Boxing

Zablocki Ruling Proved Correct

Ron DiMichele

24.03 - In a recent article posted on ESB regarding the St. Patrick’s Day Massachusetts Junior Welterweight title bout between Jimmy LeBlanc and Kevin Watts, I wrote that referee John Zablocki had missed the call in ruling that a punch caused the cut above the eye of Jimmy LeBlanc and not a head butt. The outcome of the fight had hinged on this ruling. A replay of the bout aired Sunday, March 23rd on the New England Sports Network channel showed that Zablocki’s ruling was correct and that my assessment of the events was incorrect. There was no head butt. A punch caused the cut. I am sorry to have written that Zablocki made the mistake, when actually it was myself who was in error.

Jimmy LeBlanc was leading on two of the three judge’s scorecards in the eighth round when the ringside doctor stopped the bout due to the severity of a cut above LeBlanc’s right eye. A ruling that the cut was caused by an unintentional head butt would have resulted in a decision in LeBlanc’s favor based on the judge’s scorecards. The TKO victory, deservedly, went to Kevin Watts who replays show caused the cut with a left-hand punch.

Ron DiMichele’s email address is: rondimi@yahoo.com


McBride Opponent Quits on Stool


Photo: cappielloboxing.com

Ron DiMichele @ Ringside

18.03 - Things were humming along nicely at the St Patrick’s Day fight card at the Roxy in Boston, Ma, until a lackluster main event put a damper on the evening’s festivities.

Irish heavyweight and local favorite, Kevin McBride, provided his spirited fans (and I do mean ‘spirited’) with a workmanlike seventh round TKO decision win over Najee Shaheed, who quit on his stool between the seventh and eighth rounds of the scheduled twelve-round contest. Shaheed trainer, Tony Petronelli, cited the re-aggravation of a hand and elbow injury suffered in training as the reason for Shaheed’s early retirement.

McBride, who fights out of Brockton, MA, and is trained by the legendary Goody Petronelli (uncle of Tony Petronelli), was pleased with the victory, but not thrilled with his own performance.

"He was a slippery and awkward opponent," said McBride, who was unmarked after the fight. "And I feel I paced myself too much in the early rounds. I could have gone after him more."

Shaheed was slippery and awkward, and at times a bit unwilling, as he spent much of the early rounds retreating from the ponderous blows of McBride. Towards the end, McBride’s body shots were bringing Shaheed down off of his bicycle and into the Irishman’s wheelhouse. It was around this time that Shaheed elected to call it a night.

Kevin McBride, 6’8" and 260 lbs, saw his professional record rise to 29-4-1 with 24 knockouts. Najee Shaheed, 233 lbs, who also fights out of Brockton, had his record drop to 18-5-2 with 8 KOs.

Phantom Punch Cuts LeBlanc

In a heart-wrenching co-feature, Kevin Watts, 140 lbs, of South Boston, MA was awarded an eighth round TKO over Jimmy LeBlanc, 138 lbs, also of South Boston, in an unfathomable ruling by referee John Zablocki. The battle for the Massachusetts Junior Welterweight title had been a good one. Jimmy LeBlanc meted out a stiff measure of punishment to Watts over the first seven rounds of the scheduled ten round contest, utilizing height and reach advantages to land a series of jabs, straight right hands, and nasty uppercuts. But Watts showed no quit, steadily working LeBlanc’s body with hard hooks and, at times, appearing to wear down his opponent. But just when it appeared LeBlanc was starting to cave in, he would fire back with a volley of his own.

A hard right hand by LeBlanc buckled Watts’ knees in the fourth and resulted in a standing eight-count. Watts, his face puffy and scraped, battled back to win the fifth. The sixth and seventh rounds were equally hard fought with LeBlanc holding the edge for the more telling blows.

At the start of the eighth round, Watts went on the attack, unloading hard head and body shots at Jimmy LeBlanc. Sixteen seconds into the round, Watts charged LeBlanc and LeBlanc quickly pulled back, holding a glove to the area above his right eye. A bad cut had opened up. The referee led LeBlanc over to the ringside physician, who called a halt to the fight due to the severity of the cut. Here’s where things got dicey. Reportedly, referee Zablocki told Jimmy LeBlanc a head butt had caused the cut, and that they would go to the judge’s scorecards to decide the outcome of the fight. After conferring with the ringside judges, Zablocki changed his ruling, declaring the cut had been caused by a punch and making Kevin Watts a TKO winner. LeBlanc blew his stack and so didn’t the crowd. This was a bad one. With the notable exception of the referee and the judges, there was not a person in that building who could not see the cut was caused by a head butt. The ringside consensus was unanimous: A clear head butt caused the cut. It was a tough, tough pill to swallow. Except for Watts, who sheepishly smiled and raised his hands in victory despite the boos raining down on the ring. At the time of the stoppage, ringside judges had the fight scored: 68-64, 68-64 (both for LeBlanc), and 66-66.

The ‘win’ raises Kevin Watts’ record to 18-2, 7 KOs. Jimmy LeBlanc’s record falls to 9-3-3, with 3 KOs.

In an eight round middleweight match-up, Sir William "The Gladiator" Gibbs, 162 lbs, (12-0, 10 KOs) of Brockton, MA finally solved Dave Hadden’s southpaw stance and landed a wicked left hook to put Hadden down and out at 2:55 of the sixth round. Dave Hadden, 163 lbs, (6-9-1) of West Palm Beach, FL had fought well until the sudden conclusion of the bout.

Ian "The Cobra" Gardner, 162 lbs, of Brockton, MA dropped Joe Lorenzi, 167, of Duluth, Minnesota twice with body shots in the second round and again with a left hook to the jaw in the third prompting the referee to stop the contest. The former Canadian Gardner, trained by Goody Petronelli, sees his record climb to 9-1 with 5 KOs with the TKO victory. Lorenzi’s record now stands at 4-2.

In six round junior welterweight action, Martin Moore, 136 lbs, (4-12-2), of Limavaay, Ireland, put on a skillful boxing performance in earning a unanimous decision over Eddie McAloney, 136, (12-6, 6 KOs) of South Boston.

In a four-round heavyweight clash, James Clancey, 232lbs, of Dublin, Ireland, won his professional debut with a second round TKO over game Dan Veskovic, 210 lbs, (1-4) of Brockton, MA.

The swanky environs of the Roxy, a Boston nightclub, provided an excellent setting for a night of boxing put on by Cappiello Promotions before an overflowing, enthusiastic, St. Patrick’s Day crowd. Unfortunately, the evening’s results left a bitter taste like that of stale green beer. There are judgement calls in every sport and honest mistakes happen. But it’s tough to see a young kid who has fought his heart out robbed of a win, even if it’s an honest mistake. Jimmy LeBlanc deserves to be Massachusetts Junior Welterweight Champion. And ALMOST everybody in attendance knows it.

Ron DiMichele's email address is: rondimi@yahoo.com

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