Baldomir Shocks Judah
By Marc Abrams and Arben Paloka ringside
New York—(January 7, 200) Don King and New York proved once again that they are a perfect match as a world championship triple header promoted by the legendary promoter had many theatrics with all three titles changing hands including a shocking result with Carlos Baldomir upsetting the heavy favored Zab Judah at The Theatre At Madison Square Garden.
Judah, 146 ¾ lbs of Brooklyn tried to intimidate Baldomir even before the bell by shoving the challenger during the referees instructions. Judah and Baldomir waltzed around the ring for the first few rounds before Judah started to seemingly find a little rythem in round five. The fight took a dramatic turn in round seven as Baldomir, 146 ¼ lbs from Santa Fe, Argentina drilled Judah with a straight that had the Brooklyn native more then startled as he held on dear life to survive the round. The punch gave the challenger all the confidence he needed as he started pressing the action and landed punches with both hands that surprised the crowd of more then 4,700 at The Theatre. Judah had brief flurries of offense in an otherwise lethargic performance and Baldomir seized his golden opportunity at being called world champion. When the verdict was read Baldomir squeaked out a unanimous decision to capture the WBC belt by scores of 115-112, 115-113, and 114-113 (the other two sanctioning belts were not on the line as Baldomir wasn’t ranked in either the IBF or WBA). In the end it may have been a case of looking ahead to a potential mega payday against Floyd Mayweather in April, but Judah offered no excuses, “Baldomir is a good fighter, He took the fight to me. I will be back” said the now former world champion who drops to 34-3. Despite being a huge underdog, Baldomir showed lots of courage and was undaunted about fighting in the champion’s hometown. “I said before the fight that this will be better then the Cinderella Story. This is a dream come true. I am the new Cinderella man.” Baldomir now has a record of 42-9-6.
The co-feature lived up to its pre-fight billing of a rough and tumble contest as O’Neil Bell withstood an early surge by France’s Jean-Marc Mormeck to retain his IBF and capture Mormeck’s WBA and WBC titles with a TKO at 2:50 of round ten. Mormeck, 197 ¾ lbs of Pointe-a-Pitre, France started the first few round in typical fashion, throwing a lot of punches in the chest of his opponent. In round two, he drilled Bell with a flush uppercut that knocked the mouthpiece right out of the Atlanta native. In round four, Mormeck landed a big right that snapped the head of Bell right back. Bell, 199 1/2 lbs got right back in the fight in round seven by drilling Mormeck repeatedly. Mormeck seemed to be very weary towards the end of that round. Bell hurt Mormeck again in round ten with a big right that set off a barrage of punches that floored Mormeck for the first time in his career and was counted out at 2:50 of that tenth round. Bell becomes the first undisputed champion since 1988 in the Cruiserweight division, was ahead on two scorecards going into that pivotal tenth frame. Bell, who upped his record to 26-1-1 with 24 stoppages, stated he would like to face number-one ranked contender Steve Cunningham in his next bout. Mormeck falls to 31-3.
Ulises Solis, 108, Guadalajara, Mexico fought through a lot of blood to capture the IBF Light Flyweight championship by way of a unanimous decision over Will Grigsby by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. Grigsby and Solis fought a tough inside pace that had Solis getting the better of a lot of exchanges. Grigsby, 107 lbs of St. Paul, Minnesota showed a champions heart as well as he would land the occasional right hand to try to fend off the volume of Solis. Solis wins his first world title and is now 20-1-1. Grigsby, who was making his first defense, falls to 18-3-1.
Mark Suarez, 146 ¼ lbs needed just 44 seconds to dispose of James Webb, 146 lbs of Columbia, Tennessee in an IBF Eliminator in the Welterweight division. Webb was aggressive throwing a volume of punches that opened up angles to be countered. Suarez did just that by landing a thudding left hook to the body that was followed by a seven punch barrage sent Webb to the canvas. Referee Steve Willis called it off as Webb made no effort to reach his feet. Suarez of Riverside, California now is in position to fight for a title that was vacated by the Judah loss and improves his record 25-2 with 13 knockouts. This was Suarez seventh consecutive stoppage. Webb suffers his first defeat and is now 18-1.
Elio Rojas, 127 ½ lbs of Brooklyn, New York floored Tiger Smalls, 126 lbs of Freeport, New York two times in round one en route to a first round stoppage of a scheduled eight round Featherweight bout. The good looking prospect improves to 15-0 with 11 stoppages. Smalls falls to 17-10-1.
Former three time Middleweight champ. William Joppy, 170 lbs of Washington D.C. battered Erik Howard, 168 ¼ lbs of Crossville, Tennessee and ultimately score a fifth round stoppage at 2:12 of round five of a scheduled eight round Light Heavyweight bout. Joppy looked sharp with his punches and floored Howard in the fourth. Finally in round five, Referee Eddie Claudio saw enough and waved it off at the 2:12 mark. Joppy improves to 36-4-1 with 27 knockouts. Howard is now 11-10-1.
Steve “USS” Cunningham, 189 ¼ of Philadelphia stayed busy and dominated Lloyd Bryan, 185 ½ lbs of Memphis. Cunningham dominated from the opening bell by landing combinations to both the head and body of Bryan. Cunningham used his height and reach advantage to control the action from the outset. Referee Sammy Viruet had finally seen enough in round five as Cunningham continued to land at will. Viruet stopped the fight at 1:40 of round five. Cunningham, 19-0 with 10 knockouts will now seek a shot at new undisputed champion, O’Neil Bell at some point in 2006. Bryan is now 21-12-9.
Owen Beck, 246, Nashville, Tennessee was cut early but manage to fight hard to score a eight round unanimous decision over Darnell Wilson, 210 lbs of Middleton, MD in a Heavyweight bout. Beck gets back in the win column and is now 25-2. Wilson falls to 18-3-3.
Bermane Stiverne, 241 lbs of Las Vegas obliterated John Turlington, 213 lbs of Sullivan, MO at 2:23 of round one of a scheduled four round Heavyweight bout. Stiverne is 5-0 with five first round stoppages. Turlington is 5-8-1.
It wasn’t a total lost night for the Judah family as Zab’s brother Josiah, 160 lbs, of Brooklyn scored a four round unanimous decision over Franklin Edmundson, 164 ½ of Winston-Salem, NC in a Super Middleweight bout. Scores were 40-36 on two cards and 39-37 on the third card. Judah is now 5-0. Edmundson slips to 3-8-3.
