Friday Night in Philly: Debut Boxing Show at Diablo Fight Club
 © Mike McGuigan |
It was good night at the fights put together by Joey Eye Boxing & N.I.T. Management at the Diablo Fight Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The bill was full of up and comers, featuring such homegrown talent as Jose Medina and Joe Christy. Fight fans were also treated to the skills of Clarence Taylor and Carlos Vinas, |
who both wasted no time winning over the tough crowd in attendance.
The night kicked off with international welterweight action pitting Lancaster, PA native Doel Caraquillo against Russian attacker Ivan Korotkovich. It was four rounds of pushing and counter punching by both men. Korotkovich mainly stayed on the attack, while Caraquillo showed off a nice left that was usually followed by hard overhand rights. Korotkovich was able to land with his off balance punches, but the fighters were a bit wild at times and both were most effective when working the body. Caraquillo used his strength to fend off the on coming Russian and consistently split his opponent’s gloves with his left.
Both fighters had the same style with the same speed and both displayed talent but would need different style opponents to be effective.
Official scorecards – judge Alan Rubenstein even 38 -38, judge Al Dorsey even 38-38 and judge Dewey LaRosa had Caraquillo up 39-37 – Majority draw that sees Caraquillo go to 2-2-1 (1) while Korotkovich debuts at 0-0-1 (0).
Next up lightweights Durrell Crenshaw of Philadelphia went at it with Jersey City, New Jersey’s Carlos Vinas.
Round one – Durrell Crenshaw walked to the ring as the guy quite a few people came to see but Carlos Vinas wasted no time stealing his thunder with a display of speed and power. The action started off fast and Vinas gets the best of Crenshaw early, connecting with three big rights to the head that sent the hometown fighter reeling into the corner. Crenshaw stands strong and decides to trade punches, and that turned out to be a big mistake. Vinas connects with a huge right that did considerable damage followed by a right uppercut – straight left which sent Crenshaw to the canvas. The Philly fighter beats the ten count and manages to survive the rest of the round.
10-8 Vinas
Round two – Vinas comes out firing and connecting; it looks like this one is going to end early. Vinas again forces the action to the corner where he lands a few well placed uppercuts. Crenshaw escapes but Vinas catches him on the ropes and lands big power shots at will. Crenshaw hangs tough and shows a chin but can’t mount much offense. His supporters in the crowd shout out words of encouragement.
10-9 Vinas
Round three – Crenshaw changes up and avoids any action when they get near the ropes. He keeps the fight in the middle of the ring and starts to work the body of Vinas with success. Vinas tries to bully Crenshaw back to the ropes. The action ends up in the corner where both fighters’ land solid shots in a good exchange. Crenshaw wisely backs out and makes Vinas meet him in the middle of the ring. Crenshaw gets back to business and puts a few more welts onto Vinas’ ribs as the bell sounds. Smart round by Durrell Crenshaw.
10-9 Crenshaw
Round four – Crenshaw goes right back to the body and this method proves to be effective, as Vinas can’t use his weight to pin his opponent into the corner. Crenshaw starts to showboat buts eats a jab which sparks off a nice exchange. The action slows down as Crenshaw works the jab but Vinas counters with an overhand right just before time runs out.
10-9Crenshaw
Carlos Vinas came out with some Manny Pacquiao type fireworks in the beginning and Crenshaw’s corner deserves a lot of credit. This could have very easily been a first round knockout yet it went the distance and in my opinion should have been scored a little closer.
Official scorecards – judge Rubenstein 38 -37, judge LaRosa 39 -36 and judge Dorsey 39 -36, all for Vinas.
SaddoBoxing has it 38- 37 for Vinas, who takes the unanimous decision and improves to 2-0 (0) while Crenshaw falls to 1-4-1 (0).
The third contest of the evening featured middleweights Terrance Miller of Trenton, NJ and John Gaddis of Lancaster, PA in a scheduled four rounder.
In the slow paced opening frame, Terrance Miller displayed a snapping left which set the tone for the rest of the bout. The feeling out period continued in round two, with Miller the only one throwing. The New Jersey man shows good footwork in avoiding the little pressure that Gaddis tried to apply. Miller uses the technique of back peddling, baiting Gaddis in, and then lunging forward with sharp lefts. Round three starts out like a wrestling match but Miller goes back to the jab and that puts a cap on any offense Gaddis tries to mount. Between rounds Gaddis looks dejected in his corner. He comes out for the fourth and is the recipient of more left jabs. With time winding down, Gaddis goes for broke and tries to turn it into a brawl but ends up with the same result, more jabs from Miller to his chin.
Terrance Miller displayed some pop with the left and excellent footwork while facing limited action from his opponent. The kid needs stiffer competition and looked more like a reactor than an initiator but could have been playing it safe to get the decision. A fight with a puncher or against someone with speed would be interesting to see how Miller does.
Official scorecards – judge LaRosa 40 -36, judge Dorsey 40 -36 and judge Rubenstein 40 -36 all for Miller.
SaddoBoxing has it 40- 36 for Miller, who takes the well deserved unanimous decision
to go to 2-1 (0) while John Gaddis falls to 3-4 (2).
Next up were the pee-wee’s. “South Side†Vinny Intrieri went toe-to-toe with Ali Abuhumoud in a miniature South Philly style scrap. Both kids were great and the fans almost blew the roof off the place voicing their support. …. And then the rough kids came out to play in the form of the main event between North Philly light middle Jose “El Macho†Medina and John Vaughn from Topeka, Kansas.
Medina entered the ring to a hero’s welcome and wasted no time getting his fans on their feet. Vaughn came out of his corner fast, connecting with a series of one – two combinations in the middle of the ring. Medina would have no more of that as he muscled Vaughn to the ropes and connected with a series of rights and lefts to the head and body. Vaughn staggered around the ring and Medina followed up with a thunderous right that sent Vaughn dreaming about the cornfields of his native Kansas at 2:01 of the first round.
It was evident from the minute Jose Medina walked down the aisle that he meant business. The local man throws BIG punches and didn’t waste many tonight, with each shot well placed. Medina seemed to have come in to the bout with a sound strategy; as for the first thirty seconds he moved around but didn’t throw a punch. After that it took him less than ten seconds to go from defense to finishing the fight.
Medina goes to 12-4 (10) while John Vaughn drops to 5-10 (3).
The main event of the evening was a rematch of a 2002 fight between Wilmington, DE’s Clarence “Sonny Bono” Taylor and local man Joe “Lightning” Christy, which Christy had won by unanimous decision.
Round one – Taylor looks like he wants to end it early, throwing big power punches and landing a crisp right upstairs. Christy gets right back in his face and connects with a hard left of his own. Christy shows he is the stronger of the two as both men tussle around the ring until the end of the round.
Round two – Christy starts the action throwing hard shots to the head and body but Taylor counters. Christy decides to stay inside, landing stiff body blows but Taylor always seems to finish these exchanges with clean combinations. Taylor hits with another left – right combo, causing Christy to force the action back to the ropes where he is doing his best work. More physical battling ensues along the ropes and in the corner before Taylor finishes the round connecting with a big left to Christy’s head.
Round three – More action in the corner but this time it is Taylor giving out the punishment, hitting Christy’s face with a three punch combo. Christy starts to throw haymakers that miss the mark but soon after lands a big uppercut followed by a three piece that stuns Taylor. Taylor comes back with an uppercut of his own but Christy keeps coming at him, throwing more hard overhand rights that barely miss the mark. Taylor slips in two more shots upstairs but eventually ends up on the ropes where Christy hits him with thunderous body blows.
Round four – More rope action that leads to a nice exchange by both fighters. Taylor follows up with a few good body shots of his own and two crisp uppercuts. There is no quit in Christy as he overpowers Taylor back to the ropes and puts another thumping on his ribs. Taylor sucks it up and responds with more uppercuts and shows his counter punching skills.
Round five – More stiff boxing along the ropes. Christy pounds the ribs and Taylor is countering everything coming at him. The round ends with Christy mixing uppercuts into his impact shots downstairs.
Round six – Both fighters come out punching, this time in the middle of the ring. Taylor hits with a right – left – right combination that busts Christy’s nose open. Wearing the crimson mask, Christy takes it back to where he works best and unloads a barrage of very hard body shots which leads to a slugfest, causing the Philly crowd to burst into a roar. Taylor puts a move on Christy leaving him wide open for four big head shots that send Christy to the mat. Christy rises to his feet but Taylor goes for the kill and fires off a plethora of lefts and rights with everything he has attached. He comes close but can’t put Christy on the canvas a second time.
Clarence Taylor got the victory but those ribs will be screaming at him tomorrow. Hopefully there’ll be a third match between the two sometime in the future. This was a very good fight that kept the crowd in it from beginning to end.
Official scorecards – judge Rubenstein 58 -55 Christy, judge LaRosa 59 -54 Taylor and judge Dorsey 59 – 54 Taylor.
SaddoBoxing scores it 58-55 for Taylor, who climbs to 9-6-2 (4) and Joe Christy takes the loss to fall to 4-8-1 (1)
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Author’s listing of the most impressive fighters on the bill in descending order.
1) Jose Medina
2) Clarence Taylor
3) Joe Christy
4) Carlos Vinas
5) Terrance Miller
6) Durrell Crenshaw
7) Doel Caraquillo
8) Ivan Korotkovich
9) John Vaughn
10) Jon Gaddis