Ringside Boxing Report: Wayland Willingham vs. Damon Antoine
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Wayland Willingham Gets One Step Closer To The Big Scene With Sensational KO To Top Off Pugnacious Promotion Card
This past Friday night, Pugnacious Promotions once again set the bill for local boxing fans in New York’s Capital Region to get their fistic fill with a short but wildly entertaining card of hometown favorites.
In featherweight action, 19 year old Buffalo resident Guillermo Sanchez, 1-0, made his pro debut with a unanimous decision over Thomas McCuiston, 1-2, and the bout was immediately followed by a featherweight rematch from March of this year, as Francisco Palacios, 1-2-4 (1), of The Bronx drew with rival Harvey Murray, 2-0-2 (1) of Rochester.
While each man tried to best the other ,the result was the same as the first meeting opening up the first rivalry in their short careers and hopefully a third match to decide the best of the duo.
The co-main event featured a light middleweight bout as Russell “Spiderman” Jordan, 14-4 (9), of Rochester NY had an impressive win over Pittsburgh, PA native Alphonso “Soulja” Williams, 10-3 (8). Jordan went into the bout as the smaller man against Williams, who has fought his last eight bouts at the middleweight limit and used his speed and boxing skills to walk away with the decision.
The crowd favorite of the night however, was clearly southpaw welterweight Wayland Willingham, 13-0 (8). Wayland, an Albany native who now resides in Atlanta, GA, was entering his 12th pro bout in a test of sorts against the much more experienced journeyman Damon Antoine, 7-20-1 (3), out of Akron Ohio.
Antoine came out in the first round of the bout seemingly focused on Willingham, hoping to use his experience and take the younger man into deeper waters where the advantage would be his.
After a fairly good first round, the tide shifted almost immediately midway through the second round to a one sided affair in Willingham’s favor. After having a few brief moments during round three, Wayland turned up the pace in the fourth, forcing Antoine to fight his fight, something Damon obviously was not looking to do.
Moments before the fourth round ended, Willingham unloaded a thunderous shot to the chin of Antoine, sending him to the canvas and out of consciousness with just four seconds left of the round, picking up his 13th win and eighth career knockout.
This officially marked Willingham as the man to beat at 147 in the Capital District Area. In the five bouts he has gone the distance, none of Willingham’s opponents have managed to come close to giving him a fair run for his money.
Hopefully we will see the local fighter step up and head to the national scene soon, with the talent pool in the welterweight division so deep and with Willingham’s fast paced, hard hitting style, he would fit in quite nicely.