The Deck, Essington, PA results: Hayward decisions Liles but Rivera steals the show

The 2nd installment of Marty Feldman's Champions of Tomorrow series (promoted by his son Damon) wasn't as star studded as the original but co-promoter Meldrick Taylor was certainly in attendance. Taylor, a 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist, former IBF light welterweight champion, and former WBA welterweight champion, currently has a movie in the works titled "Two Seconds from Glory." The movie is based off a book Taylor had published under the same name back in 2009 centering around his 1st meeting with the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Check out what Taylor had to say when I caught up with him before the fight card began:

Moving on to Thursday night's entertainment, a 7 fight card was reduced to 4 official bouts plus 1 exhibition. In the main event super middleweight Charles Hayward won unanimous decision over Antonio Liles by scores of 60-54 (twice) and 59-55. It was a fairly uneventful fight with Liles content to live off of his defense. The little offense Liles did bring appeared enough to win the 1st half of the fight (contrary to the official scorecards) but after doing next to nothing in the 2nd half he threw the fight away. Hayward pressed forward, put his punches together and scored while Liles pretty much just blocked. Thus Hayward improved to 9-5 while Liles picked up a(nother) loss. Liles was announced coming in at 1-2 although his team insisted he was previously unbeaten (2-0).

Whatever the case may be Liles most definitely has at least 1 loss on his record now, as do 3 other fighters on the card. A full report on the August 15th action in Essington follows:

1) Anthony Stallone Patanella EX3 Maurice Amaro

Patanella was originally scheduled to make his pro debut against Lavon Slade but the bout was scrapped. Instead he met Amaro in a light heavyweight exhibition. Amaro had the better of most of the action but Patanella finished strong and rocked Amaro before the final bell. Patanella looked gassed prior to that despite the fact that the 3x2 min round exhibition duration is half of the total time that his pro debut would have been.

2) Evincii Dixon KO2 Ramon Ellis (1:40)

Prizefighter Dixon, an unlucky participant in the previous Champions of Tomorrow show, made sure he didn't leave it in the judges' hands this time around. Ellis, a shorter fighter that liked to work the body, sealed the 1st round by rocking Dixon upstairs toward the end. In round 2 Dixon baited Ellis into a neutral corner and separated him from his senses with a counter right uppercut followed by a left hook. I believe a few more punches landed as Ellis slowly made his way to the canvas but they were hardly necessary. Ellis was completely disoriented and failed to beat his 10 count. Thus Dixon, who said he'll be "back in the gym tomorrow," improved to 2-1. With his move down to junior welterweight perhaps we'll see even more scintillating stoppages in his future.

3) Robert Sweeney MD4 Ruben Ortiz (38-38, 39-37, 39-37)

This was a very ugly middleweight fight and I'd prefer not to relive the moment. All I'll say is all of the scorecards were perfectly reasonable and Ortiz may want to consider a career change to wrestling or MMA. However, I suppose Ortiz did box a little bit before Sweeney hurt him with body shots. But hey, this was the pro debut for both guys (who are clearly learning on the job).

4) Josue Rivera TKO2 Tyson Maher (2:16)

This wild, all-action, non-stop, no-defense war was the greatest 2 round fight I've seen all year. Boxing fundamentals went out the window from the opening bell. Maher, the crowd favorite, floored Rivera early in round 1 and followed it up with a heavy beating for the next 2 minutes or so. But he didn't invest in body work, lost most of his steam, and allowed Rivera to recover and comeback. By the end of the round Rivera was the one doing most of the damage and nearly had Maher ready to go. In round 2 Maher briefly made his last stand and tried to take Rivera's head off but was overwhelmed and pummeled into the ropes before hitting "the deck," pun intended. Although he beat the 10 count and the action resumed, he couldn't defend himself and the referee was forced to wave it off moments later while Maher was still standing. Subsequently the 36 year old Rivera picked up his 1st pro win while Maher lost his pro debut. All bouts involving both fighters have ended in early knockouts. I would love to see a rematch.

5) Charles Hayward UD6 Antonio Liles (60-54, 59-55, 60-54)

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Other fighters (past and present) in attendance included Tim Witherspoon Jr, Nate Miller, Buster Drayton, Dante Selby, Simon Carr, and Greg Hackett (the old one). It was announced that Witherspoon will headline the next Champions of Tomorrow card.

SportsTitan.TV recorded the fights and should have them available on their website in a few weeks or less.

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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).