Jones pounds Venegas over Eight rounds

By Marc Abrams (Ringside)

Although he went the distance for the second consecutive fight, Welterweight Mike Jones may have turned in his most complete performance as he dominated iron chinned Gilbert Venegas over eight round to win a unanimous decision at The New Alhambra in South Philadelphia.

Jones began to use his jab early in the fight as he used he decided height advantage to keep Venegas at bat. Jones really started to open up in round two as Venegas came forward and landed a couple combinations but that was to his detriment as Jones began throwing body punches with solid force behind them. When Jones worked upstairs the fruits of his labor showed in the form of swelling around the right eye of Venegas which was evident in round two. Jones continued to flurry over the next few rounds.

Jones landed a big right hand in round six which may have hurt Jones as he did not use that hand much over the last half of the fight. What that caused Jones to do was use his left and his jab was great. He used the jab to set up power lefts and some solid rights. In round seven, Venegas right eye was closing. Towards the end of that round, Jones was solid with the jab that set up a three punch combination and then two body shots. These punches landed flush but Venegas took them and kept coming forward. Jones showed great speed in the last round, proving that stamina would not be an issue on this night. He closed the show with some great combination punching which actually showcased Venegas determination as Jones landed a booming uppercut that closed the show.

Jones, 147 lbs of Philadelphia remained undefeated at 14-0 by winning all cards by 80-72 tallies. Venegas, 146 lbs of Chicago is now 10-6-3.

Ryan Belasco gained a hard fought fifth round stoppage over the popular Victor Vasquez when the latter could not continue due to grotesque swelling around the left eye.

This was an entertaining scrap as both fighters took turns leading and countering. The first two rounds were very close with each guy making a stand in each round. (Vasquez landed a big leaping left hook at the end of the first and Belasco landed some shots in round two). Belasco landed some good rights at the end of round three. When Vasquez walked back to his corner at the end of that frame, a bad swelling started to develop around the left eye. Belasco was smart as focused on the eye by landing some straight right hands over the remainder of the fight. The ringside doctor started checking Vasquez at the end of round four and the damage was bad enough that fight could have been stopped right there. Belasco was sharp shooting the eye in round five. In the middle of the round, The doctor checked on Vasquez and let him finish the round. Vasquez put up one last stand and his vocal following with loving it. At the end of the round, the swelling was looking horrible and the eye was totally shut and the fight was wisely called off at the end of the fifth.

Belasco, 137 1/2 lbs of Wilmington, Delaware is now 7-2-3 with two stoppages. Vasquez, 136 lbs of Philadelphia is now 7-2.

Gabriel Rosado was workmanlike in pounding out a six round unanimous decision over Mustafah Johnson in a middleweight affair.

Rosado used his height and boxed nicely over the last four rounds. Rosado opened it up and landed some thudding shots over the final six minutes and closed what was a fight that void of action into a pretty good fight in the final two frames.

Rosado, 157 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 9-2. Johnson, 156 lbs of Indianapolis, Indiana is now 5-4-1.

Dennis Hasson remained undefeated with a stoppage over Charles Kirby after round one of a scheduled four round Super Middleweight bout.

Hasson rocked Kirby on three separate occasions for which Kirby was knocked off balance and almost down. Hasson was much too strong and the corner sensed that by not sending their man out for the second.

Hasson, 166 lbs of the Kensington section of Philadelphia is now 2-0 with one knockout. Kirby, 167 lbs of North Philadelphia is 1-4.

Anthony Flores used a height advantage to fend off Darrell Martin by winning a four round unanimous decision in a Jr. Lightweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Flores, 130 lbs of Philadelphia to go to 2-0. Martin, 130 lbs of Baltimore, Maryland 2-3.

Tommy Garcia landed enough punches to score a four round majority decision over Travis Thompson in a Lightweight bout.

Garcia, 133 lbs of Hartford, Connecticut won by scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 38-38 to go to 2-1. Thompson, 131 lbs of Pottstown, Pa is 2-2.

Ahmed Samir scored two first round knockdown en route to four round unanimous decision over Pedro Martinez in a cruiserweight bout.

Samir dropped Martinez twice in the first round with the first coming from a hard over hand right and the second from a right behind the head. Samir then went into a holding mode that would have made John Ruiz proud to win by scores of 39-35, 39-35 & 38-36.

Samir, 195 lbs of New York is now 2-0. Martinez, 191 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-1.

Larry Robinson scored two hard knockdowns and booming right hands to stop William Bailey at 2:33 of round one of their scheduled six round Cruiserweight bout.

Robinson, 193 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is 9-3 with seven knockouts. Bailey, 193 3/4 lbs of Chesapeake, Va is now 8-14-2