Ringside Boxing Report: The Russians Are Coming
© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing
Gotham Boxing and Bash Boxing hosted a night of action packed fights at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on Thursday night under the moniker “The Russians Are Coming!†The Russians that they are speaking of are IBF Super Flyweight Champion Dimitri Kirilov and undefeated welterweight Dmitriy Salita, who fought in separate co-features.
In his first defense of the IBF title which he won last October, Kirilov, 29-3-1 (10), retained his belt in a majority draw against Mexico’s Cecilio Santos, 22-8-3 (12), by scores of 118-112 and 114-114 twice.
Both fighters exchanged power shots with neither of them backing down throughout the twelve round match. Santos appeared to pick up many of the early rounds while Kirilov finished strong.
Even though Kirilov retained his title, he made the evening out to be a much harder night than necessary by keeping his hands low through most of the fight which enabled Santos to land at will. Although Santos pressed the action, he came into the fight with a 3-3 record over his last six outings, which should have made for an easier night for Kirilov.
After nearly a year out of the ring and putting a frustrating 2007 behind him, Dmitriy “Star of David†Salita, 28-0-1 (16), returned to the ring in stellar fashion, needing only five rounds to stop Fabian Luque, 19-9-4 (11).
Luque, who was a late substitute for original opponent Jermain White, was dominated by Salita from the opening bell and was dropped near the end of the first round. Salita continued his onslaught through the next few rounds and was cut in the fourth from an accidental head butt.
The blood that trickled down Salita’s face seem to push him even harder to finish his opponent, knocking him to the canvas again in round five. Luque was able to beat the ten count and took another barrage of punches, forcing the referee to stop the bout at 45 seconds into the round.
Bronx native Jorge Teron, 20-0-1 (13), put on an impressive show to win the vacant NABO Lightweight title against Sandro Marcos, 28-17-2 (23), from Oaxaca, Mexico.
Teron boxed his way to victory, dominating Marcos with his jab and superior speed. Although he was able to control the fight with his boxing skills Teron also showed that he can brawl as well. As he traded power shots in the center of the ring, Teron’s corner could be heard yelling, “Box him, he needs the brawl, not you!â€
Heeding his corners advice, it was Teron’s boxing skills that allowed him to knock down Marcos in both the fourth and fifth rounds. Marcos was on the receiving end of a flurry of punches when the referee stopped the bout at 2:41 of the fifth.
In another championship bout, Elena “Baby Doll†Reid, 19-4-5 (5), lost her WIBA Women’s Flyweight title to Eileen “Hawaiian Mongoose†Olszewski ,5-0-1 (0), by majority decision in a ten round fight with scores of 92-98 twice and 95-95.
Watching the fight from ringside, I wondered how any judge could score the fight a draw as Olszewski outboxed Reid over the ten rounds. Olszewski had a concerned look on her face as the first score of 95-95 was read, but was elated when she was announced as the winner and new WIBA champion.