With the continued success and expanding popularity of Boxing Wise we
will now feature live reporting from boxing events. Boxing Wise will
have pre and post fight coverage from various venues, along with ringside
analysis. We wish to thank Top Rank, America Presents, Don King, Cedric
Kushner, Frank Warren, Main Events, Universum Promotions, OPI 2000,
M&M productions, Bill Mordey, 8-count productions, Bobby Hitz, Ballroom
Boxing, Jeff Fenech and Mogens Palle for their help in providing access
to their events.
February 20th, Hyatt Regency, Baltimore, MD
Main event: Isra Girgrah vs. Melinda Robinson
IBF & UBA Lightweight champion Isra Girgrah (17-3-2, 8 ko's) continued on a winning
streak against old nemesis Melinda Robinson (9-14-1, 5 ko's) in what was a flawless
victory by the champion in a non-title six round bout. This was Girgrah's second time in
a row to headline an all male boxing card and she didn't disappoint the crowd of over
700 fans.
Girgrah throughout, used a solid jab and was able to hit and not be hit. Her
crushing right hand and uppercut, which has become a trademark for Girgrah, landed
heavily in the fourth and fifth rounds. Robinson was staggered throughout the last two
rounds but to her credit, lasted the entire six. When the final scorecards were read,
Girgrah's hand was raised in victory by winning an unanimous decision. (60-54) on all
three judges scorecards.
In the Co-main event, unbeaten junior welterweight Michael Warrick raised his
record to (16-0, 11 Ko's) by winning an unanimous decision over tough Awel Abdulai who
falls to (8-16-1, 3 Ko's). Warrick showed big power throughout and knocked Abdulai to
the canvas with a left hand during an exchange in the sixth round and again with a right
hand in the seventh. Abdulai as he always does, finished the bout. But when the
verdict was announced, Warrick celebrated with the win.
In other bouts: Heavyweights T.J. Wilson (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO1 Anthony Prince (2-4, 2 KOs)
Time: 0:57.
Jr. Middleweights Shawn Garnett (7-1-1, 1 KO) W6 George Armenta (3-1, 2
KOs) Scores: 59-55, 59-55, 58-56
Jr. Welterweights Demetrius Hopkins (6-0, 1 KO) W6 Melvin Jones (4-2-1,
1 KO) Scores: 60-53, 59-55, 60-54
Jr. Lightweights James Baker (11-1-2, 4 KOs) DRAW6 Joe Figueroa (9-43-5,
4 KOs) Scores: 58-86 (Baker), 58-57 (Figueroa), 57-57
Jr. Middleweights Marlon Haynes (9-2-3, 3 KOs) TKO2 Lawrence Brooks (3-
9, 0 KOs) Time: 2:37
The card was held to support the F.O.C.U.S. (Facing Our Children's Urban Situation)
Foundation headed by Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Rob Burnett. Boxers in
attendance were former WBA Super Lightweight champion Sharmba Mitchell, former IBF
Junior Middleweight champ Vincent Pettway, highly ranked heavyweight contender Hasim
Rahman and USBA Regional & NABA Junior Lightweight champion Lamont "Bay" Pearson.
As always fight fans, keep reaching for the stars, and all your dreams can be fulfilled.
Promoted by: 10 Kount Productions
Reported by: Brad Berkwitt
February 17, Padua, Italy
Main event: Jerry Elliott vs. Cristian Sanavia
Taste and aroma of the old times were in the air on February 17 in Padua, Italy,
when two unbeaten middleweights clashed for the WBC/Intl. honors. Neither Jerry Elliott
nor Cristian Sanavia are world champs, but they offered twelve rounds of exciting action
to the delighted fans. Nigerian Jerry Elliott came to Padua to face hometown hero,
current Italian champ Cristian Sanavia, who was fighting for the first time in front of
his fellow neighbors. The arena sold out, with 4,000 fans to root for their fighter and,
among the attendance, two of the greatest middleweights ever, Hall of Famers Marvin
Hagler and Nino Benvenuti.
The WBC/Intl title bout started with a nervous Sanavia unable to find the proper
range to hit the taller Nigerian but, starting from round two, the athletes went toe to
toe for the whole fight and exchanged blow after blow. Round 6 and round 10 are two
early candidates for "round of the year" in Italy. At the end of round 10, both fighters
stayed in the middle of the ring to hug each other after the bell, in an amazing show of
respect. Round 11 and 12 were grueling, but no fighter was down, and the decision could
have gone either way, with the real winners being the fans. Judges scored it 116-114,
116-115 and 115-113, all for Cristian Sanavia. The German camp didn't complain (Jerry
Elliott is now based in Germany) and accepted the decision. German matchmaker Marcel
Narz told Boxing Wise that he would love a rematch, because "what is killing our sport
are the fights where you know the winner in advance. If a fighter is way better than his
opponent, no reason to buy a ticket. But if you match two competitive, unbeaten
fighters, the fans get a show that is worth the price, and the whole sport will
improve". No reason to disagree, of course.
On the same card, WBO #1 jr. welter Gianluca Branco moved his record to a more than
decent 27-0-1, decisioning Frederick Tripp. Branco showed impressive handspeed and
landed several combinations, alternating good body shots and fast hooks to the head. The
French fighter was almost down in round six, when Branco offered an exciting
performance. WBO #1 Branco is now scheduled to fight his WBC counterpart, #1 Oktay
Urkal, for the European title at 140 lbs. Right now it's still unclear if Urkal will
face Branco, or rather vacate his Euro belt to wait for a shot at world champ Kosta
Tszyu. But no doubt Urkal vs Branco would be another bout worth the price of the ticket.
The show offered two other good fights, where lightweight contenders Stefano Zoff
and Sandro Casamonica took a tune-up before heading back to title contention. Zoff, the
former WBA champ at 135 lbs, stopped Kimoun Kouassi in three rounds, when the referee
called a halt to the action because of a cut suffered by Kouassi. In the first two
rounds, Zoff showed excellent defensive moves and an effective left jab. On the final
bout of the show, WBO #9 light Casamonica, coming from a loss to WBO king Artur
Grigorian, won a six rounder over Nigerian Sunday Aderoju.
Promoted by: OPI 2000, headed by Salvatore and Cristian Cherchi
Reported by: Alessandro Ferrarini (feel free to contact me)
February 16, Sands Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Main event: Curtis Barker vs. Otillio Villarreal
On a rainy Friday evening, welterweight prospect Curtis Barker continued his
undefeated career with a 10 round shout out of Otillio Villarreal. In the second, Barker
began working Villarreal's body. In the third Villarreal was able to land with greatest
frequency and backed Barker around the ring until he himself got trapped on the ropes
and Barker turned the momentum of the round in an about face. By the fifth round
Villarreal had tired and could not match Barker's punch output. In the middle of the
sixth round, Barker landed a left hook followed by a right hand just above Otillio's
temple that staggered and nearly took his legs out from underneath him. Referee Steve
Smoger jumped in between the fighters as Villarreal's glove nearly touched the canvas
and he stumbled backwards. Villarreal was able to survive the round by backing away from
Barker. Barker continued to outwork Villarreal for the rest of the fight. The final
scores read 100-89 from all three judges.
Southpaw Bobby High(5-2) was placed in over his head as he lost a unanimous decision
to Luis Rosado(27-5) in eight rounds. Rosado did well early, as he scored well his jab
and repeatedly threw combination to his opponents body. The first half of the fight
Rosado controlled and was allowed to circle to his left to neutralize the southpaw. High
was able to only look good when throwing straight hand which would land. The pace slowed
in the fifth and High also had his mouthpiece knocked out. The judges scored it 75-73,
80-72, and 79-73.
In the First bout of the evening, Meagan McBain, making her pro debut, drew with
Norma Galloway. Galloway previously lost her only fight, a 4 round decision last year to
Jaqui Frazier. The fight was crude as it was a contest of jabs in the first round. In
the second, McBain was able to rattle Galloway with an overhand right. Galloway was more
decisive with her punches when she was able to get close to McBain as her tactics
bordered on holding her opponent with her left hand and hitting with the right hand.
Galloway appeared to tire by the third round as she began to bull McBride around the
ring. The last round went back to a battle of jabs and Galloway seemed to get the better
of McBain. Of note, but necessarily beneficial to her career, McBain is managed by actor
Stephen Baldwin.
In a bout of journeymen, 5-13 supermiddleweight Ron Krull scored a fourth round TKO
over ring worn "Sugar" Han Kim, 18-25-1. The first round belonged to Krull as he was
able to put together a 4 punch combination that snapped Kim's head in different
directions with each impact. The second round saw Kim's head being snapped about with
almost every punch. Krull's better balance and more active hands gained him this round.
The third featured more of the same but had Kim sticking his tongue out at Krull after
eating a solid left hook in the last half of the round. A looping right hand by Krull
made Kim go limp and wilt into the ref's arms as he halted the action at 1:38.
Promoted by: Louis Fugazy Promotions
Reported by: Johnathan Cohen
February 9, Odense, Denmark
Main event: Dennis Pedersen vs. John Bailey
Dennis Holbaek Pedersen, 135, Denmark (now 43-1, 22 KOs, IBO computer ratings no. 18
junior lightweight) not only took the IBC lightweight title by outpointing John "Macho
Midget" Bailey, 135, New Cumberland, W.V. (now 17-7-1, 11 KOs) but also put himself in
line for a shot at IBF champ Paul Spadafora this May.
Reportedly, Bailey had recently been leading on points before losing on a cut
against IBF no. 1 Billy Irwin, and he outpointed IBF no. Joel Perez, so the Macho Midget
was considered a dangerous opponent. It didn't quite turn out that way as Holbaek had
full control for the first six rounds, knocking down Bailey once along the way. In the
second half, a severe asthma attack hampered Holbaek, however, so he had to slow down,
letting Bailey into the fight. Still, Bailey never became a real threat. The scores were
117-112 (Roy Francis, England), 118-110 (Pete Podgorski, USA) and a much too narrow 116-
114 (Dave Parris, England). I had 118-112.
Mads Larsen, 171, Denmark (now 36-1, 32 KOs, IBO no. 2 super middle) had five rounds
of target practice against brave Lloyd Bryan, Jamaica (now 20-7, 9 KOs, IBO no. 69)
before referee Roy Francis stopped the contest somewhat prematurely. Bryan was sent off
balance by a left hook but didn't seem to be in dire straits and he had been trying to
hit back all along. Larsen afterwards complained that he felt heavy and slow but he
still looked more impressive in his win than German Sven Ottke who had previously
outpointed Bryan in an IBF title fight.
European welter champion Thomas Damgaard, Denmark (now 23-0, 19 KOs, IBO no. 4
welter) was hit a little too much along the way by courageus Humberto Aranda, Costa Rica
(now 25-11, 14 KOs, 3 NC) but Aranda did not have the power to hold Damgaard off and the
referee stopped an increasingly onesided fight in the fourth after Aranda had been down
several times.
The highly anticipated Norwegian domestic battle between Ole Klemetsen, 182, Norway
(now 44-5, 36 KOs, IBO no. 4 lightheavy) and Thomas Hansvoll, 182, Norway (now 20-2-1, 4
KOs) turned into a scandalous disappointment as a bad tempered Hansvoll was correctly
disqualified by British referee Dave Parris after several unwarranted fouls, like
tripping and hitting with the shoulder. Until the end, normally lighthitting Hansvoll
had somewhat surprisingly had the better of the actual fighting, knocking down Klemetsen
with his first decent punch and staggering Klemetsen again later. But it all ended up in
what in my mind was a loss for both fighters whose careers may well be over.
Mikkel Kessler, 163, Denmark (now 20-0, 14 KOs, IBO no. 33 super middle) came back
after an injury layoff to knock out Patrick Rubes, 163, Spain (now 8-10, 3 KOs). Rubes
had no serious offensive arsenal and a double 1-2 sent him down and out for several
minutes early in the second. Hasan Al, 154, Denmark (now 22-0-2, 9 KOs, IBO 40 light
middle) came back after a trouble forced layoff due to contractual problems to
unanimously outpoint Keith "Pretty Boy" Sims,155, Cleveland, Ohio (now 10-7, 7 KOs, 1
NC) over six. Al was the stronger all the way but often had trouble catching the
southpaw spoiler and Al looked sluggish and amateurish at times. A good last round saved
the performance however. The scores were 60-55, 60-54 and 59-56. I had it 60-54.
Steffen Norskov, 115, Denmark (now 10-1, 2 KOs) avenged the only defeat of his
career as he unanimously outpointed lanky Duncan Karanja, 115, Kenya (now 3-1, 2 KOs)
over six. Last time out, Karanja won a debatable split decision and this one was close a
as well, but Norskov deserved the decision. The scores were 59-57, 59-56 and 60-56.
Steffen Nielsen, 188, Denmark (now 8-0, 5 KOs) knocked out Jim Brackney, 207,
Springfield, Miss. (now 5-11, 3 KOs, 1 NC) with one big left hook in just 20 seconds of
the fight. Brackney was out for minutes. Shawn Robinson, 220, Strafford, Miss. (now 8-
1, 7 KOs) propably ended the short and entertaing career of unschooled but hardhitting
Simon Welms, 221, Denmark (now 7-1, 7 KOs) as the referee saved a badly beaten Welms in
the third. Welms was down in both the first and the second but bravely tried all the way.
Lightweight Tommi Schmidt, Denmark (now 6-1, 3 KOs) scored a disputed majority
decision over Ron Greer, Toledo, Mich. (record unavailable) over four. Schmidt has heart
but he still has a lot to learn. Giovanni Alvarez, 177, Sweden (now 2-0) outscored
experienced Jerry Lee Williams, 181, Gary, Indiana (now 11-13-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) in a good
entertaining fight. I had it 40-36, counting the debatable knockdown in the second.
Promoted by: Bettina Palle
Reported by: Henry Rasmunssen