-2 of Cincinnati, OH. Both fighters opened up in the 3rd round. Garcia spent most of the first 2 rounds fighting off the ropes but went on the attack with body shots that had Preston hurt several times in the 4th and final round. Former top light heavyweight Richie Kates was in Garcia’s corner. The referee was Earl Brown.

Philadelphia’s former amateur champion Keenan “Killer” Smith, 3-0 (1), got his first stoppage at 1:20 of the 4th round when two straight left’s dropped Anthony royal, 0-1-1 (0), of Newport News, VA. Both boxers are southpaws and royal stood up to Smith fairly well until the final round. Viruet was the referee. Smith is in the Gonzalez-Woods stable and is a 20 year-old fighter to keep an eye on. These were lightweights. “It felt good getting that first knockout,” said Smith.

Joel De LaPaz, 6-0 (5), Puerto Rico, out of Atlantic City, kept his unbeaten streak alive as he gave a pounding to gutsy Troy Maxwell, 2-2 (1), of Galloway, NJ winning all 4 rounds. Maxwell was busted up but hung in there. Former world champion Virgil Hill was in the Maxwell corner. “I just took my time and was pleased with my defense,” said De LaPaz. This is a boxer to keep an eye on.

Joey Tiberi, 2-0 (2), Newark, DE, easily stopped Tonio Parker, 0-2, of Wilson, NC, in 1:54 of the 1st round of a 4 round featherweight match. Tiberi is from the fighting Tiberi family of DE.

Nick Tiberi was the matchmaker and Larry Tornabe the ring announcer.

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