By Boxing Bob Newman Ringside
Hometown hero Jordan “Short Dog” White, found himself in a dog fight “pun intended” against upset minded Rene Tellez Giron in a battle for the vacant NABF lightweight title. Jordan, the NABF super featherweight champion, was moving up to test the waters at lightweight, while Tellez couldn’t even make the 135 lb. limit, so the belt was only on the line for Jordan.
That didn’t seem to discourage Tellez however, as he bludgeoned Jordan throughout, bloodying his nose, scoring a knockdown near the end of the fifth, and weathering any onslaught that Jordan mustered. After the seventh, White’s corner pulled the old Angelo Dundee trick of tending to the gloves with extra tape, extending the rest period severl precious seconds longer, the gain their man some extra rest. White could be heard asking if the score cards would come into play if the fight was stopped due to his injured hand. He was told, “No! If we stop it, it’s stopped, fight’s over!” He bravely fought on, following his corner’s instructions to go for the KO in the final round. It was to no avail as Telles was too tough and too pumped up to succumb to anything White tried. In the end, the judges saw it 95-93, 97-92 and 95-94 all for the winner, Rene Tellez Giron. Because he was over the 135 lb. limit, the NABF title remians vacant. Tellez improves to 22-5, 13 KOs, while White dips to 19-2, 12 KOs.
Super bantam gatekeeper Sulaiman Segawa (Silver Springs, MD, by way of Uganda) took on once beaten Bryan Acosta (Hermosillo, Mexico) in a give-and-take ten rounder. As the fight wore on, Segawa gave more and took less, building a lead and a beat down of Acosta. In the seventh, a beautiful uppercut dropped Acosta. He beat the count and took a battering, seemingly on the verge of being stopped. A well-timed clinch bought him some time, but the inevitable couldn’t be avoided. The ref stepped in at 2:53 of the seventh. Segawa moves to 19-5-1, 8 KOs, while Acosta drops his second straight at 20-2, 8 KOs.
The opening bout of the YouTube broadcast portion of ProBox’s megashow in Washington, D.C., saw knockout artists Benjamin Johnson and Luis Caraballo Ramos throw serious leather for five hellacious rounds. Neither fighter had never seen any of their victories reach the final bell. Johnson came out with bed intentions, as did Ramos, but Johnson threw and lended more, hurting Ramos on several occasions, though never putting him down. Finally, Ramos’ corner stood up on the ring apron, requesting their fighter be pulled out of the action for his own good. The time was 1:08 of the fifth. Johnson remains perfect at 5-0, 5 KOs, while Ramos falls to 7-7-1, 7 KOs.
Bronx born Elijah Flores took on his toughest test to date (on paper) in Mexico’s Luis Hernandez Ramos in a welterweight eight rounder. Flores debunked that thought as he pounded Ramos into submission at 2:21 of the second round, moving to 10-0, 4 KOs, while Ramos falls to 23-8, 20 KOs.
Big punching super feathers Francois Scarboro, Jr., (Cheverly, MD) and Kevin Piedrahita (Colombia) met in a scheduled eight rounder. Piedrahita did not come to lay down and collect a paycheck. In the second, he rocked Scarboro, Jr. multiple times, snapping his foe’s head back over the ropes in dramatic fashion, drawing “oohs” and “ahhs” from the partisan crowd. Scarboro, Jr. took the counterpunching approach, with some success, but Piedrahita walked through much of it. Still, Scraboro, Jr. had better success in the third as his output and connects increased. Scarbro, Jr. turned up the heat in the fourth, taking the offense and nailing Piedrahita flush, but was unable to put him down. Piedrahita was somehow invigorated in the fifth, pinning Scarboro, Jr. to the ropes with great success, buckling the knees of his foe and nullifying most of Scarboro, Jr.’s attempts to counter. The final three rounds were trench warfare, with Scarboro, Jr. seemingly getting the better of the exchanges, though Piedrahita never took a backwards step. The judges saw it 78-74, 77-73 and 79-74 all for Scarboro, Jr., now 11-0, 8 KOs. The tough-as-nails Piedrahita falls to 10-4-1, 9 KOs.
*Editor’s note: The 79-74 score didn’t make sense to this reporter. When I approached the commission, they looked at the master score sheet, tried to figure out of there was an error, then gave up. When I asked if it was correct, the commission member just looked at me and tossed the clipboard aside ane turned away from me!
Lightweights Jonhatan Cardoso (Brazil) and Luis Torres Valenzuela (Mexico) went at it in a scheduled ten rounder. It was give and take, but Valenzuela was made of harder stuff, as he gradually wore Cardoso down. A straight left dropped Cardoso hard in the neutral corner. He barely beat the count, barely was able to follow referee Malik Walid’s instructions, but was allowed to continue. He absorbed an unnecessary amount of punishment to the end of the ninth round. Walid finally halting matters at 2:59 of the round. The new WBA Continental North American champion is Valenzuela, now 23-1, 14 KOs. Cardoso falls to 18-3, 15 KOs.
