Jermain Franklin Jr. remained undefeated with a 10-round split decision over Jerry Forrest in a heavyweight bout at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
It seemed that Forrest may have landed the better shots and deserved the nod, but two judges ruled in favor of Franklin by 97-93 tallies, while Forrest took a card 96-95.
Franklin, 240 1/4 lbs of Saginaw, MI is 19-0. Forrest, 222 3/4 lbs of Newport News, is 25-3.
“I didn’t think it was that close,” said Franklin, widely regarded as the top American heavyweight prospect who was the 2014 National Golden Gloves Champion. “I won more rounds. I think you could give him a couple rounds, but it wasn’t that close. Even when they said split decision I knew it wasn’t that close. I wasn’t worried.”
“My big chance on SHOWTIME was well deserved and I proved I belong in this league,” Forrest said. “I said before the fight that I have already been doing this for years. Now more people know about it. My people knew what was up already.”
Giovanni Cabrera Mioletti remained undefeated by pounding out a 10-round unanimous decision over Luis Porozo in a junior lightweight bout.
Mioletti, 129 1/2 lbs of Seattle, WA won by scores of 98-92 twice and 97-93, and is now 17-0. Porozo, 129 1/2 lbs of Santo Domingo, ECU is 14-1.
“It took me a couple rounds to relax,” said Cabrera Mioletti, who was fighting in Tacoma for the 11th time in 17 career bouts. “My whole strategy was to stay relaxed, but in the first couple rounds, the cameras got to me a bit. But once I started getting my rhythm and working my jab, I started to take control.”
“I didn’t feel his punches, but I felt his head,” said Cabrera Mioletti, who was born in Seattle but currently lives in Chicago. “That guy has a head like a rock. He butted me a bunch of times and that’s what cut open my eye, but I don’t think about that I just focused on what I had to do.
“I started to hear him breathing heavily when I’d hit him to the body, not even that hard and that’s when I knew he wanted to fight a much slower pace. Once my jab started landing a lot, I knew I had him.”
Porozo said he simply ran out of gas in the later stages of the fight. “I lost because I moved too much and didn’t throw enough punches,” said Porozo, who had more than 500 amateur fights. “I give him credit. I felt some of his power shots. I was winning for the first five rounds. After that I got tired. I feel bad. I’m very disappointed. I could have done so much more.”
STATEMENT FROM SALITA PROMOTIONS REGARDING OTTO WALLIN vs. B.J. FLORES HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHT
”As part of the licensing process in the state of Washington, the doctor appointed by the boxing commission to oversee tonight’s event reviewed medical tests and determined that B.J. Flores would not be medically cleared to compete. Based on that opinion, Washington State Department of Licensing spokesperson Gigi Zenk notified Salita Promotions this afternoon that they would not issue B.J. Flores a license to fight against Otto Wallin tonight. Due to medical privacy requirements we are unable to provide further information at this time.”
STATEMENT FROM WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING SPOKESPERSON GIGI ZENK:
“Benjamin Flores was not medically cleared to compete.”
Tonight on the un-televised undercard of the SHOWTIME televised “Battle at the Boat 122” at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, cruiserweight contender Constantin Bejenaru (14-0, 4 KOs) got back to business after a year and a half away by pounding out a sixth-round TKO (time 2:02) over Mexican veteran Jose Corral.
The southpaw Bejenaru looked sharp and won every minute of the fight with his crisp, fast hands and excellent work to the head and body.
“It felt good to be back,” said Bejenaru, “I’m happy that I’m back in the title hunt and in good shape. After a year and a half, I felt a little rusty for a little bit in the beginning, but I came back pretty quick.”
Bejenaru says he’d have liked to go the full eight-round distance but did enough to know he won’t be needing another tune-up fight before getting back in the mix.
“I am ready for a big fight next. I kept myself in good shape the whole time I was away. I wasn’t sure if I needed one or two tune-up fights, but I felt really good in the ring. Thank you to my opponent for lasting as long as he did and thank you to my team and my new promoter. I’m hoping for a title fight as soon as possible.”
Bejenaru, from Ungheni, in the Republic of Moldova and now living in Brooklyn, is a former 10-time Romanian champion, a Bronze Medalist at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in 2006, a Finalist in the European Union Championships in both 2006 and 2007, and a Gold Medalist at World Combat Games in 2010.
After turning professional in 2012, Bejenaru has gone on to score wide decision victories on ShoBox: The New Generation over previously undefeated Alexey Zubov (10-0, 6 KOs) and Stivens Bujaj (16-0-1, 11 KOs), and in his most recent fight (broadcast on NESN), a decisive points victory over previous world title challenger Thabiso Mchunu (18-3, 11 KOs).
In his seven-year career, he has held both the WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight Title and the WBC International Cruiserweight Championships.
“We hoped he might have to go all eight rounds to make him breathe and to make him feel the ring,” said trainer Ilia Masishchev, “but once he lands a few punches, he tries to finish. That’s how he is.”
Battle at the Boat 122 is presented by Salita Promotions and Brian Halquist Productions.
