By: William Holmes
Main Events Promotions in association with Peltz Boxing brought a strong card to the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Local boxing fans saw the potential for a great night of fights, and the arena was packed with a boisterous crowd.
The first bout of the night was between Eric Newell (4-1) and Tyyab Beale (5-3) in the heavyweight division. It was a lackluster affair that failed to excite the crowd. Neither fighter controlled the bout, and it was ruled a draw with scores of 39-37 for Newell, 39-37 for Beale, and 38-38.
The second bout of the night was a six round bout between Anthony Irons (4-0) and Rafael Montalvo (2-1) in the welterweight division. This bout featured more action than the first one, and Irons developed a cut over his left eye due to a headbutt in the middle of the fight. Montalvo poured on the pressure in the final two rounds and landed solid combinations by the ropes. The fight was close and exciting and there was no clear cut winner. The final scores were 58-56, 58-56, and 58-56 for Anthony Irons. Some fans in the crowd booed the decision by the judges.
The next bout was between undefeated prospect Sergey Kovalev (17-0-1) and Darnell Boone (19-18-3) in the light heavyweight division. Boone came out in a clown mask and had Nonpoint’s “In The Air Tonight” playing as he walked out to the ring. The last time they fought, Kovalev won by a very close split decision, but Kovalev left no question as to who the better boxer was this time around.
A hard straight right hand by the Russian hurt Boone badly, and Boone slipped to the ground as he tried to regain his senses. Kovalev unleashed a measured attack on Boone and landed two-punch combinations at will, and Boone was unable to offer any resistance. Another hard straight right hand wobbled Boone by the corner and the referee wisely stopped the fight. Sergey Kovalev remained undefeated with a TKO victory at 1:32 of the second round.
The first swing bout of the night was between Hasan Young (1-0) and Jerome Rodriguez (0-0) in the light welterweight division. Young came on strong in the first round and landed several lead right hands, but Rodriguez was able to adjust and use his southpaw stance to confuse Young. By the last round Young looked gassed, and the largely pro-Rodriguez crowd strongly cheered him on. The final scores were a bit of a surprise; it was announced the fight was a majority draw. The scores were 39-37 for Young, 38-38, and 38-38.
The first televised bout of the night was between Bethlehem native Ronald Cruz (16-0) and Prenice Brewer (16-1-1) for the WBC Continental America’s Welterweight title. The Bethlehem crowd made their presence known and got inside the head of Prenice Brewer. Brewer stayed circling on the outside for most of the fight, and threw more punches than Cruz, but was unable to land anything of significance and had most of his punches blocked.
The crowd cheered at every single punch that Cruz landed, and he landed several hard body shots and hooks throughout the fight. The body-head combinations by Cruz were his most effective punches of the night. Brewer was hurt several times throughout the fight, but was able to stay on his feet. Brewer was visibly affected by the taunts of the crowd, and by the end of the fight he was more concerned with verbally answering the taunts of the crowd instead of physically answering the punches of Cruz.
The only person who was shocked at the scores of the judges was Brewer. Cruz remained undefeated with scores of 118-110 on all three of the judges scorecards.
The main event of the night was between Gabriel Rosado (19-5) and Sechew Powell (26-4) in the Junior Middleweight division. It started off as a chess match, and Rosado at first had a hard time figuring out the defensive southpaw style of Powell, unable to find his range. Rosado, however, changed his game plan and turned the boxing match into a street fight, suckering Powell into trading power shots with him. Bad move by Powell.
Rosado is a fighter who shows improvement every time he fights, and he has some serious power in his fists. Rosado wisely began attacking Powell with body shots and short, hard, uppercuts. A left hook by Rosado in the ninth round hurt Powell and caused him to touch the canvas with his gloves. Rosado followed up the knockdown with vicious uppercuts by the corner, and the referee stopped the fight as Powell began to fall down from the onslaught.
Gabriel Rosado won by TKO at 2:43 of the ninth round.
