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Jaron Boots Ennis vs David Avanesyan Fight Report by King P

Great to be back at a Matchroom event! This time I am in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center to see the Matchroom debut of Jaron “Boots” Ennis. Looking forward to seeing him fight in front of his hometown crowd.

 The night kicked off with young prospect Dennis Thompson making his pro debut at Bantamweight in his hometown against Fernando Valdez. Thompson showed good variety on offense, including a barrage of body punches. Rocked Valdez with hooks and uppercuts, Valdez is hanging in though. Thompson was in control all four rounds and cruised to an easy UD (40-36 3x).

Young welterweight Ismail Muhammad took on Frank Brown. In the opening minute, Muhammad gets dropped by Brown in an exchange of punches (which ended in a clash of heads). Ismail gets up and does well the rest of the round though. The clash of heads results in a mouse under Brown’s eye, and a cut above. Muhammad took control in the second round though, as he fought behind the jab and rocked Brown a couple times. Brown came back the next round more aggressively and made Ismail uncomfortable. Muhammad dropped Brown in the fourth with a short left cross. After 6 rounds where both fighters traded knockdowns, Ismail Muhammad was declared the winner by UD (58-54 2x, 57-55).

Christian Carto took on Carlos Buitrago. Good action in the first round, as both fighters were able to get excellent work in. Buitrago was able to successfully pressure Carto in spurts and land good shots. Carto also had some nice shoeshine combinations in between. Good second round by Carto, as he increased his work rate and landed more body punches. Carto drops Buitrago in the third with a nice uppercut and ends the round with a nice barrage of punches. The ref calls off the fight at the end of the third while Buitrago is on his stool.

Next up was Christopher Diaz taking on Derlyn Hernandez. The fight ended early, as Diaz rocked Hernandez in the second round and continued to pummel him until the ref stepped in to stop the fight. Khalil Coe taking on a replacement opponent in Kwame Ritter. The first round was rough, but the action picked up in the 2nd and Coe scored a knockdown. Then continued to pummel Ritter for the rest of the round until the ref stepped in and stopped it.

After we had WBC Featherweight champion Skye Nicolson defending her title against Dyana Vargas. This was an easy shutout for Nicolson, who styled Vargas the whole fight. Vargas has power, but she has no way of setting anything up. Skye jabbed and 1-2’d her all night. At 1 point Vargas tried to taunt Skye and call her a chicken, only for Nicolson to pop her for a hard 1-2 that stunned Vargas. Skye cruised to an easy shutout victory.

It’s the co-main event. Young welterweight Jalil Hackett steps up in opposition to take on Peter Dobson. Pete is a rugged vet who gave Conor Benn a tough time. So, it was going to be interesting to see what Hackett does. Jalil got off to a fast start, boxing up Pete very well. He was able to find a home for that left hook to land all night. However, as the fight wore on, Dobson was able to make a comeback. Not sure if Hackett gassed or just took his foot off the gas. Either way, Pete was able to take advantage and win the last couple rounds to make it even closer. Hackett was still able to leave with a unanimous decision.

Finally, we get to the main event. Jaron “Boots” Ennis defends his IBF Welterweight title against the late replacement in David Avanesyan. Ennis started off in the pocket trading with Avanesyan, and clearly getting the better of the exchanges. Boots was getting hit a bit, but his offense was overwhelming David so he could afford to take a couple punches to get his punches off. The body attack was quickly taking its toll on Avanesyan. In the fifth round, Avanesyan was finally knocked down. He got up but was served more body shots that were clearly punishing him. After the round, Avanesyan’s corner had enough and waved it off.

In the post-fight press conference, Ennis mentioned that he was not as sharp as he wanted to be due to the layoff. The ring rust definitely affected his timing, but he was still satisfied that he got the job done. Boots made it clear that he wants Crawford and is hoping that Eddie Hearn and Turki Alalshikh can make the fight happen. Only time will tell if that fight gets made, Until next time…

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Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan – Fight Report by King P

It is great to be back at a Top Rank event once again. This time in Newark, New Jersey to see the hometown kid Shakur Stevenson make his first defense of his WBC Lightweight title. Interested in seeing how he looks after his critically panned performance against Edwin De Los Santos.

The card started with young Heavyweight prospect Ali Feliz taking on Robson Perez in a 4-round bout. Ali spent every round using his boxing to shut out Perez. Nice jab, good combination punching, and some nice body shots were all used to secure the victory. Feliz seemed content using his boxing skills and not trying to get Robson out of there with his power. Good showing by Felix nonetheless.

Next up was Kelvin Davis (brother of Keyshawn) taking on Kevin Johnson. There was a lot of back and forth between Johnson and the Davis bros at the weigh in, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing how it would transfer to the real fight. The actual fight started off slow, not much action to start. Things finally picked up in the fourth round as the fighters became more aggressive and started upping their activity. Kevin had some nice body shots and Kelvin had some good counters. Johnson was able to rally in the latter half of the fight, as he was landing more on Kelvin and making him uncomfortable. After 8 rounds, Kelvin was declared the winner by majority decision (78-74 2x, 76-76).

Next fight was local fighter Keith Colon, making his pro debut at Featherweight against Hunter Turbyfill. Colon came out guns blazing in his debut, tagging Hunter with body shots and hard right hands. Colon put Turbyfill down in the second and continued to punish him with shots to the body and head until the ref waved it off. The crowd loudly cheered for the hometown kid as he made a statement in his pro debut. Looking to see more of Colon in the future.

Next fight was William Foster taking on Eridson Garcia. Garcia looked sharp, establishing his boxing skills and power early against Foster. He hurt Foster early a couple times, though Foster was able to weather the storm. It was quickly evident that Foster did not have much for Garcia, struggling to keep up with Erdison’s pace. Garcia lit up Foster all night, claiming a dominant UD victory.

The main card kicked off with exciting young prospect Abdullah Mason. Mason has earned a ton of praise from the fans and pundits alike, touting him to be a future elite/star fighter. In his first fight on ESPN, he takes on a tough and crafty veteran in Luis Lebron. Abdullah told me personally that he was aiming to make a statement and knock Lebron out. Well in the second round, Lebron was already busted up and bruised like he went through ten rounds. Mason proceeded to knock down Lebron 2x, and continued to pummel him until the corner mercifully stopped the fight. A statement was made. Abdullah Mason has a bright future ahead of him, and fights like the show exactly why.

Following up Abdullah Mason was another hot young prospect in Keyshawn Davis, as he took on rugged veteran Miguel Madueno. Madueno definitely was on the front foot all fight and used his relentless pressure to try and get to Davis. But Keyshawn used his boxing to counter and pick off Madueno every time he came in. Madueno is tough, so he was able to take everything Davis dished out. After the sixth round is when things started getting hectic. Keyshawn hit Madueno after the bell, and Madueno got in his face. From the seventh round on, it turned into what could be described as a wrestle fest. A lot of holding, grabbing, and a couple of takedowns to the canvas. Keyshawn was still able to counterpunch in between the rough housing moments, on his way to a UD victory.

Next up was the co-main and what turned out to be the most controversial fight of the night: O’Shaquie Foster defended his WBC 130 title against veteran Robson Conceicao. The actual fight was nothing to write home about. Foster controlled the fight with his job and was able to outland Conceicao as Robson mostly swung at air. The crowd was bored, restless, and was booing by the fifth round. It was so bad that in the 12th round the fans were counting down after 10 seconds like WWE fans during the Royal Rumble, and they loudly cheered when the buzzer went off at 0. Everybody was happy the fight was over, and patiently waited for the scorecards to be read so that the main event could get started. The scores took a while to be read, and then we finally got the result: Robson Conceicao was declared the winner by split decision! 116-112 and 115-113 were the scores for Conceicao (the lone score for Foster was 116-112). Loud boos reigned down from the crowd, Foster was visibly distraught, and every boxer took to social media and voiced their displeasure. Although the fight was boring to the fans, they still believed Foster was the rightful winner and they made no qualms about voicing their displeasure. One can only hope this wrong is somehow righted in the near future.

And finally it is time for the main event. Shakur Stevenson makes his return to the ring to face Artem Harutyunyan. Fight started off slow as Shakur used the early rounds to figure out Artem. By round four though, he had Artem’s rhythm down pat and methodically picked him apart. Throwing 1-2 punch combos to the head and body. Artem did not stand straight in front of Shakur, but Shakur’s elusiveness made it tough for Artem to land anything of note. He tried to come forward and up the output, but Shakur countered him the times he got close. By the 9th round Shakur was in complete cruise control, opting not to step on the gas and take it to Artem. By then the fans were booing and many started making their way towards the exit. By the 11th round it became very noticeable that fans were not interested in sticking around to see an uneventful UD, and they started leaving in droves. The 12th round came and went, and Shakur was declared the winner by UD.

After the fight, Shakur said he did not feel the need to try and stop Artem. He weighed in on his future, saying he would take things one step at a time. He was a free agent and was going to go home and talk things out with his team to see what his next best move was. He also threw shots at Lomachenko, saying Bob was protecting him. Seems evident that Shakur will not be getting that fight. The world now patiently waits to see what Shakur’s next move is, and if he will try to do something to get himself closer to a fight with Tank. But we will have to wait a while to see how that unfolds. Until next time…

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Teofimo Lopez vs. Steve Claggett – 6/29/2024 Fight Report by Shutterworth

The last time I covered a live boxing event it was back in January 2020 and was the only event any Ring Gang Radio member would attend that year because the world changed significantly after Jake Paul’s first professional fight. Hopefully no pandemic is on the horizon at the moment. Well, lets get to the night of fights and my reintroduction to covering boxing events. The night started off chaotic because due to unforeseen circumstances, I reached the James L Knight center late. From there I proceeded with the wild goose chase to get my credentials. After speaking with a half dozen people and searching several corridors and rooms, I was finally able to locate the space allocated for Top Rank. I picked up my credential and now I’m official.

I arrived at my seat midway through the 5th round of the Elvis Rodriguez vs Jino Rodrigo bout around 8:47pm.

6th Round – Elvis controls the round with pressure and a jab. Rodrigo landed a good body shot.

7th Round – Rodrigo is now stalking Elvis and lands lots of body shots in the beginning. They proceed to get into more exchanges where lots of hooks are landed upstairs and downstairs from both fighters.

8th Round – This round is a bit more chippy as Elvis manages to buzz Rodrigo a few times with well placed hooks while forcing exchanges.

9th Round – Both boxers have been trading rounds with aggression. They clinch more in this round than the previous ones. Elvis manages to find a home for the straight left now.

10th Round – More exchanges happen between both combatants. They clinch as they get tired and the exchanges become more sporadic. Elvis gets buzzed and slightly hurt during this round.

Verdict – Elvis wins a unanimous decision, but didn’t look as dominant as the scores indicated. Keep in mind I only saw half the fight.

Emilliano Fernando Vargas vs Jose Zaragoza

1st Round – Vargas starts off pressure boxing and scores a mean knockdown with a big right hand. Zaragoza gets up and proceeds to get pummeled for another 20 seconds until the referee mercifully stops it. Great performance from Vargas. That young man is going places.

Nico Ali Walsh vs Sona Akale 2

1st Round – Ali is out for blood in the highly anticipated rematch and starts off aggressive. He lands several heavy right hands. One stuns Akale who only managed to land some decent jabs during the round.

2nd Round – Ali boxes more and relents on the pressure. Akale does a good job of controlling the round with jabs to the body. This round was closer due to Ali being on the back-foot more and creating less exchanges.

3rd Round – So far, Ali’s defense seems better than it was for the first fight. This is probably because he’s trying to box more. Akale is struggling to get consistent offense going while Ali lands the jab. Akale finally lands a hard right hand that rocks and sends Ali into a corner. The crowd erupts when they start trading and Ali scores a big knockdown with a nice right hand.

4th Round – Akale increases the pressure and lands a couple of hard right hands on Ali who is now running away from his opponent instead of boxing. Akale continues to chase Ali to the ropes where Ali valiantly fights back to stifle the offense of his opponent to no avail.

5th Round – Ali continues to get worked on the ropes all while Akale manages to find a home for his overhand right. He lands this punch almost at will and begins to hurt Ali more often now, especially in the last 30 seconds of the round.

6th Round – Ali starts to box again on the move, He starts pushing his right hand due to being exhausted. He looks like he hurt his shoulder and starts to move even more while Akale continues to work the body. Although, Akale batters Ali around the ring for the final round, he never hurts him as badly as he did in the previous round.

Verdict – Ali wins a controversial unanimous decision and is met by a symphony of boos from everyone in attendance. Everyone in the theater was in shock as they heard the decision. Ali showed grit, but still came up short against Akale who improved his punching technique from the first fight. Lucky for him, the official judges saw it differently.

Brandon Lee Benitez vs Robeisy Ramirez

1st Round – Ramirez controlled the round with his jab. Neither landed much,but Ramirez stayed in control as the ring general.

2nd Round – Benitez is following Ramirez, but not throwing much. Ramirez finally connects with a big straight left. Benitez starts getting a little more consistent and begins to target the body. Ramirez stalks behind a jab and gets more offensive, finishing the round with a hard left to the body.

3rd Round – Benitez ups the pressure and pays for with combinations an aggression from Ramirez who is starting to have his way offensively. He lands body and head combos on Benitez repeatedly.

4th Round – Benitez finally gets his offense going consistently by body punching. Unfortunately, Ramirez is making him pay for it every step of the way. Ramirez is moving around more while still landing hard shots.

5th Round – Ramirez picking his shots while Benitez tries to hang tough while still coming forward. Ramirez buzzed Benitez during this round as well.

6th Round – The pace has slowed down, but Ramirez continues to dominate by landing hard counters. Benitez is still landing the occasional hard body shot.

7th Round – Benitez is still applying pressure and landing body shot combos. He doesn’t seem to be discouraged by the hard punching Ramirez who starts to take a breather during this round. After a quick break, he turns it up again and starts landing a vicious succession of punches. Ramirez scores a double uppercut brutal knockdown. The crowd goes wild. Great showing by Ramirez.

Steve Claggett vs Teofimo Lopez

1st Round – We now reach the main event of tonight’s broadcast. Claggett starts off fast with the pressure. Teofimo gets caught with some jabs, but responds with hard counter punches. Very competitive round.

2nd Round – Claggett gets Teofimo to move backwards quickly due to his unrelenting pressure, but Teofimo responds with some nice counters to the body and the head. Teofimo’s defense is leaving a lot to be desired as Claggett opens up more offensively.

3rd Round – At this point, Teofimo is going life and death with Claggett as they repeatedly exchange punches with each other. Teofimo’s only saving grace is that his punches are more impactful.

4th Round – Teofimo continues to land quality punches, but they come one at a time and in between Claggett’s spirited rallies. Teofimo continues to give up ground and go to the ropes while Claggett marches forward, the least bit discouraged.

5th Round – Although during certain exchanges Claggett appears to be getting dog walked, he is tough and continues to make Teofimo back up who responds with some hard uppercuts. Claggett answers back with triple jabs every time Teofimo manages to get the better of the exchanges.

6th Round – Both boxers are throwing much more than before. Claggett increased his work rate, but still not landing as much as Teofimo who tees off on certain shots. The damage from Claggetts jabs are starting to show on Teofimo’s face. This was another competitive round.

7th Round – Teofimo is continuing to struggle with controlling the ring as he’s repeatedly forced to the ropes. For every hard punch he lands, he eats three Claggett jabs in return. Claggett even manages to land some chopping right hands on the inside and is having one of his better rounds. Teofimo bounces back towards the end of the round by unleashing a heavy barrage of punches on Claggett.

8th Round – Teofimo begins the round eating more jabs and the fight is now getting repetitive at this point. Teofimo must have noticed the disinterest in the crowd because he turns everything around halfway into the round and stuns Claggett badly, almost stopping him on the ropes. Claggett survives this rough spot and Teo has his most dominant round in the fight.

9th Round – Teofimo finally has full control of the ring and looked as if he caught his second wind offensively.

10th Round – Teofimo is dominating now and has tamed the game Claggett who hasn’t completely given up yet. Claggett hasn’t landed anything significant in a while and gets hurt again by Teofimo with a hard combination.

11th Round – Claggett tries to stage a late fight comeback and keeps Teofimo on the ropes. Teofimo is still landing hard punches, just not as frequently as before. This is probably the closest round since Claggett got hurt badly in the 8th.

12th Round – Teofimo power boxes through the final round, but still gets tagged a lot by Claggett who’s pressure went up a notch. Both fighters exchange blows until the final bell.

Verdict – Teofimo Lopez wins a wide unanimous decision, but is was far from an easy night of work. His face wore the wounds of someone who had a 12 round war and not a lop-sided decision. Teofimo made the fight much harder than it needed to be, but the fans didn’t mind the fun scrap between the two.

All in all, this was a pretty entertaining night of fights presented by Top Rank and ESPN. The card’s pace flowed pretty quickly and the fans were able to get some brutal knockouts along with some spirited combat. What more could you ask for? Hopefully, It won’t take another 4 years to cover a fight, but we’ll see.