Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade, idle since April 2, was back in the ring Wednesday evening headlining an exciting night of fights at the 9th annual “Fight to Educate” charity auction and boxing showcase at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. In a night filled with brutal pugilistic combat from the opening bell, the evening’s climax was delivered with a thudding right hook to the head of “Dangerous” Dave Saunders courtesy of the man with a thousand nicknames, tonight introduced as “The Entertainer.” Entertain he did.
Round 1 began at a quick pace as Andrade, Providence, RI, established his snapping jab early and often. Crisp, effective punches in 4, 5, 6 and sometimes 7 punch combinations had Saunders, Cincinnati, OH confused and unable to cope with the speed and accuracy of the former US Olympian. Andrade continued business with sharp defensive reflexes, never allowing himself to be in punching distance, securing perfect angles to score his blistering straight lefts.
Round 2 continued more of the same. Moments of rapid fire punching had the crowd buzzing with excitement, furthering the dominance already set forth by the 22 year old Andrade. The end came crashing suddenly and with brutal force as Saunders, trapped in the corner against the ropes took a devastating right hook, sending him crashing face first to the canvas where he was counted out, and continued to lie motionless for a few minutes. The win was a good one for Andrade who improves to 11-0 with 8 knockouts. After the fight, Andrade was upbeat and beaming with excitement. “When it comes, it came…it just went my way tonight” said Andrade. “My plan was to work on what I’ve been working on…that was the jab. Have a pro jab, and that’s what I did tonight; that’s what I established. It was easy after that.” Easy it was. Maybe not quite as easy has been the adjustment of training away from Providence, RI to Mansfield, MA…but whatever he seems to be doing…he should keep doing it.
In the night’s co-feature, the pride of Framingham, MA Danny O’Connor took on rugged Puerto Rican Jose Angel Ramon in a 6 round bout. In another entertaining scrap, O’Connor simply out worked Ramon over the course of the fight en route to a unanimous decision with ringside scores of 60-52, 60-54, and 60-54. Although very skilled, well conditioned, and possessing great ring knowledge, O’Connor’s seeming lack of power in his shots may be a detriment to him as he moves up in class. Throughout the fight he was able to wear Ramon down with his volume of punches, and the pace he set was very pleasing to watch. One can only imagine the possibilities of a kid this talented if he can sit down on his punches a little bit more and start knocking his opponents out with more frequency.
In other action, 5 time VT Golden Gloves champion Dan Powers made his professional debut one to remember with a TKO at 1:08 in round 2 over John Dippolito, who was also making his pro debut. Rances Barthelemy improved to 8-0 with a 3rd round disposal of Angel Lopez, Diego Pereira defeated Joey Ortega via unanimous decision in a 4 rounder, and Jose Medina thrilled the New Hampshire crowd with a stellar performance over Eduardo Adorno in an action packed fight that was stopped by Adorno’s corner after a beautiful right hand staggered and floored Adourno.