Report/Photos: Boxing Bob Newman
Steven McDowell’s Crowned Productions LLC offered up an 8-bout show dubbed “Brawl Of The South” at the Campus 805 in Hunstville, Alabama on Saturday evening for their maiden promotional outing.
In the main event, Jaylin Strong and Kyle Ransaw turned pro against each other at welterweight. At stake was the WBL (World Boxing League) Novice Championship! The extreme awkwardness of Strong worked to his advantage as Ransaw had no answer for the odd punches off the wrong foot, the crouching approach and everything Strong did. A knockdown in the first and again in the second forced referee Danny Ziemba to waved it off at 2:57 of the second. Strong wins his pro debut and the WBL novice belt, while Ransaw loses to go to 0-1.
The semi-main saw Kahlil Mitchell and Kynndale Prather square off in a scheduled 6-round super middleweight affair. This was a sloppy affair with many missed shots and holding afterwards. Mitchell finally landed paydirt in the third, dropping Prather in his own corner. Prather beat the count and survived the round, only to go down again in the fourth, still surviving. A second trip to the canvas in the round with seconds left was ruled a slip. Another knockdown in the fifth forced the stoppage at 1:42 of the round. Mitchell improves to 5-1, 3 KOs while Prather dips to 3-22, 1 KO.
Lightweights Jacob Cuevas and Anthony Michael Linenfelser tangled in a scheduled 6-rounder. The quality of Cuevas’ punches was apparent from the get go, both in speed and delivery. He caught the two-inches taller Linenfelser cleanly to the head on several occasions. Cuevas also displayed excellent footwork to make matters worse for Linenfelser. As if on cue, Cuevas decided to end matters in the third coming out like a man possessed. First, a vicious onslaught in a neutral corner, to the head and body, dropped Linenfelser in a heap. He beat the count, only to go down twice more from wicked body shots, the second one for the full 10-count. Time was 2:26 of the third. Cuevas goes to 6-0, 4 KOs, while Linenfelser drops to 4-30-1, 4 KOs.
Marquel McMillian made his pro debut a short one against Nujoye Christopher Maiden at heavyweight. The 5’10” McMillian stalked and nailed the taller Maiden with his much quicker hands. After a slip, Maiden went down for good from a left hook, taking a ten count at 2:04 of the opening round. McMillian starts out at 1-0, 1 KO, while Maiden goes to 0-4.
Fellow debutantes Justin Jamar and Reinier Diaz Salgado met at welterweight. Salgado seemed to have the upper hand just slightly in the first two rounds. However, Jamar turned the tables, hurting Salgado in the third, pounding the Cuban all over the ring. Jamar kept the pace in the fourth as Salgado tried desperately to turn the tables. The final scores were 39-36 and 38-38 twice for a majority draw. Both fighters start out 0-0-1!
Dislan Riviaux Gainza made his debut against Clarence Brown at welterweight. This was a Mutt-n-Jeff affair as The southpaw Riviaux Gainza towered over Brown and used his reach to keep Brown at bay and on the end of the jab. Brown tried to get inside but it was a rarely successful occasion that he did. In the third, Brown tried to maul Gainza and make a dog fight out of it, to which Gainza obliged. Gainza kept control through the fourth and cruised to a 40-36 win on all three judges’ cards, to start out at 1-0. Brown plummets to 0-23!
Jerickcel Padsing steamrolled Corian Hawkins-Powell in a bantamweight contest. The 5’3″ Padsing strafed the head and body of the lanky 5’11” Hawkins-Powell for three knockdowns in the first, forcing an automatic stoppage at 2:55. Padsing is now 7-0, 4 KOs, while Hawkins-Powell falls to 0-4.
