FIGHT NIGHT AT THE ARMORY IN PHILADELPHIA

By: Tony Penecale

Philadelphia is known as a boxing town, where rumor has it even a street fight between two alcoholics will feature jabs and feints. Venues like the Legendary Blue Horizon and the New Alhambra are known for producing spine-tingling slugfests. The National Guard Armory, on the other hand, is known more as a place to socialize with loud music, a dancing ring announcer, and mismatches featuring local fighters vanquishing underdogs, usually in dominating fashion.

Unfortunately for local fighters Gabriel Rosado and Victor Vasquez and their legions of fans, it seemed that Friday was a night for the underdogs.

When “King” Gabriel Rosado, 154, stepped in to face Joshua Onyango, 154, Trenton by way of Kenya, he was facing a fighter on a four-fight losing streak. Rosado’s plan of playing mouse to Onyango’s cat looked brilliant in the first round as he kept Onyango at bay, halting his rushes with precise counter punches.

At the close of the first round, Rosado landed several flush shots, and in a tactic that eventually proved to be his undoing, decided to abandon the “cat and mouse” approach. In the second, he met Onyango in center ring and traded punches in a furious slugfest. The strategy backfired, putting Rosado in Onyango’s danger zone, where the Kenyan took full advantage, landing flush shots that wore Rosado down and caused damage to his face.

The Onyango onslaught continued from rounds three through six, with Rosado bleeding from the mouth and visibly worn. Late in the 6th and final round, Rosado—frustrated and desperate—was penalized a point for rabbit punching. It didn’t matter as Onyango handily won on all three score cards 59-54.

With the victory, Onyango raises his record to 13-13 (11 KO’s) while Rosado falls to 6-2 (4 KO’s).

Looking at the records of Victor Vasquez, 2-0, and Ricky Thompson, 0-3, going into the bout, it seemed like this would be a candidate for an Armory mismatch, but it was the local favorite, Vasquez who was sent home with his first loss after only 42 seconds.

The bout started as expected with Vasquez pressuring Thompson and rocking him with a right hand. As Vasquez went to jump on his wounded prey, he was met with a wild left hook that caught him high on the head, sending him staggering into a corner, his eyes rolling like a slot machine. Thompson immediately took advantage, firing punches on the defenseless Vasquez until the bout was stopped, much to the displeasure of the pro-Vasquez crowd.

In an all-Philadelphia slugfest, Chandler “The Smoking Bull” Durham, protégé of the famous Frazier family, had to rally to salvage a draw with William Scales. It was Durham’s first professional fight after a 12-year hiatus.

Durham, 175, came out in the “Smokin’ Joe” style in the first round, ignoring his advantages in height and reach, and took the fight directly to Scales, 174, firing hooks and overhand rights. After a furious pace in the 1st round, Durham started to fade in the second, with Scales scoring points with counter-punches.

Going into the 4th and final round, Durham seemed to sense he was down on the cards, and he came out with that Frazier smoke again, firing heavy punches, knocking Scales’ mouthpiece to the floor late, and rallying to earn a draw. All three judges scored the bout 38-38, as did this reporter. Durham’s record is now 6-3-1 (3 KO’s) while Scales is now 3-2-1 (2 KO’s).

In Other Bouts:

Tim Johnson, 184, Philadelphia, had a successful pro debut with a 3rd Round TKO over Derrick Buckhannon, 185, of Tampa, Florida. Johnson was the aggressor in the first round, pinning Buckhannon on the ropes and unleashing a furious assault. Johnson seemed to slow in the second until he felled Buckhannon with a massive left hook late in the round. Buckhannon rose on unsteady legs and was saved by the bell. The minute break was of little help and Buckhannon was still groggy to start the 3rd round with Johnson taking full advantage, hammering Buckhannon until the referee stopped the contest. Johnson is now 1-0 (1 KO) while Buckhannon falls to 0-4-1.

LaJuan Simon, 173, Philadelphia, scored an impressive unanimous decision over William Gill, 174, Toms River, NJ. Simon, a well-schooled boxer, scored well in the first round with some impressive body shots, which created openings for his right hand. After unleashing his heavy offense in the early rounds, Simon boxed well over the second half of the bout, blocking most of Gill’s offensive attempts. Simon was awarded the victory by scores of 59-55 and 58-56 (twice). With the victory, Simon improves to 16-0-2 (9 KO’s) while Gill falls to 6-17 (5 KO’s).

Tommie Speller, 169, Philadelphia had to overcome a rocky first round in scoring a second round TKO over Michael Raynor, 170, Lumberton, NC. Speller had trouble with Raynor’s southpaw stance and absorbed some hard straight lefts early in the first. Speller started to assert himself late in the round as Raynor started to tire. Speller continued his assault in the 2nd round, landing uppercuts to the body and left hooks to the head, finally dropping Raynor. Raynor arose on unsteady legs, which prompted his corner to throw in the towel. Speller is now 3-0 (3 KO’s) while Raynor is now 2-7 (2 KO’s).

Isaac Suarez, 140, Lancaster, PA boxed well all four rounds in winning a unanimous decision over Markel Muhammad, 140, Akron, Ohio. Suarez was the more polished boxer, using faster hands and an aggressive jab, taking the fight to Muhammad, who did not have the speed to keep up. After four one-sided rounds, all three judges agreed, seeing the bout for Suarez by the score of 40-36. Suarez raises his record to 5-0 (2 KO’s) while Muhammad drops to 2-3.

In a heavily hyped bout coming in, Ernest “Zeus” Mazyck, at a towering 7-foot & 340 lbs, won an ugly unanimous decision over the much smaller Adam Smith, a disadvantaged 6’1″ & 220 lbs. What looked to be a compelling attraction, especially with Zeus stepping over the ropes, ala Andre the Giant, and nose-to-nose stare-down between the combatants, the actual boxing action quickly lost the fans’ interest. The bout was a hard-to-watch combination of wrestling and waltzing with Zeus charging in and Smith ducking low and clutching around the waist, prompting boos within 30 seconds into the first round. It was no better the rest of the way. Zeus was credited with a knockdown in the first. The judges’ voting was unanimous, giving Zeus the victory by the scores of 39-37, 40-34, and 40-35. Zeus raises his record to 5-0 (1 KO) while Smith drops to 6-18 (3 KO’s). While he seems to be a nice guy, greeting fans and shaking hands, Zeus would be better served as a movie villain or pro-wrestling bad guy.

Fans were also treated to a three-round exhibition between Philadelphia junior welterweights “Hammering” Hank Lundy and Tyric “Two Sweet” Mitchell. Although both combatants wore headgear and boxed only three two-minute rounds, their skill was evident in a crowd-pleasing affair. Both young boxers, especially the crafty and hard-punching Lundy, are predicted to be the next generation of Philadelphia superstars.

Several boxing notables were in attendance including Former Heavyweight Champion Smokin Joe Frazier, Middleweight Contender Willie “The Gladiator” Gibbs, and popular fighters Simon “One Punch” Carr and Max Alexander.

The next card scheduled at The National Guard Armory is April 21. It will be interesting to see if the upset trend continues.