Ringside Boxing Report: Silence Mabuza – Ricardo Vargas

DiBella Entertainment put together another solid Broadway boxing show at the Manhattan Center on Thursday night, much to the delight of those in attendance. In a sold out arena, Silence Mabuza fought Ricardo Vargas in a 12 round official IBF Bantamweight title eliminator. Mabuza was trying to rebound from a controversial fourth round TKO loss to IBF Champion Rafael Marquez, while Vargas had already unsuccessfully challenged for world titles on three occasions.

In the first round, Mabuza started out aggressively, working behind his jab while Vargas was content to stay defensive and feel his opponent out. By the second round, they engaged in toe to toe action, each fighter having a good exchange of punches. More of the same would follow through rounds three through eleven, with Mabuza scoring a flash knockdown of Vargas in the ninth. Vargas would hit Mabuza with what appeared to be an accidental low blow in the tenth round but it appeared to have no affect on the South African for the remainder of the fight. The twelfth and final round was by far the most exciting with the two fighters giving their all in toe to toe action, brawling in the center of the ring.

Judges at ringside scored the fight 120-107 and 117-110 twice, all in favor of Mabuza. SaddoBoxing scored the fight 117-110 for Mabuza, who improves to 19-1 (15) and can look towards a rematch with Marquez.

In the most exciting bout of the night, Curtis “Showtime” Stevens battered former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Carl Daniels in an eight round super middleweight contest. Stevens was determined to live up to his nickname, “Showtime”, and came out aggressively, swinging very hard and looking to land the home run punch. When Daniels went down from a right hand in the first round, it appeared that Stevens had done just that.

But Daniels would get up and finish the round by boxing Stevens and by the third frame, “The Squirrel” was using his experience and boxing skills to avoid additional powerful right hands from the undefeated prospect. In the fourth round, it was clear that Daniels was there to stay as he managed to outbox Stevens. Although Daniels would have his moments, Stevens was the aggressor, using good combinations to outwork the veteran and win a hard fought decision. Stevens improves to 12-0 (10) on the judge’s scorecards 79-71 and 79-72 twice.
SaddoBoxing also scored the fight 79-72.

Newark, NJ super middle Jerson Ravelo, back from a long lay off, had a short but impressive night, knocking out veteran Donnell Wiggins with a beautiful right hand at 1:05 of the first round. With the impressive victory, Ravelo improves his record to 16-1 (11).

In other action, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillan fought a game Thomas Padron, an opponent who was determined not to be another notch in his adversary’s belt, during a four round middleweight bout. Quillan tried to establish himself early by stalking and throwing combination at Padron before both fighters had good exchanges the last thirty seconds of the first round. The second was an all out brawl and by the third round, Padron showed that he wasn’t going anywhere, outworking “Kid Chocolate” against the ropes and appearing to almost stop Quillan.

In the final round, Quillan decided to box behind the jab, picking his shots nicely. All three judges scored the fight 39-37 in favor of Peter Quillan, now 4-0 (3), while SaddoBoxing scored the fight a draw at 38-38.

James Moore made quick work out of Chuck Orso in a scheduled six round junior middleweight bout. Moore put his wicked body punching and combinations on display, stopping Orso with a left hook to the body at 1:00 of the first round. Moore improves to 6-0 (5).

Super middle Juan Cabrera also made quick work out of Frank Armstrong in a scheduled six round bout, stopping Armstrong at 1:30 of the first and improving to 4-0 (3).

Contact Richmann: Richmann05@aol.com.