JULY 20th PHILADELPHIA BOXING RESULTS
Posted on | July 22, 2007 | 4 Comments
Philadelphia Boxing Results – July 20, 2007
Mtagwa defeats Valtierra for NABF Crown
By Tony Penecale (at Ringside)
With the NABF Featherweight title up for grabs, Philadelphia’s Rogers Mtagwa and Mexico’s Aldo Valtierra went toe-to-toe in a classic South Philadelphia slugfest, with Mtagwa capturing a split decision victory before the partisan crowd at the sold out New Alhambra arena.
Mtagwa, 123, a native of Tanzania, entered the bout still seething from a split decision loss to Martin Honorio last November, and promised to take out his aggression on the durable Valtierra, 126, who had never been stopped as a pro.
The action started immediately as Mtagwa rushed from his corner, firing hard but wild shots, while Valtierra stood his ground and landed effective counter punches. The tempo picked up in the 2nd as Valtierra landed the faster combos. A fierce exchange at the end saw a Mtagwa right, slightly after the bell, buckle Valtierra, leaving him stumbling into the arms of referee Gary Rosato, who correctly ruled the punch an accidental foul.
The momentum shifted several times over the next few rounds, with each fighters taking turns attacking and landing solid combinations. Mtagwa looked visibly weary in the 5th round, before getting his second wind and regaining momentum in the 6th.
At the midway point, the bout was even and up for grabs and that is where Mtagwa grabbed it, landing good right hands and uppercuts in the 7th round and forcing Valtierra back on his heels. The tough Mexican warrior never retreated and kept firing punches at the onrushing Mtagwa, but did not have the power to discourage him.
With a full head of steam, Mtagwa charged like a runaway locomotive over the final three rounds, and both boxers freely exchanged punches, with the only breaks coming when both boxers had loose tape on their gloves. The 12th and final round punctuated a dramatic contest, with both boxers exchanging recklessly, while the crowd, visibly excited by the action, encouraged the hometown fighter, chanting his name repeatedly, as both boxers slugged until the final bell.
Mtagwa was announced the victor with two of the judges scored the bout 116-112 while the other judge inexplicably had Valtierra winning 115-113. This reporter scored the final six rounds for Mtagwa, giving him the score of 117-111.
Mtagwa improves his record to 24-11-2 (17) while Valtierra falls to 24-9,
Mtagwa, ranked 5th by the IBF going into the bout adds the NABF title to his resume and is looking to gain a title shot later this year or early next year. Minnesota prospect Jason Litzau has been discussed as a possible future opponent, in a bout that would surely bring fireworks as both combatants are aggressive powerpunchers who often neglect defense.
In the highly anticipated co-feature, Philadelphia’s Mike Jones put his unblemished record on the line against spoiler Doel Carrasquillo, fresh off of a TKO win over “The Contender’s” Aaron Torres.
Jones, 146, showed no fear of his more experienced opponent, boxing well in the 1st round behind a stiff left jab which repeatedly backed Carrasquillo up. Jones opened up his attack in the 2nd, landing hard hooks throughout. Carrasquillo tried to counter with overhand punches but could not match the speed or workrate of the younger and taller Jones.
Shortly before the end of the 2nd, Jones exploded with a series of short hooks to the head that had Carrasquillo wobbled at the bell with a badly broken nose. Carrasquillo’s corner immediately stopped the bout on the advice of the ringside physician.
Jones ups his record to 9-0 (9) while Carrasquillo sees his record fall to 10-5-1 (8).
In other bouts:
Ricardo Medina, 134, Mexico, scored his 2nd straight upset against a Philadelphia opponent this year, as he outworked and outpointed local boxer, Kevin Carmody, 137 over six rounds.
Medina, an aggressive body puncher, pressed the action from the opening bell. Carmody boxed well early, keeping the bout in the center of the ring and landing with good hooks and body shots. Medina started to find success near the end of the 2nd and by the 3rd, Carmody was boxing off of the rope, where Medina took full advantage, working in close and dictating the pace.
Carmody was visibly tired going into the 4th, letting Medina bang away at his body, while offering infrequent and ineffective counters. The final two stanzas saw more of the same and it was Medina walking away with the victory by the scores of 59-56 and 58-56 (twice).
Medina now stands at 30-32-5 (17) while Carmody falls to 10-8-2 (1).
All wasn’t well for boxers named Medina though, as North Philadelphia’s Jose Medina was on the losing end of a split decision to Indianapolis’s Mustapha Johnson.
Medina, 155, threw hard but infrequent hooks, reminiscent of a smaller version of heavyweight David Tua, while the taller Johnson was content to box patiently out of the danger zone.
After a slow 1st round, Johnson had a good round in the 2nd, landing a number of straight punches. Medina was able to find the range and unload his Tua-esque offense in the 3rd round as Johnson slowed. The 4th and final round featured some entertaining exchanges, leaving the decision in the judge’s hands.
Johnson won on two of the three cards, by the scores of 40-36 and 39-37, while Medina was credited on the other card by the score of 40-36. This reporter had the bout even 38-38, giving Medina the 1st and 3rd stanzas and favoring Johnson in the 2nd and 4th stanzas.
Johnson sees his record improve to 4-2 (2) while Medina sees his fall to 14-9 (10).
Philadelphia prospect Teon Kennedy dismantled Brooklyn’s Elia Castillo, dishing out a beating before scoring a knockout in the 4th round.
Kennedy, 126, unveiled his offense early, forcing Castillo, 126, Brooklyn, into a defensive posture. Kennedy landed heavy punches in the 1st, including several hard body shots that kept Castillo pinned on the ropes.
Things did not improve in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, as Kennedy, not fearing Castillo’s offense, kept the pressure and continued his assault with hooks to the head and ribcage, which caused Castillo to grimace on several occasions.
The bout mercifully ended in the 4th, when another Kennedy assault dropped Castillo in his corner, where he was counted out by referee Gary Rosato.
Kennedy, another young (21) Philadelphia prospect now resides at 4-0 (3) while Castillo, who drew a very tough assignment in his pro debut, is now 0-1.
In an entertaining scrap to open the evening, Philadelpia’s Joe Christy fought to a disputed draw with Lancaster’s Doug Ebenshade.
The action started quickly with Christy, in front of his South Philly crowd, attacking with a series of right hands, while Ebenshade took his turn landing his own offense. Christy kept the pressure going in the 2nd round, landing a series of good body shots as Ebenshade appeared to be tiring. The assault continued in the 3 rd where a textbook uppercut put Ebenshade on the canvas, which was incorrectly ruled a push by referee Wayne Hedgpeth.
Christy was either inspired by his success or frustrated by the missed call as he became overly wild in the 4th and 5th rounds, which let Ebenshade score with good counter punches. Christy took control back in the 6th round, landing good punches, and cutting Ebenshade underneath the eye.
One scorecard favored Christy by the score of 58-56 but was outvoted by the other two cards which sported an identical 57-57 tally, rendering the bout a majority draw. This reporter favored Christy by the score of 59-56.
Christy won’t have long to seethe over this bout as he is scheduled to return to South Philly in August to battle Clarence “Sonny Bono” Taylor in their rubber match. Both boxers own a decision win in their previous encounters.
The final bout of the evening, winless cruiserweights Andrew Gizzi and Robert Evans, both from Philadelphia, were hoping to gain their 1st professional victory.
Evans, 189, took the advantage early, landing several right-hand bombs over the low left of Gizzi, 193, cutting him badly over the left eye. Evans was still in control in the 2nd when he seemed to hurt his shoulder, but he still continued in the bout, which saw Gizzi’s cut rapidly getting worse.
With Evans seemingly in control and Gizzi a bloody mess in the 3rd round, the bout was suddenly over. Evans launched another right hand and fell to the canvas screaming. The bout with quickly halted, with Gizzi gaining his initial victory in an anticlimactic way.
Gizzi is now 1-2 (1) while Evans still has the winless monkey on his back and is 0-3.
Boxing returns to the New Alhambra on August 10 with the NABF middleweight title up for grabs when Bronco McKart faces Enrique Ornelas. Also appearing will be Simon O’Donnell, David Lopez, Victor Vasquez, John Poore, Felix Arroyo, and Kaseem Wilson.
Two weeks later, another action-packed card comes to the New Alhambra featuring a tantalizing main event between Philadelphia’s Derek Ennis and New Jersey’s experienced Dennis Sharp. Also on the card will be the long-awaited rematch between Andre “The Heat” Hemphill and Simon “One Punch” Carr, along with the Philadelphia debut of “The Contender’s” Jonathan Reid.