Lebron, Ennis, Carto, Pizarro and Cuevas Win in Philly Friday!
By: Sean Crose
In the third Hard Hitting Promotions event at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly since August as co-promoters Manny Rivera and Will Ruiz continued to promote some of the top young talent in the country. They had another good crowd especially considering this close to Christmas.
In the Main Event featherweight Luis “Popeye” Lebron, 6-0 (3), of PR, made his second appearance for the promotional group.
In the Main Event featherweight Luis “Popeye” Lebron, 7-0 (3), of PR, won a hard fought 8 round decision over Roberto Rodriguez Corea, 9-11 (4), of Leon, NIC.
In the opening round Corea was the aggressor while Lebron countered well in a very spirited round. In the second round both boxers were landing effective uppercuts to the body. Corea scored with an overhand right to the head of Lebron. Corea walked into a solid lead right from Lebron to the chin stopping him in his tracks. Corea came back well. In the third round with seconds to go Lebron knocked the head of Corea back with a solid right. In the fourth round it was back and forth with Lebron finishing the better of the two with a pair of left hooks to the head of Corea.
In the fifth round Lebron countered a left hook to his head by Corea with a chopping right to the chin. Corea went southpaw the last 20 seconds of the round. In the sixth round Corea came out southpaw and was on the end of a solid left hook to the chin from Lebron. This caused Corea to return to orthodox. Corea never stopped coming forward and finished strong. In the seventh round a pair of right hands to the head rocked Corea. In the eighth and final round a right cross to the head of Corea from Lebron had him moving away to avoid another punch. With his back to the ropes Lebron landed a solid left hook to the head of Corea before the bell.
Judges Jasper and Poturij had it 79-73 while Steve Weisfeld had it 80-72. This writer had it 78-74 for the winner.
Considering Corea was the fourth opponent for Lebron but was to be on a cancelled show in WI and he did well.
Lightweight Branden Pizarro, 2-0 (1), of Philly, won every round defeating veteran Jesus Lule, 9-20 (1), out of Ft. Myers, FL, over 4 rounds of exciting boxing. Pizarro is a prospect to watch.
In the first round Pizarro’s hand speed and side to side movement had the veteran Lule on the receiving end. In the second round Pizarro rocked Lule with a chopping right to the side of the head. In the third round the ever coming forward Lule was trying to “find” Pizzaro while being countered with a vicious left hook to the body that stopped Lule in his tracks.
Near the end of the round Pizarro seemed to be a bit winded. In the fourth and final round Lule landed an overhand right to the head of Pizarro who countered with his own right to the head. Pizarro ended the round with half a dozen punches as the bell sounded.
“I felt great. I took my time landing body shots. He was a seasoned professional who was tough,” said Pizarro.
Judges Steve Weisfeld, John Poturij and Gail Jasper along with this writer had it 40-36.
In the corner of Pizarro were “Bozy” Ennis and the father Angel Pizarro. There is an older son who was to appear on the card but failed do to an injured hand.
Bantamweight Christian Carto, 6-0 (6), scored his sixth straight stoppage at 1:14 of the second round over Harold Reyes, 2-7 (0), of Fajardo, PR, in a scheduled 4.
In the opening round Carto completely controlled the action with a solid jab and combinations to the head of Reyes throughout the round. Carto was all business in there. In the second round a vicious right to the body dropped Reyes as he held his side on one knee taking the full count from referee Steve “Double SS” Smoger.
After the first round and when the fight was stopped Carto said something to the opponent’s corner man. “He said during instructions now you are in with a man”, said Carto. Bad move on Reyes corner. In the corner for Carto was former PA GG champion who said “that was a very unprofessional thing to do by his trainer.”
Welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 8-0 (7), of the Germantown section of North Philly, stopped southpaw Marcus Beckford, 3-5 (1), out of NYC at 0:55 of the sixth and final round.
In the first round Ennis, the best looking prospect in Philly in years switched from orthodox to southpaw and back beating southpaw Beckford to the punch. Beckford did work hard but was outclassed. In the second round once again Ennis controlled using an effective right uppercut and a savage body attack on Beckford. In the third round Ennis would deliver half a dozen body shots without return. His hand speed kept Beckford at bay for the most part.
In the fourth round Ennis continued having his way though Beckford was not backing down. Ennis landed numerous uppercuts. In the fifth round Ennis turned up the heat rocking Beckford with a combination to the head. A vicious right hook by Ennis drove Beckford into the ropes otherwise he would have gone down causing referee Dali to call a knockdown. In the sixth and last round Ennis had Beckford out on his feet with a flurry of punches. Beckford tried holding on but referee Dali had seen enough calling a halt. Outside of some border line uppercuts Ennis was flawless. He is trained by his father “Bozy” Ennis, and put’s his son that much closer to being a main event fighter sooner than most would have thought at this stage.
“I felt good and took my time landing many body shots. He had his trunks up high and I told the referee before the fight. I will be back in the ring on January 28th at the 2300 Arena under my promoter Victory Promotions.
Light heavyweight David “One-Two” Murray, 5-1-1 (4), of Newark, DE, and Kenmon Evans, 3-0-1 (0), New Smyrna Beach, FL, battled to a majority draw over 6 rounds.
In the first round Murray would score with lead right hands to the chin while Evans would score with right uppercuts to the chin. It was an all action round. In the second round Murray suffered a cut over his left eye. Top cut-man Joey Eye went to work on it at the bell. Good round for Evans. In the third round there was too much holding. Murray’s cut re-opened.
Judge Weisfeld scored it 58-55 Murray while Poturij and Jasper had it 57-57 as did this writer.
In the fourth round Murray landed a solid right to the head of Evans. In a good round Murray looked the better of the two on the inside. In the fifth round Murray continued to be the aggressor while Evans countered him well. In the sixth and final round both fighters fought like the fight depended on this round.
Lightweight southpaw Jeremy Cuevas, 2-0 (2), of Philly, stopped Tom Mills, 1-7 (1), out of Vero Beach, FL, at 0:33 of the second round.
In the first round body shots from Cuevas had Mills on the canvas twice. In the second round Cuevas was warned for a low blow by referee Dali. Cuevas immediately went after Mills dropping him with a wide left hook to the chin. Mills barely beat the count as his corner waved it off.
In the opening bout lightweight Kevin Johnson, 1-0 (1), out of Las Vegas, NV, was awarded the stoppage at 1:42 of the first round over Austin Ward, 0-3 (0), out of KS.
Ward ran and no one seemed to see him land a punch. He came thru a snow storm to get here and ran into a “storm” from Johnson!
Bantamweight Manny Folly was scheduled to be on the card but there was a problem in his opponent getting there on time. In attendance was Camden’s WBA super featherweight champion Jason “El Santo” Sosa. Also in attendance was former super welterweight challenger Stanley “Kitten” Hayward. If this promotion continues to run every other month at this casino don’t be surprised “Boots” Ennis is the main event fighter.
