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| Promoter Veronca Michaels and matchmaker Don Elbaum opened the gates to The Legendary Blue Horizon for the first time in the 2006 season and SaddoBoxing.com was firmly planted ringside at Philly’s top boxing venue. There were bigger names on the card, but it was up and coming prospect Max Alexander and tougher than spit Moses Matovu who stole the show during their six round clash of styles. Minnesota heavyweight |  Click for larger image © Mike McGuigan Saddo Boxing |
Joey Abell came to seek refuge from Jesse Ventura?s oppression of pro boxing in his home state, and the 6’4″ former defensive end exerci! sed his God given right to put the bull rush on the jaw of his undefeated opponent Dan Jambon. The junior welterweight matchup of Steve Upshur Chambers and Damon Antoine had all the makings of a classic and many fight fans took the hour drive from Trenton, NJ to watch 1996 Olympic Bronze medal winner Terrance Cauthan box the socks off of former title contender Vincent Thompson. In the main event, top fifty heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers stopped by for a tune up in preparati! on for bigger and better things against hand picked Louisiana peach An drew Greeley. There was plenty of action and the Philly crowd was rockin? as usual. To read the blow by blow report click here for more.
Max Alexander Vs Moses Matovu
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On the surface it looked like top Philly light heavyweight prospect Max Alexander was matched up against a cupcake in order to inflate his undefeated record. But if you dig a little deeper you will see that the 2-10 mark of Moses Matovu does him no justice. The combined record of his competition is 42-3-5 and the Las Vegas native has lost the majority of these contests by a slim margin. Both men brought their A game and this turned out to be the fight of the night as there was no time wasted showing what they were about. While there were no clean exchanges in the first round, southpaw Alexander played the role of boxer while Matovu showed that he prefe! rs to brawl. The action really picks up in the second and Max is in control early, throwing a hard right jab. Matovu forces the action and ignites a mini brawl along the corner and ropes. This trend continues and Alexander seals the round with a big right uppercut. Matovu starts off strong in the third with hard body work as Alexander is landing his shots upstairs but the out of towner keeps plugging away.
There’s non stop action all round and the lanky hometown man is showing serious pop not seen before in prior fights but it doesn?t stop Matovu from working the ribs. The round ends with Matovu unloading on the ropes. In the fourth, Max avoids the brawl and mixes jabs and strong right uppercuts. Matovu keeps coming but eats a steady diet of jabs. As the end nears, Matovu gets back inside but Alexander returns the fire. The action dies down in the fifth, as Matovu is winded and resorts to clowning around and thro! wing wild knockout punches with Alexander using the jab effectively, avoiding any major contact. In the final frame, Matovu gains a second wind and goes for broke. Max blocks most of this surge but a few punches do manage to land. Alexander takes control late, becoming the aggressor and working inside, which sets up two big rights that land clean to his opponents head. Alexander puts on another surge that continues until the final bell sounds.
All 3 judges score the fight 60-54, while SaddoBoxing had it 59-55, for the winner by unanimous decision, Max Alexander who moves to 8-0-1 (0). Moses Matovu drops to 2-11-3 (0).
Joey Abell Vs Dan Jambor
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This was an intriguing matchup of two young heavyweights who had combined for eight knockouts in ten professional fights. The bout was scheduled for four rounds but Joey Abell needed only 1:15 to win over the notoriously tough Philly crowd and put the first blemish on Jambors’ record. It was apparent from the outset that Abell meant business and the former South Dakota State Defensive End is built like a monster, hitting like and eighteen wheeler inside the ring. Jambor wasn?! t intimidated, and came out of the corner making the grave mistake of standing in front of Abell. Abells’ first punch of the match was a straight right which would have given Jambor a front row seat if it weren’t for the ropes. Jambor whipped off the ropes and promptly got his first taste of professional canvas. To his credit, he somehow beat the ten count but was visibly shaken. Abell immediately went in for the kill, ducking a lame jab and put every ounce of his 250 lbs behind a left uppercut square into Jambor’s jaw. No ten count was needed for this one as referee Gary Rosato wave d off the fight and called in the medical personnel.
No scoring was neccessary as Joey Abell of Minneapolis MN wins via a first round knockout and sees his record to 4-0-1 (4). Dan Jambor, of Cleveland, Ohio, falls to 5-1-1 (5)
Terrance Cauthen Vs Vincent Thompson
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In the co-main event, former Olympian Terrance Cauthen used a surgical approach to pick apart former IBC Light Middleweight Title contender Vincent Thompson of Washington, DC. The first round starts off slow as both fighters feel each other out, trading light jabs and Cauthen the southpaw shows the ability to slip away from punches. The action picks up in the second as Cauthen begins to flash serious speed. He doubles the right jab and follows with a straight left. Cauthen then turns up the heat and fires off six consecutive shots to the head and! body, with all finding the mark. The Trenton man finishes the round circling Thompson and throwing single jabs. Thompson tries to fire back but he finds that Cauthen is too quick. In the fourth, then former medallist concentrates more on the body, going in for the attack behind a left jab. The round ends with Cauthen once again circling his opponent, landing the single shot at will. Cauthen is proving that he is way too much for Thompson. The fifth is highlighted by a Cauthen right hook to the body followed by double left hooks up top, repeating the same in the sixth. In the seventh, Thompson changes up and rushes, finally landing a few punches but pays the price. Cauthen is firing away all! round and hurts his opponent courtesy of a big flurry at the end of t he round. Thompson comes out of the corner for the eighth obviously feeling the effects of the beating he took in the prior frame. Cauthen wastes no time finding a home for about twenty straight punches before referee Shawn Clark steps in and stops the butchery.
Terrance Cauthen scores an eighth round TKO and leaves the ring as the crowd chants his nickname, “Heat, Heat”. The twenty nine year old veteran moves up to 29-3 (8) while Vincent Thompson, eight years Cauthen’s senior, heads down to 22-8 (9).
Eddie Chambers vs. Andrew Greely
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The main event of the evening featured Philadelphia’s heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers going up against Andrew Greeley. From the looks of things, Greeley hasn?t missed many meals in preparation for his chance to beat a rising contender. To his credit, the man from Monroe, LA showed loads of punching power, although not many of his shots connected. The fight started off with the boxers trading jabs and both showing the willingness to go inside but not much landed in the first. Greeley does get Chambers’ attention with a haymaker that might hav! e decapitated the local man if it connected. Chambers is much more active in the second, working the jab and avoiding the threats posed by Greeley. In the third, Chambers becomes the hunter and cuts off the ring while working in with left-right combos. The action comes to a stretching halt in the fourth with the highlight being the few left jabs landed by Chambers. In the fifth, the undefeated heavyweight steps it up and scores all round, throwing the jabs and landing his combinations. In the sixth, it looks like one of the tires in Greenley?s stomach has gone flat as he throws about two punches the entire round while Chambers does a lot of work in the corner, landing at a high percentage. Chambers goes back to work in the seventh and scores a knockdown with a body shot. Greeley beats the count bu! t takes more punishment. While the southerner manages to answer the be ll for the eighth, it might have been a better idea to just call it a night because Chambers was all over him from beginning to end.
Eddie Chambers sweeps all three scorecards, 80-72 and 80-71 twice, to take the unanimous decision, seeing his record to 25-0 (13), while journeyman Andrew Greeley falls to 10-11-2 (6).
Steve Upshur Chambers Vs Damon Antoine
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It looked like top Philly light welter prospect Steve Upshur Chamber and Akron, Ohio’s Damon Antoine were going to put on a real thriller. Upshur, 11-1-1 (3) is known for his boxing ability and Antoine, 3-8-1 (2), was certified tough by PA Athletic Commissioner Greg Sirb, as he walked to the ring. The action started right away with both fighters trading jabs at a fast pace, with Antoine showing he has some serious pop in his gloves. This went on for the first 1:30 of the fight until Upshur caught an accidental headbutt that caused a deep cut over his right eye, bringing the fight to a premature end as it’s declared a no-contest.
William Brown Vs Joey DeMalavez
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Light Middleweight William Brown, also of Akron, OH, bills himself as “The School Teacher” and he came to the Blue Horizon with intentions of giving hometown fighter Joey DeMalavez a boxing lesson. His elementary approach of avoiding a brawl and sticking the jab was enough to demonstrate that when the street corner technique is brought into a professional ring, it typically results in a loss. Things started off shaky early as DeMalavez, who is built like a baby bull, was eyeing the quick knockout. He tried to initiate a slugfest but all that came of it was holding, wrestling and lots of missed punches. This approach did win DeMalavez the first round as! he scored on two overhand rights with time running out. From the second round on, Brown made the most of limited opportunities and showed the ability to throw a solid left jab and followed it with short hooks to the body as DeMalavez fought like he was trying to escape a rowdy bar.
William Brown raises his record to 4-1 (2) by taking the majority decision on the scorecards, 38-38 and 39-7 twice, with SaddoBoxing also seeing it 39-37. Joey DeMalavez moves down to 5-2 (3)
William Boggs vs. Larry Brothers
In the opener, fans that had waited outside in the freezing weather, were quickly warmed up by the glove heat of Philly middleweight William Boggs, who used his left jab to perfection for four rounds against journeyman fighter Larry Brothers. It was only Boggs’ second professional contest but he showed heart and the ability to learn on the fly, brought about by a broken right hand sustained in the first. Boggs started the round working the left jab upstairs and added the occasional three punch combo and just when Brothers, of Baltimore, MD, thought he had figured the new comer out, Boggs would throw the jab to the body. In the second, Boggs starts off throwing ten straight left jabs and Brothers can do nothing to stop it. Round three starts just as the second ended with the Philadelphian as the aggressor and scoring with the left jab. Boggs begins to effectively mix in left and right hooks to the body. Brothers? looks to be running out of steam and Boggs fires away with power shots, but can not score the knockdown. In the final frame, Boggs again works the left jab and follows one of those up with a straight right which lands flush on the jaw. This seems to wake Brothers up and he responds with big overhand right, buckling the novice’s knees. Bog! gs quickly regroups and used the left jab to complete the shutout, a 40-36 unanimous decision. It’s win number two against no reversals for William Boggs but Larry Brothers plunges to 6-18-3.
