FIGHT NIGHT AT THE ROXY: BOSTON POP POST-FIGHT REPORT

Posted on | January 25, 2010 | No Comments

By: Rich Bergeron

The star-studded crowd at The Roxy in Boston’s Theater District turned out in force Friday to cheer on some local and out of town prospects, each fighting for their personal piece of boxing glory.Tensions ran high after a split decision decided the close main event. The nod went to “Hammerin'” Hank Lundy (17-0-1, 10 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over a game and crafty Richard Abril (12-2-1, 6 KOs) of Miami, Florida by way of a defection from Cuba. Lundy’s glove touched the canvas after being wobbled by Abril at one point in the 6th, but he recovered quickly. Lundy actually smiled and chuckled at Abril during some of the tougher exchanges of the fight, possibly to try to get into his opponent’s head, and maybe just because he just loves to hit and be hit. Round one is shown below:

Lundy started out the second round feinting, ducking, and trying to work his way inside with looping right hooks to the head. Abril tried to worth the jab and keep a good distance between himself and Lundy. He fought a very defensive fight out of the gates, getting sloppy and allowing Lundy to land some hard jabs and right hooks to the head and body. Lundy maintained a low left hand stance and baited Abril effectively to come within range for strategically planned scoring blows. Abril mixed in a few rights after his jabs in the third, landing really accurate 1-2s throughout the round. He also landed a nice right hook to the head late. Lundy seemed to be getting flustered, but he landed a thudding right counter and a huge combo to the body and head, coming at Abril from all angles. His hands down attack had Lundy slipping punches and scoring when he needed to in response to nearly every punch Abril landed.

Abril tried to keep his distance in the fourth, landing his jab and a nice straight right. Lundy used his jab well and landed a few left hooks to the head. Both fighters went toe to toe a few times with no clear winner of the exchanges. The fifth round descended into a brawl as both men forgot their boxing basics. Abril landed some of his best punches in this round, including a straight right and a stinging uppercut. Lundy took over the center of the ring on the inside, going to the body and scoring double left hooks to the head. He also scored some damaging right hooks and a left and right hook combo. Abril continued to push Lundy in the sixth. Lundy started getting flustered and anxious, falling into Abril’s game of outside fighting. Abril took the opportunity to wobble Lundy just a bit and force his glove to graze the canvas, prompting the ref to call for a standing 8 count. Lundy would later say the punch never hurt him and he just slipped.

Lundy picked the pace back up again in the seventh. Abril retreated back to a defensive posture and his 1-2 counters. Lundy caught him inside at one point and landed some well-placed power hooks. The 8th round had Lundy landing more jabs and trying to box more. He also landed some nice left and right hooks as Abril began backing up and getting sloppy. At one point Abril started talking to Lundy, and Lundy laughed and said something back.

Lundy took over in the 9th round, landing his left and right hooks almost at will. He also scored a right hook to the body that landed with a vicious thud. Abril couldn’t answer the crafty attack. He tried with every tool in his arsenal, but he couldn’t hurt Lundy. Both boxers were content to box early in the final round, but then the brawl broke out again after Abril slipped in a corner. He unleashed a furious combo that Lundy responded to by asking for more. Both traded huge shots after that, Lundy landing the more potent blows. A left hook and a jab connected late as Lundy ended as the aggressor.

The scores of 95-94 for Abril and 96-94 for Lundy made sense, but one judge gave Lundy a few more of the closest rounds. That 98-91 margin was likely what set off one of Abril’s team members who harangued and baited Lundy on his way out of the ring after the fight was over.

The Abril supporter confronted Lundy just a few yards outside the ring, yelling repeatedly, “YOU DIDN’T WIN THAT FIGHT!” Lundy exuded all the confidence in the world, touting that he was from Philly and ready to trade blows yet again if need be. He insisted he would fight the man right there on the Roxy Dance floor. Security and staff intervened to prevent the incident from getting violent. If a fight did break out, it would have been legendary considering the amount of fighting talent still in the house after the final bout’s last bell.

Boxers John Ruiz, Micky Ward, and Vinny Paz were just a few of boxing’s best in the audience to see a fantastic fight card. The action kicked off with Maceo Crowder notching another win to move to 2-0, with 1 KO. The Boston native impressed the judges with a hard-fought decision against New Haven, Connecticut’s Greg McCoy (0-1). Judges scored the bout 39-35, 39-35, and 39-36 for Crowder.

Simeon Dunwell (11-1, 3 KOs) and Josh Beeman (4-6-3, 2 KOs) also fought to a decision in their six-round bout. Dunwell exploded early with point scoring blows landing from all angles. Beeman remained in a defensive shell for most of the first round. Dunwell used slick movement to land digging hooks to the body and head, weaving inside and taking only sporadic counter hooks. He unleashed a series of combos late in the round that put Beeman on the defensive again right up to the bell. Beeman fought through the second round facing the same barrage and managed to connect with his own hard uppercut and left hook to the body. Both punches hurt Dunwell but didn’t stop his relentless attack. Dunwell again ended the round by getting very busy with powerful flurries.

Beeman came back with his own flurries in the third, but there was not enough power behind any of his punches to do any serious damage. Dunwell landed two left hooks to the head early in the round and followed up later with a few impressive right hooks that got the crowd back into the fight. Both men traded some good shots in the fourth after Dunwell slipped early in the round. Both men also took some down time to hold for a bit of extra rest. Dunwell provided yet another signature burst of punches at the end of the round. Beeman seemed to be unable to find the slick Dunwell with any power shots.

Dunwell began the 5th round with a smothering attack, but the tables were turned on him by round’s end. He landed some crashing right hooks early with Beeman picking his spots to counter. Beeman found his best moment when he landed a looping, wild right hand and a late flurry to close out the round. The 6th round featured some of the best toe to toe action of the night. Both fighters wanted the knockout. Dunwell’s aggressiveness almost lost him the fight when Beeman unleashed his best power punches and had Dunwell momentarily stunned. Beeman kept launching uppercuts from a distance that were landing every now and then and catching Dunwell on the advance. Dunwell remained persistent and yet again ended the round with furious speed and power. One judge gave Dunwell every round with a score of 60-54 while the other two saw it 58-56 for Dunwell.

Quincy, MA native Ryan “The Polish Prince” Kielczewski (7-0, 2 KOs) faced a short, crafty, gritty, and relentless Francisco “La Bomba” Palacios (4-10-5, 1 KO) from Connecticut in the next bout that went the distance. Kielczewski used a quick jab early, snapping punches to the head of Palacios to keep the shorter and stockier man from getting into his best range. Palacios used a tight style to defend himself well and wade in close for body shots and looping shots to the head. Whenever he managed to get in close he tried to make “The Polish Prince” pay. Kielczewski landed his own hooks to the body and a nice left hook to the head in the closing seconds of the first round. Palacios came on strong in the second round, proving Kielczewski needs some work on his inside game. At proper distance, Kielczewski’s steady jab worked its magic, but he had no answer for Palacios pounding him with hooks and combos, pushing him back into a corner and moving well to avoid counters.

Both men put forth a rousing performance in the third round. Palacios came out bombing with a hard right hand landing flush. Kielczewski came back with a lead right hand and a jab. He began to wing a few uppercuts at Palacios to keep him back, but Palacios kept on coming. Both fighters traded a barrage of shots in the center of the ring at one point. Palacios landed a nice left hook late and a hard right to the head before Kielczewski turned on the heat again with uppercuts at the end of the round.

Both fighters continued the torrid pace through the fourth round with each tasting the canvas. The Polish Prince unleashed some speedy flurried followed by a power 1-2 that dropped Palacios to one knee and forced a standing 8 count early. Palacios responded by brawling his way to his own knockdown of Kielczewski. Kielczewski quickly recovered after being planted on his rear against the ropes briefly. He landed a right and left uppercut later in the round.

Kielczewski fought a more conservative fight in the fifth, connecting with a 1-2 combo to start the round and going back to the jab by the final bell. He landed a few uppercuts as well. Palacios kept going back to the right hook and kept stalking Kielczewski. He landed a right uppercut and a left hook at one point and seemed to be finding his range, but Kielczewski was able to return to the jab to keep the fight at a distance.

The final round was even more action packed with Palacios almost getting himself in trouble early, attacking up to the final bell. The Polish Prince starched Palacios with the steady jab and stunned Palacios at one point with a right uppercut. More impressively, Kielczewski walked through the worst of what Palacios had to offer. Kielczewski showed a kind of ring generalship that belies his work ethic and intense strategic approach to the sport. He knew he needed to box with Palacios going in and paid for it when he tried to brawl. The judges gave Kielczewski the well-earned unanimous decision with scores of 58-52, 58-55, and 57-55.

Another Quincy, MA boxer did not fare so well. Chris Traetti (8-2, 5 KOs) battled valiantly but crumbled under the pressure of Lawrence, MA Boxer Eddie Caminero (6-3, 6 KOs) in their Super Middleweight bout. Caminero displayed early fury, which was wild at first but effective. Traetti did his best to fight back, but Caminero used odd angles and a non-stop attack to drop Traetti for an 8-count late in the round. From that point on Traietti simply didn;t have enough time to regain his senses and couldn’t mount an effective counter attack. Traitti’s eye was cut open by the second round as Caminero came after him with hooks and uppercut and didn’t stop. A few flurried caused Traietti to start stumbling a bit as he plodded after Caminero. The referee looked into Traietti’s eyes at one point, halted the action, and called the fight at 1:15 of Round two to give the TKO to Caminero.

The Roxy crowd answered the challenge laid down by Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. Promoter Jimmy Burchfield to show him that Boston wants to see boxing. He promised at the press conference on this card last week that if the people showed up for boxing in Boston, he would return with more. It’s a pretty safe bet he’ll be back. The place seemed to be filled wall to wall with people at the height of the action, and many stayed as close to the ring as they could up to the very end of the card. Overall is was a finely matched lineup of fights.

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