By: William Holmes, Ringside
Last night, Bam Boxing Promotions attempted to resurrect the careers of two hall of famers, Cassius Clay and Ray Robinson.
Brittney Rogers, the youngest female promoter in boxing, didn’t resurrect Sugar Ray Robinson from the grave and she didn’t miraculously find a cure for Parkinson’s disease so that Muhammad Ali could fight again.
She did however promote a card with two fighters who shared the same name as these legends. Ray Robinson would have made Sugar proud, Cassius Clay proved to be the exact opposite of Muhammad Ali.
The results of last night’s card follows below.
Oscar Pagan (0-0) vs. Ben Lovett (0-0); Junior Middleweight
Camden native Oscar Pagan made his professional debut against Philadelphia native Ben Lovett in the opening bout of the night. Both fighters fought out of the orthodox stance, and it was also visually apparent from the beginning that neither had a ton of experience. Pagan tried to keep Lovett at bay with his jab and was able to bloody the nose of Lovett in the first round, but Lovett applied more pressure and was by far the more aggressive fighter. Lovett landed a few heavy right hands and combinations by the ropes in rounds 3 and 4, and he fought like a bull in a china shop. Lovett’s aggression forced the judges to see the fight in his favor, and he won the bout with scores of 38-38, 40-36, and 39-37.
DeCarlo Perez (6-2-1) vs. Lenwood Dozier( 7-4-1); Junior Middleweight
Dozer came out strong in the first round, landing a two punch combination early and was more accurate in landing his counter punches. However as the fight wore on, Dozier threw less and less combos and focused on throwing one punch at a time and attempting to avoid the combinations of Perez. Perez maintained a steady body attack throughout the bout. At one point during the fifth round Dozier could be seen taunting Perez, but he was not doing anything at that time to back up his talk. There was little surprise when the scores were announced of 60-54, 59-55, and 59-55.
Cassius Clay (0-2) vs. Hasan Young (0-0); Junior Welterweight
Names can be deceiving, and the Cassius Clay that stepped into the ring on Saturday night should never, ever, ever be confused with man known as Muhammad Ali.
The debuting Hasan Young battered Clay from corner to corner, and in every single round. By the second round the fans knew that Clay had no chance. A blistering combination by Young in the third round caused Clay to take a knee in the corner and receive a standing eight count. Clay was in total retreat by the fourth round, and Young’s domination showed on the scorecards when it was announced he won with scores of 40-34, 40-33, and 40-34.
Kareem Cooley (2-1) vs. Tevin Farmer (4-3-1); Lightweight
Kareem Cooley, a southpaw, took on Tevin Farmerin the last bout of the undercard. Cooley was the taller fighter, and was able to use it to possibly win the first round by using effective jabs and avoiding the rushing Cooley. Farmer however was undaunted, and he continued to apply pressure and trapped Cooley several times and unleashed combination to the body and head. Many of the rounds were close, but Farmer likely won them due to his aggression. By the sixth round Farmer was the fresher fighter, and was also engaging in some showboating for the judges and fans. The fight was closer than the scores showed, but Farmer took the victory with scores of 59-55, 58-56, and 59-55.
Terrance Cauthen (36-7) vs. Ray Robinson (13-2); Pennsylvania Welterweight Title
When I last saw Ray Robinson fight, he was on the undercard of a NBC Sports Network card and struggled against an older veteran that he should have been able to beat easily.
He has vastly improved since then.
He was able to regroup, and show his true potential in tonight’s main event. He took on Terrance “the Heat” Cauthen, another southpaw and a Bronze medalist from the 1996 Olympics. He was a fighter who should have been an extremely tough opponent for Robinson.
Robinson showed that he’s an accurate puncher in the first round, and easily won that round from the experienced veteran. The second round featured some confusion on the part of the referee, as Robinson slipped to the ground and the referee tried to step in between Cauthen and Robinson. They both landed a punch on each other while the referee was in between them, but Robinson had a point taken away from him for his foul.
Cauthen appeared to be a little dazed from that punch, but it did not appear to land enough to cause serious damage. Robinson was obviously upset at being docked a point, and came back with a straight left hand that cleanly knocked Cauthen down. When Cauthen got back up to beat the count, Robinson landed a vicious two punch combination that put Cauthen down for good.
Ray Robinson won the Pennsylvania Welterweight Title with a KO in the second round at 2:06.
