Mike Oliver Wins USBA Junior Featherweight Title!

ByBoxing Press

Undefeated Hartford, CT native Mike “Machine” Oliver lived up to his nickname tonight, earning a unanimous decision victory over Cathederal City, California’s Adam Carrera, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Oliver improved to 17-0, 7 KO’s, while easily outpointing his game opponent, Carrera.

Oliver’s tremendous handspeed, coupled with his body attack and counterpunching, were simply to much for Carrera (18-2, 8 KO’s) Oliver, entered the ring as a touted prospect, and left as a USBA champ and a contender to be reckoned with in the junior featherweight
division. Ringside judges tallied the bout 116-112, 120-108, and 118-110 respectively!

Enrique Palau TKO 2 John Gottschling Worcester, MA junior middleweight, Enrique Palau, maintained his undefeated record (6-0, 5 KO’s) with a second round TKO victory over Bay City, MI’s John Gottschling (10-13-1-1NC, 7 KO’s). Palau dropped Gottschling once in the first and again at the 1:17 mark of the second, prompting referee Dick Flaherty to call a halt to the bout.

Edward Hemphill TKO 3 Joe McCreedy Virginia journeyman Edward Hemphill (6-5-1, 3 KO’s) scored a third round TKO victory over previously undefeated Lowell, Mass light heavyweight Joe McCreedy (5-1, 4 KO’s). McCreedy controlled the action through the first two rounds, with the exception of a nicely placed left hook to the body by Hemphill as the round closed out. In the third Hemphill, the veteran, capitalized once again via the body attack, dropping McCreedy at 2:07 of the round. The undefeated McCreedy got back to his feet, only to be caught again, with the very same left hook placed to the body, at 2:40 of the same round. This time, McCreedy, spitting blood from his mouth, would not be able to get back to his feet. Referee Toni chiarantano stopped the action at 2:47 of the third round.

Chris McInerny UD 4 Rick Dufty Undefeated Stoughton, Mass cruiserweight Chris McInerny (6-0-1, 5 KO’s) scored an easy four-round unanimous decision victory over Bay City, MI’s Rick Dufty (2-2, 2 KO’S). McInerny dominated Dufty throughout the bout, landing clean, hard, and often. In the second stanza McInerny stepped back and countered Dufty with a straight-right-hand, scoring a devastating knockdown. To Dufty’s credit, he rose to his feet and fought valiantly to the final bell. Judges at ringside had the bout scored 40-35 twice, and 40-34.

Rodney Toney UD 10 Anthony Russell Veteran Boston light-heavyweight earned a hard fought unanimous decision win over Canadian native Anthony Russell, in the evening’s co-feature bout. Toney (29-4-4, 17 KO’s) utilized a punch and grab style to smother and frustrate the younger Russell (14-2-1, 3 KO’s). Though Toney’s style did cause him to suffer a cut over his own left
eye early in the bout, he stuck to his game plan throughout, negating Russells hande speed. Judges at ringside scored the bout 98-92, 98-92, and 97-93.

Dat Nguyen TKO 3 Edwin Rosado Undefeated featherweight prospect Dat “Dat Be Dat” Nguyen (5-0, 3 KO’s) dominated Worcester, Massachusetts’ Edwin Rosado for three rounds, thus making Rosado unable to answer the bell for the fourth stanza. Nguyen, a Hawaiin native and the protege of Buddy McGirt, utilized a devastating b ody attack that simply wore out Rosado (1-2, 1 KO). McGirt, recognized as one of the sports best trainers was pleased with his youbng pupil’s performance. ” Rosado was a very durable kid, and Dat needs fights like these to get his confidence level up. It was perfect on the job training tonight.” Nguyen, a former Northern Michigan student credited his corner for his success. ” I just listenedd to Buddy. He told me to keep going to his body. I get great levarage to the body, and I new I was hurting him there.”
Angel Camacho TKO 1 Mike Walthier Providence, RI super-middleweight Angel Camacho maintained his undefeated pro record with a first round TKO victory over Michigan’s Mike Walthier. Camacho dropped Walthier twice in the first 2 minutes, and finished off Walthier with one more knockdown as the bell sounded to end round one. Referee Dan Schiavone stopped the action at 3:00 of round one.

Tony LaMonica TKO 1 Jose Crespo South Boston’s Tony “Tiger” LaMonica earned an easy first round TKO victory over pro-debuter Jose Crespo of Worcester, Mass. LaMonica landed a big right to the neck area of Crespo just under a minute into the fight. After incurring the punch from LaMonica, Crespo was unable to continue any further and was taken out of the ring, via stretcher, with a neck brace on.

Tony Grano TKO 3 Larry White Hartford, Connecticut’s Tony Grano (6-0, 6 KO’s) scored a third round TKO victory over Alabama’s Larry White, in a slugfest between boxing’s big men. The heavyweight undercard attraction was a toe-to-toe brawl until Tony dropped the larger of the two men just over 2-minutes into the third. After referee Dick Flaherty administered an eight-count, Grano pounced on the wobbly White, landing a barrage of heavy-handed punches. Flaherty forced his way between the big punches, saving White from any further punishment.