It was another night of Dibella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing in New York City. Tonight’s venue was the B. B. King Blues Club in the heart of Times Square and featured some thrilling bouts. The headline saw Luis Rosa (11-0, 6 KO’s, 123lbs) take on the tough Derrick Wilson (9-3, 3 KO’s, 122lbs), who is much better than his record shows, as he has made a career out of making good fighters look bad in their own backyards.
Things started off quickly for both fighters. They wasted no time getting to know each other and exchanged hard blows. Wilson was the rangier fighter of the two, landing hard blows from a distance, while Rosa did most of his damage from the inside. It was a perfect clash of styles as both fighters walloped each other for the full eight rounds of a very close fight. Entering the seventh round, the bout seemed even, and Rosa’s hard body work earlier in the fight seemed to be paying off, as Wilson seemed visibly tired. Rosa won that round by being more active. The final scores read 80-72, 77-75, and 77-75 in favor of Rosa, giving him a majority decision victory. The 80-72 score was ridiculous, but the other two scores show that the fight was even going into the final round, so Rosa’s early bodywork coupled with his late aggression won him the fight.
It has been nearly two years since Yuri Foreman (28-2, 8 KO’s, 154lbs) stepped into a boxing ring. He injured his knee against Pawel Wolak in March of 2011, and was forced to undergo reconstruction surgery which kept him out of boxing for longer than he would have liked. Last night, he took on Brandon Baue (12-9, 10 KO’s, 157 ½lbs) in a bout scheduled for six rounds. Foreman opened the fight working behind his jab and using his always elusive lateral movement. His movement seemed perfectly fine, but he made sure to not take too many risks. He was certainly rusty, missing blows that he would have normally landed flush, as well as getting hit with punches that he normally would never get hit by. Either way, Foreman was still dominating. But as the bout progressed, he slowly put things into place and began to let his hands go more. He countered Baue’s right hand constantly, and occasionally worked the body well. Foreman never pressed the action, which forced Baue to throw more and make mistakes; mistakes that Foreman took advantage of time and time again. After six rounds, all three judges scored the fight 60-54 in favor of Foreman, giving him a unanimous decision victory.
In an exciting brawl, Lamar Russ (11-0, 7 KO’s, 161lbs) took on Jose Medina (17-11-1, 7 KO’s, 162lbs). Russ worked from a distance with a solid jab and right hook. It was Russ who got things going early with his hard blows. Medina came back with a right hand counter that stopped Russ in his tracks, but that was only for a moment as he came back with more big punches. These back and forth exchanges continued for the full eight rounds, but it was Russ whose punches came at a much higher volume. The final scores read 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75.
The popular Heather Hardy (3-0, 0 KO’s, 122lbs) took to the ring against Margaret Maerz (2-2-1, 0 KO’s, 119lbs). All of Hardy’s fights have featured nonstop action, and this one was no different. Hardy’s right hook landed with frequency throughout the bout, but Maerz also sported a solid straight right that kept Hardy’s onslaught in check. In the end, Hardy was too much and won with scores of 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37 for a unanimous decision.
Delen Parsley (9-0, 2 KO’s, 159lbs) needed only two rounds to dispose of Tyron Selders (8-4, 6 KO’s, 160lbs). The first round saw Selders in control with an extremely high work rate. As the round was about to end, he surged towards Parsley, who was unloading a counter just as the bell rang. A split second after the bell rang, that counter right hand landed flush on Selders chin. He barely beat the count and staggered back to his corner. The second round saw Selders get his legs back under him and continue his aggression, but Parsley knew that his power would make a difference. He threw much more, and battered Selders over the course of the second round. In between rounds, Selders corner had to stop the bout as he had taken too much punishment. The official ruling is a TKO at :00 of the third round.
In his professional debut, heavyweight Eugene Russell (240lbs) made short work of Granson Clark (1-1, 1 KO, 219lbs), needing only 2:51 seconds to hammer down his opponent. He was victorious with a KO victory in front of his fans from the Queensbridge section of Queens, NY.
Skender Halili (7-0, 7 KO’s, 148lbs) looked to keep his perfect record intact when he took on Roberto Crespo (4-2, 0 KO’s, 147 ½lbs). The bout opened up with both fighters working their jab. Halili showcased an extremely powerful jab that often stopped Crespo in his tracks. Things began to heat up in the second. Halili had staggered Crespo with a jab and rushed forward hoping to lay some leather onto a back tracking Crespo, when out of nowhere, Crespo landed a right hook onto Halili’s temple, sending him down. Halili made it to his feet before the referee could even begin his count, but Crespo left an impression on Halili and the fans that we were in for a fight. Crespo finished off the round strong. Halili continued to work his jab, maintaining a safe distance and only coming in when he desired. Every punch he threw had bad intentions behind it. Not one punch was thrown in order to set up another. Instead, he threw his jab as if he was hoping to score a knockout off of it. A sight rarely seen.
As the bout progressed, Halili continued to come forward and land hard blows, while occasionally taking hard counterpunches in return. Then, out of nowhere, a short left uppercut on the inside sent Crespo down. He beat the count, but on shaky legs, and Halili pounced. This time, a left hook sent Crespo down for a second time. Crespo barely beat that count, and before any more damage could be done, he was saved by the bell. Entering the final round, fans in attendance wondered if Halili would go for broke and try and score a knockout. The two knockdowns essentially erased any doubt as to whether or not he was going to win the fight on points. He was surely ahead at that point. As the bell sounded for the final round, Halili stormed out of his corner and continued to apply the pressure. But Crespo defended himself well and stayed on his feet. About halfway through the round, Halili seemed to settle down. He stuck out his jab and appeared to be working his way towards a decision victory. But he had other things in mind. He lulled his opponent into thinking that things had died down, and that created an opening for Halili to unleash another left uppercut that landed square on Crespo’s chin. He was down for a third time, and the referee waved the fight off. Halili maintains his perfect record with a TKO victory at 2:40 of the 6th round.
Patrick Day (155lbs) scored an impressive 59 second knockout victory over Zachariah Kelley (1-1, 1 KO, 156lbs) in their bout.
Neuky Santelises (2-0, 1 KO, 133lbs) opened up the evening with a 2nd round knockout victory over Juan Javier Guerrero (0-0-1, 0 KO’s, 132lbs) at the :22 mark.
