Dee Lee Boxing Results From Tropicana: Hasson wins Main Event

By Eugene Sirota

Diane Fischer kicked off the summer boxing season with her “Summer Super Brawl” last night at the Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City. Fischer is a mainstay in the AC boxing scene, with this being her 22nd show promoted in the city going back to 1997.

Fisher’s experience and track record made her the obvious choice when Atlantic City mayor Lorenzo Langford needed a promoter to put on a boxing show as part of the Multi-Cultural Heritage Festival along with Saturday’s Boxing Gala at Resorts, recognizing the city’s importance in the boxing world.

While so many promoters have come and gone through the years, Fisher has been able to navigate the rough waters of the boxing industry, and has been able to carve out a niche in the casino town. Fisher can always be counted on to bring a quality night of fights featuring young local talent to any casino showroom.

Fighting the main event for the first time in his career, Philadelphian light heavyweight prospect Dennis “The Assassin” Hasson (14-0, 5 KOs) pounded out a workmanlike 8 round unanimous decision over Silver Spring, Md’s George “The Rooster” Armenta (14-9, 11 KOs).

Armenta was intent on closing the distance and fighting on the inside with the bigger Hasson, but he tried to do so by walking in without the aid of a jab or any head movement. Every time Armenta took a step forward, Hasson was there waiting for him with a crisp right cross-left hook combination. This sequence was repeated over and over again during the 8 round bout, without Armenta ever augmenting his game plan. In the end, the judges rewarded Hasson with the win on scores of 79-73(x2) and 78-74.

In the co-main event, Birmingham, Al junior middleweight Keandre Leatherwood (9-1-1, 6 KOs) landed the cleaner shots¸ while southpaw Frankie Filippone (9-2-1, 2 KOs) of Norfolk, VA was busier. When it was announced the judges had seen a draw, the decision was booed by the fans. However, this is one instance where the ringside judges are not at fault, as neither man did much to distinguish themselves over the six rounds of action.

In a four rounder, Philly fan favorite, Joey ”Polish Thunder” Dawejko (7-0-1, 3 KOs) battered Edwin Ranquillo (2-2, 1 KO) until their heavyweight bout was halted 2:11 of the final round. Ranquillo had no answer for the fast hands of Dawejko. After a knockdown in the final minute, the bloodied and bruised Ranquillo was saved from any further damage in a fight he had no chance of winning.

Atlantic City’s own Antowyan Aikens (5-0, 1 KO), an affable young man who is normally very hospitable to out-of-town visitors in his job as a waiter at Bally’s, did not send Kenneth Schmitz (2-2, 1 KO) back to St. Joseph, Mo with the same impression after he served up a beating that lasted four rounds in the middleweight division. It was clear that Aikens held the advantage in size, speed and boxing ability from the beginning, as he made Schmitz pay every time he leapt in wildly. When all was said and done, Aikens was awarded the UD with scores of 40-36(x2) and 40-35.

In a battle of pro debutantes, aggressive Philly welterweight Saud “Kid Grady” Clark (1-0, 1 KO) needed only 46 seconds to dispose of Maryland’s Flavio Reyes (0-1). Grady jumped on Reyes at the opening bell and immediately floored Reyes with a powerful overhand right. A stunned Reyes got back to his feet, only to go down for good after getting hit with the same punch as soon as Clark was allowed to resume his attack.

In the opening bout, Millville’s Joshua “Jersey Devil” Reyes (3-0, 1 KO) wasted no time in swarming Philadelphia’s David Rodriguez (0-2) and forcing referee Ricky Vera to halt the bout at 0:25 of the first round of their super bantamweight contest. The trouble for Rodriguez started with the first punch Clark landed, a straight right from which he was never given the opportunity to recover from.