Atlantic City Fistic Explosion!: Part Two.

Part one of this article left off with Matthew Macklin’s third round stoppage of Leo Laudat and now we get back into the swing of things with the next scheduled bout. 2004 US Olympian Rock Allen of nearby Philadelphia was due to make his professional debut, a four rounder against Akron, Ohio’s Damon Antoine. Before the action began however,

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there was a forty-five minute wait before HBO Latino was due to go on with their live broadcast of the last three bouts on the card. During the lull, I ambled about and took a few pictures of the Borgata’s Event Center between speaking with the very talented former world champions Charles Brewer and Kassim Ouma and ring announcer/writer/photographer Larry Tornambe. Charles is very happy in his retirement, writing for Ringsidereport.com while Kassim only wants another crack at Roman Karmazin who took IBF belt from “The Dream” recently and Larry looks forward to his announcer gig (under the name “Announcer Larry”) at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York in a few days. All in all a very nice way to kill a little time before the fights started back up again.

Eventually I saw the TV lights turn on to illuminate HBO Latino’s on-air team of former world champion Raul Marquez and his broadcast partner, so I knew it wouldn’t be long. Bernard Hopkins climbed in the ring and addressed those in attendance, thanking them for making the debut show of his Golden Boy East Promotions a success. Hopkins went on to say that on December 3, he would defeat Jermain Taylor in their rematch.

Alantic City Mixed Shots

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Shortly afterward light welterweight Damon Antoine, 139-pounds, made his ring entrance followed by local hero Rock Allen, 141-pounds, making his professional debut. Once the bell rang, it was very clear that Antoine didn’t come all the way from Ohio to lay down and play dead. He may have come into the contest with a very humble won – loss record but that didn’t stop the Akron man from doing his damndest to spoil Allen’s party. Rock Allen was clearly the much better skilled combatant but he was still getting caught with some hard shots. Nothing was landing quite flush but it took a bit for Allen to time Antoine correctly. Allen’s very hard jab started snapping Antoine’s head back a few times on the way in but still the willful Midwesterner came on. A sharp left hook counter hurt Antoine and Allen didn’t hesitate to jump all over him on the ropes. The former Olympian was doling out a lot of punishment before finding the jackpot with a crisp right that gave Antoine a bad case of shaky legs. A few more blows later and the referee jumped in to stop things at 2:27 of round one. Allen goes to 1-0 (1) with Antoine dropping to 2-6-1 (1).

Damon Antoine vs. Rock Allen

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The card resumed with a scheduled ten round welterweight skirmish between Los Angeles’ Larry Mosley, 148-pounds, and Alexis Division, 145-pounds, a Dominican living in Miami. Some fans in attendance remarked that Mosley didn’t look in shape enough to trouble the very lean Division but that didn’t turn out to be the case at all, proving once again the old cliche you can’t judge a book by its cover. There was no feeling out period in this one as Division looked to impose his will on the shorter Mosley. The Californian was having none of it however and proved to be much faster while countering Division’s big wide shots. Division did land a few of those but it was Mosley’s round as he had his opponent hurt at one point with a body shot to the pit of the stomach.

The second round was a better one for Division as he had shaken Mosley with a big right hand at the end of the frame but the man from Los Angeles continued to out-speed his foe and generally did enough to win the session. Mosley controlled the start of the third with his jab and punished Division with hard straight counters. The twenty-five-year-old goes to the body more than most boxers and clearly hurt his dance partner with uppercuts straight up the midsection. One of those bent Division double and he was hammered on the ropes before going down in the corner. The Dominican man beat the count but appeared to be close to out on his feet.

Mosley continued with what was working and sickened Division with a frightful body assault. The floundering Division answered back weakly, and tried to protect his midsection, causing Mosley to shift his attention to the head. Division was taking a bad beating and appeared to be ready to go but the referee jumped in and stopped the shellacking. Mosley’s performance was the best of the card so far but Division’s reliance on wide arcing power shots and lack of firm fundamental skills makes it hard to determine just how good the Californian really is. Mosley improves to 14-1 (5) and Division suffers his second defeat, falling to 16-2 (13).

Larry Mosley vs. Alexis Division

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Shortly after the ring is cleared, it is time for the headlining bout. Philadelphia fan favorite Demetrius Hopkins, 140-pounds, looks to keep his unbeaten record intact against Atlanta’s Paul Delgado, 139-pounds. Demetrius is the nephew of Bernard Hopkins but the tall, thin boxer has already made a name for himself in the light welterweight division, defeating such promising young fellow prospects as Al “Speedy” Gonzales and Andre Eason as well as hardened veterans Ubaldo Hernandez and Norberto Bravo. Delgado had only come short against top prospects such as Paul Malignaggi (twice), Dimitry Salita and Jeff Fraza as well as losing in his fourth professional bout to much more experienced hard man Frank Houghtaling six-years-ago.

Things got underway with the slightly shorter Delgado trying to force his way inside but Hopkins is very good at maintaining distance, cracking the southerner with stinging counters. When Delgado did get within punching range, Hopkins tied him up and the two wrestled. It was evident that Hopkins was much faster and possessing the more complete toolbox of the two. In the second frame, the Philadelphian dropped Delgado twice, both times with sizzling counter left hooks. Delgado stepped up the aggression after that, trying to smother his foe’s work. Undeterred, the reed thin Hopkins is deceptively strong on the inside and hurt his counterpart with a well placed body shot. Delgado danced away and looked to eat up the clock and keep his distance. Just before the bell, Hopkins cranked in an overhand right that had the Georgian in bad shape.

The third round saw Delgado fight smarter and use the jab to cover his excursions to the inside. He rushed Hopkins and tried to rough the thinner man up but for his trouble, caught stiff single shots that shook Delgado several times. Far from giving up, the game Atlanta man tried harder in the fourth round, wrestling and brawling on the inside with Hopkins. In fact, he caught the favored man with several shots and it looked as if all the physical roughhousing might be sapping the energy of Hopkins. Late in the frame, the undefeated twenty-four-year-old caught his second wind and tagged Delgado with a stiff right to the body amid a good run before spinning the opponent and landing well. Undaunted, Delgado showed resurgence in the final seconds, going to the body and winning his first round of the fight.

Round five started out more measured than the fourth as Hopkins looked to keep his foe at the end of his punches and Delgado tried to pick his spots better. The strategizing devolved to wrestling again with the only eventful occurrences both coming from Hopkins who shook the twenty-nine-year-old opponent with a big right hand mid round and with a good counter hook near the end of the fifth.

The sixth was a very competitive section that saw Delgado scoring effectively but not as often as the sharper Hopkins. The Philadelphian may have been getting tired from all the grappling as several hard flush punches landed seemed to have not bothered Delgado at all but also appeared to have helped him gain in confidence. The seventh started with Hopkins on his bike, dancing around the ring for the first time in the fight. Delgado could not get past the long, stinging jab nor cut off the ring to catch Hopkins who was successfully avoiding any exchanges. When Demetrius stopped for a moment on the ropes, Delgado did not miss the opportunity and landed a good right hand that did not seem to bother Hopkins. Moving again, Hopkins put all his weight behind a cracking jab that stopped Delgado in his tracks and then the tourist caught an overhand right that turned him cautious. After Delgado shelled up to avoid further punishment, he tried to pay his antagonist back but ate a quick-handed combination. Pressing forward, Delgado instigated a few exchanges, developing nothing, as the round came to a close.

A reinvigorated Delgado pulled out all the stops and attacked Hopkins but the bold stroke was parried as the quicker man delivered a master class in close quarters countering combination punching. Delgado was halted by a nice right uppercut before getting hammered by a textbook left hook that had him in trouble. After pulling himself together to try another assault, the Atlanta man was leveled by the best punch from any fighter on the card. After finding Delgado all night with the counter left hook, Hopkins did it again but this time it was timed perfectly and thrown with every ounce of strength in his five- foot-eleven, 140-pound body. Delgado was propelled hard onto the canvas and proved just how big his heart is by actually getting back up. He was in no condition to continue however and Hopkins was declared the winner at 1:15 of the eighth round. Delgado, 14-6-1 (2), was outgunned from the start but never stopped trying while Hopkins, now 20-0-1 (7), proves his mettle against a determined, unremitting foe.

Demetrius Hopkins vs. Paul Delgado

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Writer’s note: This was the first fight card to be held at the Borgata, which it must be said is a beautiful hotel and casino. The lobby is pristine and artistically dramatic with striking orange glass sculptures dominating the main entrance. The structure itself is a luminous greenish gold in daylight but adorned with thick horizontal purple neon lights that band the entire building at night, cutting a distinguished figure even in the midst of all the other beautifully lit casino/hotels that make up Atlantic City.

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com