WBO Title Fight and Dawejko vs Jennings Biggest Philly Event in Years

By: Ken Hissner

Top Rank and Peltz Boxing Promotions on Saturday April 28th are bringing big time boxing back to Philly at the Liacouras Center (Temple U) in Philadelphia that the area hasn’t seen in years. Brad Goodman and J Russell Peltz doing the matchmaking.

Top Rank is responsible for bringing in a rare world title fight with WBO World Super Bantamweight Champion southpaw Jesse Magdaleno, 25-0 (18), of Las Vegas, NV, making his second title defense against interim champion and mandatory Isaac ‘Brave-Son’ Dogboe, 18-0 (12), of Accra, Ghana, over 12 rounds. This event will be on USA ESPN (at 4pm) but there is nothing like being there when it comes to the sport of boxing.

Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

“I’m going to put on a spectacular show. I’m mentally ready. I’m physically ready. Being here with (trainer) Manny Robles keeps me ready. The sparring has been great, but I get impatient sometimes and I just want to get in the ring for real. I have to stay calm and wait until the fight comes,” said Magdaleno. His trainer Manny Robles added “Dogboe is a real tough opponent. Jessie definitely has to be ready for this fight, and it should be a fan-friendly fight”.

At the Kings & Queens Liberian Cuisine in Upper Darby, PA, a African American restaurant Wednesday night J Russell Peltz and “Raging Babe” Michelle Rosado hosted Dogboe and his family (father-trainer Paul) and friends including his manager Mike Altamuia, from Australia. “I won 3 National titles and was in the 2012 Olympics. Every fight is based on intelligence. It isn’t if I’m going to knock out Magdaleno, but when I knock him out,” said Dodboe.

This card is “loaded” with talent and the Philadelphia fans are obviously looking forward to the Joey “The Tank” Dawejko, 19-4-4 (11), and Bryant “By-By” Jennings, 22-2 (13), PA State Heavyweight Title fight. It will be the “rematch” from when Dawejko defeated Jennings in the amateurs.

“This is the biggest fight of my career and I want to prove to the world I am a legitimate contender and I’m ready to go. I had a great camp in California with trainer Shadeed Suluke (trained James Toney among many),” said Dawejko.

His manager of almost 4 years Mark Cipparone who by the way is a perfect fit for Dawejko and serves as a good example what a manager should do for his fighter had this to say “I just think Joey has made the maturity and has given everything to his conditioning”. It’s been said Dawejko has the best left hook since “Smokin” Joe Frazier in Philly and for those who feel he should be a cruiserweight he has fought at heavyweight in the amateurs and professional ranks and has nothing to prove to anyone.

Jennings in 2014 put the first loss in back to back fights to Artur Szpilka, 16-0, and Mike Perez, 20-0-1. This earned him a world title fight with Wladimir Klitschko, 63-3, in 2015 where he lost a 12 round decision. In his next fight he faced at the time possibly the most feared fighter in the division in losing to Cuban Louis Ortiz some 8 months later. He was inactive in 2016 and returned in 2017 posting a pair of stoppages and one in February of 2018. This fight is “personal!”

Also, on the undercard is No. 1 ranked WBO Super Middleweight Jesse “Hollywood” Hart, 23-1 (19), fighting for the vacant NABF title against Demond “D’Bestatit” Nicholson, 18-2-1 (17), of Laurel, MD, in a 10 round bout. It will be Hart’s second bout since losing a decision to WBO Champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez last September.

Very popular Philly bantamweight Christian Carton, 14-0 (11), will be taking on Edwin “Puto” Rodriguez, 9-4 (5), of Puerto Rico in an 8. 2016 Olympian Shakur Stevenson, 5-0 (2), of Newark, NJ, takes on Roxberg Patrick Riley, 12-0 (6), of Dallas, TX, in an 8 round featherweight match.

A pair of top prospects in Allentown’s Super Featherweight Joseph Adorno, 6-0 (6), will be in a 6 while Philly’s welterweight Marcel Rivers, 4-0 (3), will be in a 4. Brazil’s 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Super Featherweight Robson Conceicao, 6-0 (4), will be in an 8 as will Super Lightweight Kent Cruz, 14-0 (9), of St. Louis, MO.