/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48776081/GettyImages-491192804.0.jpg)
While he didn't get the finish, Jamel Herring took Colombia's Luis Eduardo Flores to school in Bethlehem, picking apart his foe for the full ten rounds.
Herring (15-0, 8 KO), the captain of America's 2012 Olympic boxing team, spent the first handful of rounds wary of Flores' (21-3, 17 KO) punching power, but soon gained confidence in his ability to avoid his foe's wide power shots. Herring went to work with excellent combinations and body shots, showing excellent shot selection and defense along the way.
The fighters' feet got tangled in the fifth round, resulting in a called knockdown on Flores, and a check hook that was a bit of a push resulted in another shortly thereafter. Herring didn't manage to send him down again, but did pile up the damage for the remainder of the fight.
Ultimately, Flores won just one round on one judge's scorecards, having been thoroughly outclassed.
Herring's power was the only question mark; he moved well, put shots together well, and showed a nicely varied attack. Certainly someone worth watching.
2008 Olympian Raynell Williams kept his unbeaten record intact, but had to survive a near-disaster in the final minute to do so. For the vast majority of the fight, Williams (11-0, 5 KO) controlled foe Gabriel Tolmajyan (14-5-2, 3 KO) with solid body work and a stiff jab. Of particular note was Williams' shovel hook, which he used extremely well on the counter to land withering body shots.
Tolmajyan found success throughout with a right hook int he middle of exchanges, but it was his left straight that gave him his first telling blow, discombobulating Williams in the last minute of the eighth and final round. Williams, despite wobbly legs, managed to hold on and survive, ultimately taking a unanimous decision on scores of 78-74, 79-73, and 79-73.
Considering that Tolmajyan entered the fight with just three knockout wins and none in almost six years, that was a rather ill omen for Williams. He definitely has the skills, though.
In the welterweight opener, Alex Martin cruised past Rosemberg Gomez for eight unengrossing rounds. Martin (12-0, 5 KO) used a solid jab and crisp combinations to essentially run circles around Gomez, splitting his guard with 1-2s and circling extremely well. Gomez (17-5-1, 13 KO) put in hat I've come to recognize as a prototypical "PBC opponent" performance: waded forward, threw a lot of body shots, and landed a decent punch every once in a while.
He also complained of low blows and rabbit punches throughout while waving Martin on, which I consider something of a mixed message.
Martin showcased quite a bit of skill in the unanimous decision win, but also struggled to hurt the outmatched Gomez and clinched rather excessively. Not a bad performance, but not great, either.
For quick results and round-by-round coverage of the night's proceedings, click here.