Miguel Cruz Defeats Alex Martin in Rematch Tuesday at Sands
By: Ken Hissner
Kings Promotions returns to the Sands in Bethlehem’s Event Center putting on8 bouts over FS1. In the Main Event Miguel Cruz of San Juan, PR, defeated his opponent Alex “Chi-town Heat” Martin of Chicago, IL,in January of this year.
In the rematch Miguel Cruz, 16-0 (11), of San Juan, PR, scored a pair of knockdowns to defeat Alex “Chi-town Heat” Martin, 13-2 (5), of Chicago, IL, over 10 rounds.
Cruz scored knockdowns in the first and fourth rounds. In the fifth round Martin was complaining to referee Gary Rosato about low blows so when nothing was done he landed a low blow flooring Cruz face down on the canvas. After a five minute rest it was all Martin for the next four rounds. By the ninth round Cruz was back on top winning the last two rounds and the decision.
Judges Steve Weisfeld, John McNair and Dave Braswell along with this writer had it 96-92 for the winner.
Welterweight southpaw Clarence Booth, 15-3 (8), of St. Petersburg, FL, stopped Anthony Mercado, 10-3 (9), of Arecibo, PR, at 1:30 of the fourth round of a scheduled 8.
Booth dropped two of the first three rounds but came back in the fourth round swarming all over Mercado before referee Erik Dali called a halt with Mercado helpless on the ropes.
On the undercard in the fight of the night Dominican featherweight Isaelin Florian, 6-1 (3), Reading, PA, suffered his first loss in losing against Avery Sparrow, 7-1 (3), of Philadelphia.
Sparrow came out to go to war and found himself on the canvas in the first round. He would come back and return the favor dropping Florian in the second round only to be dropped again in the fourth round. Sparrow would fight back and take the final two rounds and the decision.
Judges Kevin Morgan, Braslow and McNair scored it 58-54 while this writer had it 57-55 all for the winner. Rosado was the referee.
Super welterweight southpaw Nicholas Hernandez, 7-2 (1), of Lebanon, PA, won a disputed majority decision over Grayson Blake, 6-5-1 (2), State College over 6 rounds.
Hernandez was loading up the entire fight while being outworked by Grayson who couldn’t match him punch for punch power wise. Each round was almost too close to call. By the end of the match both fighters were smiling having known each other from the amateurs.
Judge Braswell scored it 57-57 while judges Weisfeld and Morgan had it 58-56 for the winner while this writer had it 60-54 for the loser.
Lightweight Jesus Lule, 11-22-1 (1), of Ft. Myers, FL, scored a mild upset over local boxer Ismael Serrano, 4-2 (1), of Bethlehem, PA, who was returning to the ring after 21 months of inactivity by second round stoppage at 2:10 in a scheduled 4 round bout.
Serrano started out fast but was taking more punishment then he was giving out when pinned against the ropes by Lule when referee Dali called a halt. Serrano was not pleased with the stoppage. It was only the second stoppage for Lule in a career of 34 bouts.
In the opening bout former flyweight amateur star Dylan Price, 3-0 (3), of Sicklersville, NJ, stormed out and took out Manuel Guerra, 1-3-1 (0), of Reynosa, MEX, ending it with a chopping right to the head. Guerrea was on his back trying to sit up but fell back as he was counted out by referee Dali at 1:09 of the first round.
Super lightweight Jesus Perez, 3-0 (1), of Allentown, PA, scored a knockdown in defeating Christian Molina, 4-3 (3), of Allentown, PA, over 4 rounds.
Judges had it 39-37 and 40-35 twice as did this writer.
Super welterweight Devin McMaster, 1-2 (0), of Allentown, PA, seemed to get the short end of the stick losing to Rick Pyle, 1-0 (0) of Harrisburg, PA, over 4 rounds.
It was give and take for the entire fight was almost too close to call. McMaster took the opening round with Pyle coming back to take the second round with the final two rounds very close.
All 3 judges scored it 40-36 for the winner while this writer had it 39-37 for the loser. Rosado was the referee.
It was probably the biggest crowd in years with a lot of local Spanish boxers on the card their fans came out to support them and received a really good show by Kings Promotions. It was their second promotion in 3 days with the last on Saturday in South Philly.