While Zahir Raheem was giving Bayan Jargal a boxing lesson in Tacoma, WA, less established Philly fighters followed suit back home. Unbeaten prospects Damon Allen Jr and Emmanuel Folly easily kept their 0 and looked good doing it. Allen (4-0, 1 KO) picked up a 4th round TKO in the main event while Folly (2-0, 1 KO) stopped his opponent in the 3rd round of the co-feature. Here's what they had to say when BLH caught up with them afterward:
Each designated-punching-bag in the final 2 bouts of the show seemed more than capable of continuing, however, it served no meaningful purpose to let them. To be perfectly honest most of the fights on the card were complete mismatches, one outstanding round and one robbery aside. Details follow.
1. Fred Jenkins Jr EX3 Lamont Rose
This exhibition was not remotely serious nor worth commentary. The fighters didn't even receive instructions in their corners between rounds. Jenkins (6-1, 2 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Joel Vargas (4-12-1, 4 KOs) in an official bout. Vargas pulled out for whatever reason.
2. Joel De La Paz [180] UD4 Edgar Perez [179] (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)
Perez (5-7, 3 KOs) was too short and fat to offer much against De La Paz (6-0, 4 KOs). The scorecards were extremely predictable. Da La Paz's defense wasn't the best when Perez could actually muster the energy to throw a punch, but Joel was coming off a 3+ year layoff. Joel punched in combination fluidly and used his superior footwork to keep himself out of harm's way, usually.
3. Johnson Jajoute [154] UD4 Howard Reece [148] (40-35, 39-36, 39-36)
For 3.85 rounds Jajoute was in supreme control of the fight. He came out guns blazing in round 1, had Reece holding on to survive in round 2, caused Reece to lose a point for holding in round 3, and rocked Reece badly in the middle of round 4. Then (with less than 30 seconds to go in the final round) Reece came back and landed the best series of punches of the fight. Jajoute was on the verge of being knocked out when the bell rang. Both fighters received a standing ovation. Jajoute won his pro debut while Reece fell to 1-3.
4. Nelson Acevedo [122] TKO2 Luis Claudio [120] (2:43)
Acevedo had every advantage minus height, which Claudio didn't have either. In other words, these guys were really short. Claudio didn't have the technique or fitness to challenge Acevedo in any way. The referee took mercy on Claudio after a long beating in round 2, allowing Acevedo to win his pro debut. Claudio bowled over to 1-2.
5. Eric Gonzalez [128] UD4 William Harris [131] (39-37, 40-36, 40-36)
Despite the scorecards this was one of the few fights that weren't mismatches. There was very little to choose from between Gonzalez and Harris until the final round, which Gonzalez won clearly. Harris defeated himself by not preparing properly. According to trainer Steve Witherspoon, Harris only trained 1 day. Thus Gonzalez won his pro debut while Harris dropped to 0-2.
6. Rami Ibrahim [146] UD4 James Gooding [148] (40-35, 39-36, 38-37)
And then there was the one true robbery of the night. Crowd favorite Ibrahim, also a Muay Thai and MMA fighter, must have won the fight based on rules in those disciplines. Headbutts, knees, and wrestling are not scored under Marquess of Queensberry rules (and are usually penalized). Gooding handily outboxed Ibrahim through 3 rounds before dropping the ball in the 4th (not that it mattered since the judges were blind, ignorant or corrupt anyways). Gooding was outhustled in round 4 after first being pushed down (awfully ruled a knockdown by the referee). The judges should have scored it 10-9 instead of 10-8 on the basis of the referee's incompetence, but that would require them to actually be competent. Truth be told, the writing was on the wall from the jump. It was obvious that things weren't what they appeared when it was announced that Gooding weighed in heavier than Ibrahim despite being the far smaller man in the ring. Ibrahim improved to 4-8-1 while Gooding fell to 1-4.
7. Emmanuel Folly [119] TKO3 Angel Carvajal [119] (2:46)
Folly was too fast, too sharp, and just too good for Carvajal to cope with. If you watched the interview at the beginning of this article you saw a highlight of Carvajal getting knocked through the ropes prior to being stopped on his feet moments later.
8. Damon Allen Jr [140] TKO4 Anthony Linenfelser [145] (1:45)
In the main event of the evening Allen beat up an oversized yet under-talented Linenfelser. Linenfelser was big enough to take Allen's punches and smile but gave away his height and wasn't busy, making him an easy target.
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"Destiny" at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall was presented by Cool Boxing Promotions on Friday, January 10, 2014. A photo gallery of the event, courtesy of Darryl Cobb Jr, is available atop this page.
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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).