Everything pretty much went according to plan on Friday night at Philadelphia's National Guard Armory. Every favorite (all out of the red corner) won and there was no meaningful scoring controversy. In the main event Tevin Farmer (12-4-1, 2 KOs) easily dispatched Camilo Perez (9-0, 4 KOs) in a fight that proved records can be extremely misleading. Add Perez to the list of protected Puerto Rican prospects that suddenly take major steps up in opposition and falter. BLH had Farmer-Perez a shutout, 80-72, but saw a case for Perez winning rounds 3 and 7, depending if you score low blows as legal body shots. Apparently the judges did as they saw it 77-75, 78-74, and 79-73. But at least the right man won. Here's what Farmer had to say after the fight:
He didn't seem too pleased about fights with Frank Trader and Naim Nelson not materializing and claims to be "done with Philly" as he moves on to bigger and better things. Good luck to him. So far he's 6-0 in 2013.
And now for a round-by-round look at the complete fight card, in chronological order:
1. Robert Sweeney UD4 Nycholas Ellerbe (40-34, 40-34, 40-34) [Middleweight]
You can basically sum this fight up as one guy letting his hands go while the other guy did more holding than punching. Thus Sweeney improved to 2-0 while Ellerbe fell to 0-2. Ellerbe lost 2 points in round 3 for holding and it was quite surprising he didn't get disqualified for it in round 4 (not that it mattered). Ellerbe never won a single round. Although dominant Sweeney should probably work on straighter punches and not falling in so much. He was open to counter right hands and Ellerbe spent the entire fight waiting to land a perfect one (when he wasn't holding on for dear life).
2. Miguel Cartagena UD4 Jhon Alberto Molina (39-37, 40-36, 40-36) [Super Bantamweight]
Despite the lopsided scorecards, this one could have gone either way. BLH had it 39-38 for Cartagena scoring round 1 even, round 2 to Molina, and rounds 3 and 4 to Cartagena. Only round 4 was particularly clear as Cartagena turned it up. But it was an impressive performance by Cartagena nonetheless considering he barely came in over the super flyweight limit and was facing a far more experienced fighter. Molina has more knockouts than Cartagena has fights but he couldn't keep up with the youngster's speed and output. Timing however was another story, but Cartagena took the punches well. Cartagena was noticeably vulnerable to the overhand right. Nonetheless Cartagena advanced to 9-0 while Molina fell to 32-26-3.
PS: You may recall Molina from 2 Mondays earlier against Rau'shee Warren, televised by Fox Sports 1.
3. Emmanuel Folly UD4 Jesus Gonzales (40-35, 39-36, 39-36) [Super Bantamweights]
After being rocked twice in the opening round, which he won otherwise, Folly left no doubts thereafter by "fighting smart," as he put it. He was simply too fast and too sharp for Gonzales, who only seemed to have a real chance when Folly was reckless. Ironically Gonzales was having one of his better rounds when he himself got reckless but it eventually caused him to run into a counter right hand and get dropped with less than a minute to go. Subsequently Folly rose to 2-0 while Gonzales has twice the fights with half the wins. Here's the very brief post-fight interview I did with one of Philly's latest hot prospects:
4. Denis Douglin TKO4 Julias Kennedy (1:47) [Super Middleweight]
You may call "Da Momma's Boy" Douglin from a few appearances on ESPN and Showtime (the last of which was not too flattering). Since that 5th round KO loss to Jermell Charlo last year, Douglin has fought off TV. He dropped an 8 round decision to Jose Angel Rodriguez earlier in the year but redeemed himself on this night against "Relentless" Julias Kennedy. Kennedy was ultimately stopped on his feet after being dropped in the round 4 from a delayed reaction to a left-cross + right-uppercut combination. The referee stepped in as Douglin was pounded into the ropes. Decide for yourself if it was early:
Overall Douglin's footwork was on another level and Kennedy was given a boxing lesson. He's been able to overcome boxing lessons in the past, but against opponents that don't finish him off. BLH had the fight 2-1 Douglin through 3 rounds, giving Kennedy the 3rd for living up to his moniker. Douglin improved to 15-3 while Kennedy, once 7-1, is now batting .500.
5. Tevin Farmer UD8 Camilo Perez (77-75, 78-74, 79-73) [Lightweight]
Farmer, despite coming in a pound over the super featherweight limit, showed no signs of being too slow or lethargic in the ring. He did reduce his in-and-out movements later in the fight but he stepped up his intensity at the same time and beat Perez at his own game (infighting). From the outside Perez couldn't land his lead right hands because his back foot was "stuck in mud," so to speak. It would have been an effective weapon otherwise considering Farmer is southpaw while Perez is orthodox. On the other hand, lead straight lefts from Farmer proved to be the signature punch of the fight. Farmer's uppercuts to Perez's body came in 2nd. Perez's low blows might have come in 3rd...
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This Oct. 25, 2013 card was put together by Greg Robinson’s Power Productions, billed as "The Rise of a Champion." The photo gallery of this event is courtesy of Darryl Cobb Jr.
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Ryan Bivins is a staff writer for BadLeftHook. You can contact him on twitter (@sweetboxing) or through email (rgbivins@gmail.com).