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Once again it was fight night in Philly last Friday night as Promoter Veronca L. Michael returned to the Legendary Blue Horizon to host the yearly Children’s Holiday show to benefit kids in need. This show also benefited youngsters Max Alexander and Steve Upshur Chambers who saw their stock rise with decision victories. Also on the card were former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Imamu Mayfield and the kids from the Harrowgate Boxing Club while Emanuel Nwodo pleased the bloodthirsty crowd with a fourth round knockout. Missing from the action was top fifty heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers whose bout was canceled at the last minute due to a case of bronchitis.
In the main event, cruiserweight Emanuel Nwodo of Baltimore, MD beat up Brooklyn NY’s John Douglas like he stole his Christmas present. I have to give Douglas credit; he did not run or hide and peeled himself off the mat every time he was floored. He even had the audacity to try to mix it up with Nwodo, a strategy that left him seconds away from being on his back at all times.
Round One: Nwodo comes out strong, landing hard one – two combos. Nwodo then uses the right jab, which also packs steam. Douglas doesn’t have the best footwork and Nwodo is able to stay on top of his man the entire round landing his punches almost at will.
Round: Nwodo 10 -9
Round Two: Nwodo comes out smokin’ and floors Douglas with his first punch of the round, a stiff straight right hand, flush on the grill of Douglas. Douglas beats the ten count but gets his second serving of canvas courtesy of another straight right. Douglas rises again and Nwodo lands another big right, this one whips Douglas into the corner. Douglas is in a sorry state but Nwodo has no mercy as he works the body, which nearly sends Douglas crashing through the ringside press table. Somehow, Douglas manages to finish the round on his feet.
Round: Nwodo 10-7
Fight: Nwodo 20-16
Round Three: Nwodo wastes no time backing Douglas into the corner and cooking up his ribs. Nwodo is giving out a critical beat down at this point. Douglas musters the courage to try to brawl but almost ends up on his back.
Round: Nwodo 10-9
Fight: Nwodo 30-25
Round Four: The bludgeoning continues. In the center, along the ropes, against the turnbuckle, Nwodo is on Douglas like a cheap suit. Nwodo nearly decapitates Douglas with a right. He follows up with two more punches, which sends Douglas sliding on his back and the white towel flying into the ring.
Emanuel Nwodo produces a forth round stoppage and climbs to 18-4 (14) while John Douglas falls to 6-11-3 (3).
In the co-main event, former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Imamu Mayfield used a left jab for eight rounds to defeat opponent Rayco Saunders. The first round was the same as the last, Saunders looking to score a knockout with his big looping left and Mayfield thwarting any serious attack with his left jab and an occasional right to the body. All 3 judges scored the fight 80 -72 and I do not disagree. Mayfield, of Freehold, NJ improves to 25-6-2 (18) while Saunders of Pittsburgh, PA drops to 16-7-1 (7).
While many at ringside thought the next match up was going to be a cakewalk, the 2 – 11 Joey “Alpha Omega” Ortega of Boston, MA took Camden, NJ junior welterweight prospect Steve Chambers to the limit in what turned out to be the fight of the night. Chambers displayed pin point accuracy with his punches and was in the driver’s seat for most of the night, but just when it seemed Chambers puts it in cruise control, Ortega would dig deep and land serious shots which had knockout potential. While Ortega’s pre fight antics earned him a round of boo’s in the beginning, he left to a warm Philly farewell while Steve Chambers earned a hard fought eleventh career victory.
Round One: The first round stays at a steady pace with Chambers landing the one – two combo and Ortega countering some. Chamberspunches are landing on the mark but Ortega is standing his ground and willing to trade. A mini slugfest ensues as the round comes to an end.
Round: Chambers 10-9
Round Two: Ortega starts the round trying to box with Chambers…. bad idea. He eats a stiff Chambers right as he backs away from his opponent. Chambers then stalks Ortega along the ropes and tees off on his chin. Ortega shows heart and fires back, landing a solid right uppercut, giving himself some much needed breathing room. Action eventually heads back to the middle of the ring and Chambers is again landing the one – two combo, which seems to soften up the Beantown native. The round ends with Chambers beating Ortega from turnbuckle to turnbuckle.
Round: Chambers 10-9
Fight: Chambers 20-18
Round Three: The start of the round is delayed as the ring doctor checks Ortega’s health. The doc gives his ok and Chambers goes right back to beating he administered in the second round. Ortega shows that he has a head made of mahogany, as he takes a number of blows but will not go down. Out of nowhere, Ortega fires off four straight power shots that all land. The Philly crowd is hype! Chambers wants no part of this slugfest and wisely slows the pace by bringing the fight to the middle of the ring, working the left jab effectively. He follows a jab with a quick overhand right, which stuns Ortega. Chambers goes in for the kill but Ortega manages to fight his way out of harms way.
Round: Chambers 10-9
Fight: Chambers 30-27
Round Four: The fourth starts slow as both fighters trade tapping jabs. Chambers steps it up and goes back with the one – two combos. Ortega slips in a few power shots upstairs but Chambers is very sharp and accurate with his punches. Ortega’s face continues to soak up punches but he refuses to lose, firing back at every opportunity.
Round: Chambers 10-9
Fight: Chambers 40-36
Round Five: Chambers starts the round trying to be the ring technician while Ortega comes out bombing. Chambers scores with the jabs but Ortega is walking through them and landing the hard shots, one of which dazes Chambers and enables Ortega to land seventeen unanswered punches. After Ortega’s plethora, both fighters are gasses out. Chambers is the first to gain his second wind and puts on a late flurry but can’t take the journeyman Ortega off of his feet.
Round: Ortega 10-9
Fight: Chambers 49-46
Round Six: Chambers is obviously weary of Ortega’s power and opts to box behind the left jab. Ortega is circling his opponent but Chambers gives him no opening to work with. Chambers seems to be cruising down victory lane when out of nowhere Ortega sneaks in and lands two hard rights. This sparks another slugfest along the ropes and turnbuckles until the final bell sounds.
Round: Chambers 10 -9
Fight: Chambers 59-55
All three judges score the fight 60-54 for the winner Steve Upshur Chambers while SaddoBoxing’s scorecard reads 59-55 for the New Jersey man. Chambers sees his record to
11-1-1 (3) but Ortega is still searching for his third victory at 2-12 (0)
Next up is a scheduled six rounder between light heavyweights Max Alexander, of Camden, NJ, and James Bostic of Brooklyn, NY.
Round One: Both fighters show very fast hands while trying to mix it up in the first thirty seconds but neither man lands a clean shot. The fight slows down a bit as both fighters eye each other up, looking for a spot. The highlight of the round is when Bostic misses with a big sweeping left that Alexander counters and lands a right flush on the chin. Bostic sneaks in the left late in the round, which leads to action along the ropes. Bostic gets Alexander into the corner but Max is able to wiggle away before any damage is inflicted.
Round: Bostic 10-9
Round Two: The second starts out very slow, and Bostic stops to do a mini version of the robot. The crowd boo’s. Not much action until the end when Alexander lands a solid left – right combo.
Round: Alexander 10-9
Fight: Even 19-19
Round Three: Action is slow in the beginning but picks up as Bostic backs Alexander into the corner and fires off to the body. Alexander tries to escape but Bostic stays on him and keeps banging along the ropes. Alexander is able to slip in a stiff left to the head but Bostic is unfazed and stays on the body until the bell sounds.
Round: Bostic 10-9
Fight: Bostic 29-28
Round Four: The fighters start the fourth with light jabs, each trying to pick a spot. The action doesn’t pick up until the end and both men exchange hard shots. Alexander lands big with a left to the body followed by a right uppercut, which finds the chin. The round ends with both fighters brawling on the ropes.
Round: Alexander 10-9
Fight: Even 38-38
Round Five: The fifth starts fast with brief exchanges, the lightning speed of both men is still there. Alexander begins to establish the left jab and steps it up by working both the head and body. Bostic tries to counter but can’t hit the target. Alexander seems to counter every missed Bostic left. .
Round: Alexander 10-9
Fight: Alexander 48-47
Round Six: The fighters start off trading jabs. Bostic tries to be the aggressor but Alexander is showing sound defense and lands his counter punches at will.
Round: Alexander 10-9
Fight: Alexander 58-56
The official results are read with judges scoring as follows; Rubenstein 58-56, Kahn 59-55 and Weinstab 58-56, all for the winner by unanimous decision, Max Alexander. SaddoBoxing scorecard is also for Alexander, 58-56, who rises to 6-0-1 (0) while James Bostic falls to 2-3 (2).
Next was a four round middleweight bout between Farah Khalil of Jordan and Phillip Hincklin of Wilmington, DE.
Although they had only two pro fights between them combined, both fighters really knew how to make their presence known as they entered the ring. Phillip Hincklin walked the aisle with Philly native Cassidy booming from the speakers, which quickly energized the hometown crowd. Not to be outdone, Farah Khalil packed the house with a large contingent of fans on hand to see his pro debut and they were not afraid to let everyone know who they were rooting for.
The pre fight hype showed promise of an action packed battle but in the end this one was a flat out stinker. Farah lacked speed, Hincklin lacked power and both men lacked stamina as they both nearly collapsed from exhaustion in the final round. The building lacked enough paper towels to wipe the tears of Khalil and his crew, who somehow thought he won the fight.
Round One: The first round did have its moments, most notably when Hincklin comes straight out of the corner and pops Khalil square in the mouth with the first punch of the night. This overhand right sends Khalil whipping into the ropes. Khalil knows he is in trouble and spends the rest of the round holding the oncoming Hincklin. Hincklin does land a few more overhand rights, all of which snap the head of Khalil.
Round: Hincklin 10-9
Round Two: Hincklin starts off the round landing two overhand rights. Khalil is on his heels trying to mount some offense but his punches are coming with turtle speed. The action, which is scarce at first, becomes non existent. Khalil is obviously distracted and begins looking into the crowd. Hincklin makes him pay as he pops him again with a straight right as Khalil looks to the crowd for an answer. Fortunately for Khalil, Hincklin does not pack much beef in his punch.
Round: Hincklin 10-9
Fight: Hinklin 20-18
Round Three: The fight turns into a stare down contest for the first minute and a half. The best shot landed is a love tap left jab by Khalil. Khalil goes with the “jab then run away” strategy. If Hincklin threw one uppercut as Khalil walked in with a jab, he might have scored a knockout. Hincklin does land a few more straight rights, one of which creates a small cut over Khalil’s left eye. Khalil lands a light flurry at the end of the round.Both fighters seem very winded.
Round: Hincklin 10-9
Fight: Hincklin 30-27
Round Four: Khalil runs wildly out of the corner in a Tasmanian Devil-like manner, throwing some of the ugliest punches ever seen in a ring. One of those wild rights does manage to land cleanly on Hincklin’s head. Khalil settles down a bit and works the love tap left jab. Both fighters look like they have been out drinking all night, stumbling around the ring from exhaustion. The bell rings to stop the fight but it can not stop the reign of boo’s coming from every corner of the building.
Round: Khalil 10-9
Fight: Hinklin 39-37
Phillip Hincklin is judged to be the winner via unanimous decision, 39-37, on all three judges’ scorecards, a score shared by SaddoBoxing and goes to 1-2 (0) while Farah Khalil loses his pro debut and stands at 0-1 (0).
We may have seen the last of Farah Khalil who left the ring and saying “I’m done boxing”. He obviously felt ripped off but every last ringside observer agreed that he clearly lost the fight.
