Ringside Boxing Report: Joey Abell – Mark Brown
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The Blue Horizon was open for bloody business once again, this time featuring young hopefuls on a card consisting of five – four rounders and a six round main event. Joey Abell was promoted to headliner and was ready to give hell again. This time found himself mixed up in a good ol’ fashioned rumble with Mark “Oaktree” Brown. Fight game newbies Jamie Morales and Chris Plebani went the distance in a 4 round barn burner that exemplified what the Blue Horizon is all about.
Tel Aviv transplant Elad Shmouel has been cake walking through competition that is softer than 2 ply Charmin since he began fighting the in USA. No more in Philly is what PA boxing commish Greg Sirb told the Shmouel camp after his last fight, demanding that he step up the competition. Tonight he found himself opposite Marcus Luck whose street fighting style gave the Kosher Pit Bull trouble in the early going. Rounding out the night was Dave Peterson who tried to stay perfect coming into the night with three knockouts in three tries. Tim Witherspoon trainee Jesse Blunt was also on the card against Ohio native William Prieto who was looking to score an outsider upset. Here is the blow by blow report.
Joey Abell vs. Mark “Oaktree” Brown
The word is starting to spread about the power of Minneapolis, MN heavyweight Joey Abell. In his first fight at the Blue back in February, he broke a guy’s leg with a left hook to the jaw. In April, it only took him a minute to have medical personnel rushing to the aid of his opponent. The fans were buzzing during the intermission wanting to find out if Abell, 6-0 (6), was for real. His opponent, Mark “Oaktree” Brown, of Salem, NJ, is no slouch. The Salem NJ native brought a perfect 7–0 (3) record and is built as his moniker would suggest.
While the fight didn’t last long, Oaktree did give Abell some trouble in the first. He took the fight right to the Minnesota strong man and won the first round with his mix of strength and punch volume. In the second round, Brown made the mistake of pissing Abell by landing a clean right to the face. The look of a stone cold killer was back in Joey’s eye and he became the bully of the fight, throwing Brown out of clinches and packing everything into those punches.
Once Brown felt the power, you could see the fight was over. Brown made the mistake of back peddling into the corner and was caught by a straight right that put him on his back and under the ropes. Good night Mark Brown, Joey Abell raises his record to 7–0 with 7 KOs. While I love watching Joey Abell knock people silly, it is time for him to step it up. Hey Don Elbaum, put him in against Chazz Witherspoon or Eddie Chambers!
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Elad Schouel vs. Marcus Luck
It is without question that Israeli light welter Elad Shmouel packs some pop in his mitts. With that being said, his 14–1 (8) record has come against some suspect opponents. Danville, VA native Marcus Luck, 6-11 (3), can not be mistaken for a big name contender but to his credit he was a viable opponent. Luck was in control early, using his speed landing punches in spurs and dodging Elad as he came forward. Luck started to fade in the third and Elad’s pressure style began to pay off as he was able to land some hard punches.
In the final frame, the Tel Aviv man was in control as Luck as visibly gassed out. The Pitbull was landing punches all over the ring and Luck almost went down from pure exhaustion. To Luck’s credit, he did try to fight back but was unable to land anything in the later rounds. Elad won by a majority decision with two judges seeing the fight 39–37 and 38–37. while the third scored the contest 38–38. I also scored the fight dead even at 38–38.
Jamie Morales vs. Chris Plebani
Not much was expected when Bristol, PA’s Chris Plebani made his professional debut against Camden, NJ native Jamie Morales, 2-2 (1), but when it was all said and done the two light welters put on the type of fight that makes the Blue Horizon legendary and matchmakers famous. There is not a boxing fan on earth that wouldn’t have enjoyed this fight. It is one of those very rare occasions where I wish it ended in a draw. Four rounds of toe to toe back and forth slugging with a high connect percentage.
No clowning, no showboating just straight fisticuffs. Both fighters had moments where they were on the verge of scoring a knockout and also dangerously close to being on the receiving end of one. Plebani is like a sparkplug in the ring, very explosive and seemed to fire off punches in bunches. Morales was a bit more disciplined, working both downstairs and upstairs, being patient and was willing to take a few punches so he could dish a few out. Morales experience paid off in the end as Plebani wore down a bit in the fourth as Morales was able to keep the pressure on high connecting with rights and lefts to the body and face. The fight went the distance and Morales got the duke by split decision with scores of 39–37 and 39–36 in his favor with the third judge seeing it 39–37 for Plebani.
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Dave Peterson vs. Darius Hunter
Not much action in this one as middleweight Peterson of Mounds View, MN cruised to a unanimous decision victory against the more experienced Hunter. Peterson, 4-0 (3), showed the ability to put punches together and some agility in the ring. No major exchanges and Philadelphia man Hunter, 2-6 (0), did give it his best but that just wasn’t enough to put the first blemish on the Minnesota native’s record.
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Jesse Blount vs. William Prieto
William Prieto came to the ring followed by the worst theme music ever played. His opponent, Philly native Jesse Blount on the other hand came to the ring backed by former World Heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon. Who do you think was favored in this one? Well things don’t always work out as expected in the great sport of boxing and this fight proved that theory true as Prieto outboxed Blount for four rounds en route to a rather easy unanimous decision victory. Prieto, 2-0 (0), and from Ohio, spent most of his time circling Blount, 2-1 (1), and using his speed to his advantage. Blount didn’t throw much and when he did, he wasn’t landing. By the end of the fight Prieto was clowning around in the ring throwing slap punches and winking at the ring girls.
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