Ringside Recap: Argenis Mendez Wins A Trialhorse War

On July 28, 2010 at BB King Blues Club in New York City Argenis Mendez, a Dominican fighter out of Brooklyn, and Shamir Reyes, a Brooklyn southpaw, fought an war of egos that went the eight round distance.

Mendez dropped Reyes near the end of round one with a straight right, and won every round with left jabs which scored, as he had substantial reach advantage. Reyes fought a survival bout against Mendez for all eight rounds, resorting to hitting and holding, leaning on him on the ropes to tire him, grabbing into tangled clinches at every opportunity, hitting behind the head, and frequent head butting. Mendez got frustrated all night as tough Reyes took a good punch.

Following corner instructions, Mendez tried to put his opponent away in the last two rounds, forcing Reyes, who actually landed a few counters, to resort to wrestling Mendez along the ropes. Neither fighter appeared to be hurt. Mendez improves to 17-1 (9). Shamir falls to 18-7-2 (7), with one win since 2004.

The three judges saw the bout 80-71, 80-71, and 79-72.

In a four round cruiserweight bout, Stivens ‘Superman’ Bugaj of the Bronx won his professional debut, stopping Calvin Rooks of Memphis, Tennessee in the second round of a scheduled four rounder.

Rooks, now 1-2, had height and reach advantage, which Bugaj immediately neutralized by fighting him on the inside in center ring. Bugaj also had a good left to the body, right to the head combination, and landed many power shots to the head and body of Rooks, which quickly took their toll. Rooks landed a few counters, but when he did, his punches had no power.

After taking a senseless beating for two rounds, Rooks remained on his stool at the end of round two. Bugaj was warned by the referee for fighting after the bell ending round two in heat of battle, but the bout was already ‘over’.

Stivens Bugaj TKO 2 Calvin Rooks, cruiserweight bout scheduled for four rounds

Middleweight Willie Monroe Jr. of Rochester, New York, 9-0 (3), stopped a game but outmatched Loren Myers after four rounds of a scheduled eight. Monroe used his left jab with reach advantage in center ring to score on Myers, who did not pursue.

Myers, who fights slow, had a fair chance to win this bout, and was most effective when he trapped Monroe on the ropes and worked him over with body combinations, forcing Monroe to grab on and wait for the referee to separate them both.

In round two, Monroe turned his back to Myers and walked away in the middle of the round, but Myers strangely did not pursue him and waited for Monroe to turn back around and resume fighting at his convenience.

Myers’ troubles got worse in round four, when a forehead cut sustained from an accidental butt in his May 22 bout in Atlantic City with Patrick Majewski reopened, and began gushing blood. Myers had a corner man, but he could not solve the cut, so the bout ended when the round ended.

Result: Willie Monroe Jr TKO 4 Loren Myers, middleweights, cut stoppage by Referee Kelly

Chicago cruiserweight Charles Wade, now 1-7, who got a scolding from his trainer after dropping his hands for no reason in the second round of his bout, and getting immediately overwhelmed by punches and stopped by Joe Smith of Long Island, now 6-0 (6).

Result: Joe Smith TKO 2 Charles Wade, cruiserweights Time 1:10, referee Kelly stops it

Last minute substitute Raymond Betancourt of Palm Beach, Florida now 8-5 (3), entered the ring, and became the first knockout victim of unbeaten Gabriel Bracero of Brooklyn, now 11-0 (1). Bracero, working with John Schaeffer (the trainer of Apolo Ohno, winner of eight Olympic medals), entered the ring with power for the first time in his career.

Bracero threw overhand left power jabs to Betancourt’s head from the start, tattooing a large mouse under Betancourt’s left eye from numerous scoring shots. Bracero scored the first knockout of his career in this win.

Bracero knocked down Betancourt in the first, second and fourth rounds. Mendez was getting hit a great deal, and could not penetrate Bracero’s defense in center ring. A left-right combination by Bracero sent Betancourt face first to the canvas at 2:53 of round four, Betancourt’s fourth trip to the canvas, prompting the stoppage by referee Kelly.

Result: Gabriel Bracero TKO 4 Raymond Betancourt, light welterweights

In perhaps the best bout of the evening, yet another all-Brooklyn war, super middleweight Phillip Jackson-Benson of Brooklyn, New York, now 6-1 (5), disposed of previously undefeated 6-0 Alexander Santana, also of Brooklyn. The bout was not close.

The two fighters traded power shots in center ring from the opening bell. Santana taunted Benson after the bell ending round one, but Benson did not respond, preferring to let his fists do the talking. Santana tried to draw Benson in along the ropes, but in a bout similar to Shamone Alvarez versus Alexis Camacho in Atlantic City some months back, Benson remained in center ring to box, and did not fall for the trap.

Benson continued to land power shots on Santana, who appeared confused and in trouble. An accumulation of power shots by Benson sent Santana to the canvas in the third. Santana beat the court, whereupon Benson attacked without mercy, sending Santana to the canvas for good with power shots at 1:30 of round three. Referee: Earl Brown

Result: Phillip Jackson-Benson TKO 3 Alexander Santana, super middleweights

Two scheduled 4 round female bouts were scratched: flyweight Keisher McLeod Wells versus Melissa McMorrow, and heavyweight Sonya Lanonakis versus Yolanda Fagan.