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In the main event of R&R Promotions’ Friday Night Fights: “Put Down the Guns, Pick Up the Gloves”, Brandon “Untouchable” Bennett defeated tough veteran Tyrone Harris via unanimous decision.
The 13-bout card featured nine Cincinnati fighters who earned victories in front of a hometown crowd, just across the Ohio River in Kentucky, at the Bank of Kentucky Center on the campus of Northern Kentucky University.
It was a calm affair early with Bennett moving and jabbing Harris with his right. In the fifth round, after Harris complained of a late hit by Bennett, matters began to heat up.
Bennett worked three-punch combinations to Harris’ body and head finishing with left uppercuts. Harris never had much of a reply to Bennett’s more effective work, reflected in the judges’ scores of 80-72 three times. With the win, Bennett, 26, is now 18-1 (7 KOs). Harris, 33, of Lansing, Mich., is 24-10 (16 KOs).
In his much anticipated hometown return, former Olympic silver medalist Ricardo Williams excited the crowd with a stunning overhand left that knocked out Guillermo Sanchez of Buffalo, N.Y., in the fourth round of their light welterweight bout.
The fight was fairly close throughout the first three rounds. It wasn’t until Williams cut Sanchez over the right eye with a left and moments later deposited him to the canvas that Williams separated himself.
Sanchez, visibly weary, barely made it to his feet before the referee waved the bout to an end. With the victory, Williams has completed step one of his career comeback and is now 22-3 (11 KOs) while Sanchez is 13-14-1 (5 KOs).
In a close contested six-round welterweight battle William Jackson, 25, of Cincinnati, edged out a game Gilbert Venegas of East Moline, Ill. Jackson came out pumping a steady use of the jab working the ring while Venegas pressured. The pressure from Venegas slowly steadied Jackson and in the fifth round an injury to Jackson’s right hand forced him to seldom utilize it.
Venegas, 37, carried the late rounds but it wasn’t enough in the eyes of judges who scored the bout 59-57 twice and 58-56 in favor of Jackson. Jackson’s record improved to 13-2-1 (5 KOs) while Venegas fell to 12-16-4 (8 KOs).
In the lone heavyweight bout former University of Cincinnati football player Danny Calhoun earned his fifth victory to remain undefeated. Gary Kelley, Calhoun’s opponent, came in at a heavy 353 pounds and used all of it to his advantage leaning on Calhoun and fighting inside.
The 31-year-old Calhoun was able to outwork Kelley, however, with his speed advantage en route to the unanimous decision from the judges. Kelley, of Montgomery, Ala., is now 1-1 with 1 knockout.
DeVonte Allen, 25, of Cincinnati stopped Antoine Knight, of Chicago, in the second round to improve to 6-2-1 (4 KOs). Knight, 25, fell to 3-11 (1 KO). The bout was scheduled for six rounds in the super featherweight division.
Light heavyweight Donald Anderson of Columbus stopped Richard McCombs of Washington, D.C., in the first round of their scheduled four. Anderson remained undefeated at 6-0 (2 KOs) while McCombs is now 1-6 (1 KO).
Another Washington, D.C., fighter, Kareem Martin, won a unanimous decision in the welterweight division over Domonique Foster of Columbus. The 19-year-old Martin is now 3-0-1 (2 KOs). Foster is 1-5-1.
Light welterweight Russell Fiore, 33, of Chicago ended his fight quickly stopping Michael Doyle of Prichard, Ala., in the first round of their light welterweight bout. Fiore improved to 13-2-1 (8 KOs) while Doyle is now 2-12-1 (1 KO).
Cincinnati’s Jayvon Garnett, 19, knocked Rudy Payne down three times en-route to a second round stoppage in the featherweight division. Garnett earned his second career victory and knockout while Payne is now 1-3 (1 KO).
Another young Cincinnati favorite, super featherweight Aaron Hollis, also picked up his second win and knockout over Vic Chambers of Milwaukee (0-2).
Former amateur standout Steve Geffrard, of Miami, picked up a third round stoppage over Mike Davis of Cincinnati in a cruiserweight battle. Geffrard, 24, who lost his first two pro bouts, has now earned his sixth win in-a-row with three knockouts. Davis fell to 1-22.
In a four–round lightweight bout Cedric Patterson of Cincinnati won a unanimous decision over Ronnie Jordan of Cincinnati. Patterson is now 2-0 (1 KO) and Jordan 1-5-1.
In the opening bout of the evening Antonio Brown of Cincinnati was awarded a four-round unanimous decision over Robert Montgomery of Covington, Ky. The win was Brown’s first. His record now stands at 1-2 while Montgomery is 0-1.
The fight was promoted in association with three-time world champion boxer Adrien Broner’s new promotional company Band Camp. A portion of the proceeds from the fight are going towards the furnishing of the new “Put Down the Guns, Pick Up the Gloves” gym, Oasis Elite Boxing Gym. The event, R&R Promotions’ first in Kentucky, was sponsored by CBTS, Larosa’s, RadioOne, and TruStaff.
