THE BLUE HORIZON RINGISIDE REPORT
Posted on | October 15, 2007 | 2 Comments
Blue Horizon Boxing Results 10-12-07
Yorgey Avenges Draw Against Clay
By Tony Penecale (at Ringside)
The first blemish on a boxer’s record is always a tough pill to swallow. Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis didn’t feel like the true champion until he avenged his first loss to Max Schmeling.
For fast rising contender, Harry Joe Yorgey, the opportunity to avenge his first blemish, a split draw against Martinus Clay 11 months ago, came this past Friday night, at a packed Blue Horizon in North Philadelphia.
While his performance wasn’t as dominant as the one-round annihilation Louis won over Schmeling, it was an impressive performance for the 29-year-old native of Bridgeport PA.
Yorgey, 154, opened the bout boxing behind a sharp jab, which he used to keep Clay, 154, Wilson NC, off-balance. The exchanges were few early as Clay was content to move and give angles. The pace picked up in the 2nd round as the surprisingly quick Clay was able to land a series of light punches while Yorgey countered with the heavier punches, punctuated with several hard body shots.
The action was back-and-forth over the middle rounds as Yorgey continued to move forward behind a sharp jab and land the harder blows. Showing no discouragement, Clay kept firing back when tagged, and was able to mark up the area around Yorgey’s eyes.
Sensing he was behind, Clay started to pick up the pace in the 7th round and pin Yorgey on the ropes with a volley of straight punches. Yorgey countered Clay’s offense, firing hard bodyshots and uppercuts which backed his opponent off of him.
Over the last three rounds, the fans were treated to some excellent technical boxing with both fighters exchanging toe-to-toe, countering each other’s offerings. At the final bell, the fans showed their appreciation with a standing ovation.
The unanimous tally went in Yorgey’s favor by scores of 96-94 and 98-92 (twice). This reported favored Yorgey by the score 97-93. With the victory, Yorgey improves to 20-0-1 (9) while Clay falls to a very deceiving 12-18-2 (4).
In the co-feature, untested heavyweight Faruq Saleem took a big step up in class, winning a close and somewhat unpopular over heavyweight trailhorse Sedreck Fields. Although Saleem came in the glistening undefeated record, it was the sub-.500 Fields who has been in with a who’s who of heavyweight boxing over the last decade.
Saleem,245, Newark NJ opened the bout boxing and looking for openings while Fields was content to be more of “Sedreck the Entertainer”, dancing , clowning and making faces. A Saleem punch after the bell angered Fields and a low blow in the 2nd had Fields on the verge of losing control.
Fields started to punch more in the 3rd round and although he was getting the worse of the exchanges, the momentum was changing as Saleem seemed unaccustomed to an opponent who didn’t crumble in front of him. The momentum made its full swing in the 4th as Fields was now in the groove, backing Saleem up and landed volleys of punches.
While Saleem was showing a lack of confidence, Fields was blowing his chance to win as he was content to point into the crowd and interact with the fans after almost every exchange.
At the end of six rounds, Saleem was completely spent with an energized Fields dancing on the ropes, sure of a rare victory. Two judges did not agree with him, awarding Saleem the decision by the score of 58-56, while the third judge scored it even at 57-57, as did this reporter.
Saleem sees his record improve to 37-0 (32) while Fields dips to 22-35-2 (16). There is talk of matching Saleem with popular slugger Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell who has become a popular icon at the Blue Horizon.
In other bouts:
Junior Welterweight Prospect, “Hammerin” Hank Lundy made short work of late substitute Starr Johnson. Lundy, who was originally scheduled to take on former title challenger John Brown, took out his frustrations on Johnson, attacking him from the opening bell.
Lundy, 140, Philadelphia, neutralized Johnson’s significant advantages in height and reach, pinning him on the ropes. A lead left hook deposited Johnson, 146, Killeen TX, on the canvas where he barely beat the count. Lundy swarmed like a shark to blood and after a few seconds, Johnson was on the canvas again, where the bout was stopped.
Lundy keeps his undefeated record intact and now resides at 9-0 (6) while Johnson falls to 3-17-1 (2).
Louis Castro made his pro debut short and sweet with a destruction in 52 seconds over Elias Castillo. Castro, 132, Philadelphia ambushed the winless Castillo, 130, New York NY, immediately pinning him in his own corner and unleashing a vicious assault of right hands and body shots. Castillo was never able to escape the carnage and as he started slumping to the canvas, the referee wisely halted the contest.
Castro wins his pro debut to see his record at 1-0 (1) while Castillo still has the winless monkey on his back and is now 0-3
Popular Philadelphia female fighter Olivia Fonseca ran into a buzzsaw in the rugged and more-experienced Kimberly Harris. Fonseca, 152, came straight ahead early and ignored her height and reach advantage which put her right in her opponent’s danger zone. Harris, 151, Tampa FL, took full advantage and started punching at the opening bell.
Harris found a home for her right hand, repeatedly landing it over Fonseca’s low guard, which allowed to her control the first three stanzas. Fonseca showed true heart, firing back when hurt, but she was clearly outgunned, and her 4th round rally was too late, as Harris won the decision by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 (twice).
Harris improves her record to 5-9 while Fonseca dips to 1-1-1 (1).
Jules Blackwell, another local prospect, had a tough time with fellow southpaw Arthur Parker, before prevailing by majority decision.
Blackwell, 123, Phoenixville PA, used his longer arms to keep the shorter Parker, 123, Lancaster PA at bay, but had problems landing punches against Parker’s awkward defensive style. Unfortunately for Parker, his skills in offense were not on par with his defensive skills which let Blackwell control the pace and tempo over the course of the bout.
At the end, Blackwell was awarded a majority decision with two judges scoring him the victor by the counts of 40-36 and 39-37, while the third judge turned in a curious 38-38 score.
Blackwell also keeps his undefeated record intact and is now 6-0 (2) while Parker falls to 1-4 (1).
In what turned out to be a rough affair, undefeated Tommy Rainone was ultimately too fast and too slick for Jaime Morales. The southpaw Rainone, 148, New York NY, boxed early, giving angles and landing straight lefts while Morales was able to break through with several counters.
The bout started getting dirty in the 2nd and 3rd rounds with both boxers fouling on the inside with low blows and rabbit punches. Over the course of the final three rounds, Rainone was just too fast, much to the crowd’s chagrin, as they cheered on the few occasions that Morales was able to land a solid punch.
In the end, it was Rainone who prevailed by scores of 59-54 and 58-54 (twice).
Rainone also remains undefeated at 9-0 (2) while Morales falls to under .500 and is now 4-5 (2).
One-time surefire prospect and contestant on “The Contender: Season Two”, Aaron Torres was looking to rebound from a five-bout losing streak against Manuel Guzman.
Torres, 145, Philadelphia, used his advantages in speed and boxing skill to outbox and outmaneuver Guzman, 147, Lancaster PA. While it wasn’t a stellar eye-opener, it was a solid performance.
Torres won on all three scorecards by the tally of 59-55 and is now back in the win column at 15-6 (6), while Guzman is now 3-4 (2).
Boxing returns to the Legendary Blue Horizon on Friday, December 7 with boxers TBA.