By Ron Scarfone at ringside – Andy Perez of A&T Events and Promotions in conjunction with Anja Marx of Doberstein Promotions presented an action-packed boxing event titled “Fight Night” on April 1 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The venerable facility which has recently been renovated first opened in 1950 and honors the United States military veterans who served during wartime. In the main event, it was a fight of fringe contenders as Roamer Alexis Angulo of Bogota, Colombia faced Claudio Ariel Abalos of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This bout was in the super middleweight division which was an advantage for Angulo because he has been in this weight class for most of his career. On the other hand, Abalos was a middleweight and had to move up in weight for this contest. The computerized ratings of BoxRec.com had Angulo rated No. 33 at super middleweight and Abalos rated No. 40 at middleweight prior to the bout.
Unlike Angulo who was undefeated, Abalos had 14 losses in his pro career. However, Abalos had faced better competition than Angulo. Abalos fought for a few minor and regional titles earlier in his career, but could not get a win. That all changed in 2009 when Abalos won the Argentina middleweight title. In 2010, Abalos acquired more titles in winning the South American middleweight title and WBC Latino middleweight title. In 2011, Abalos lost the Argentina middleweight title to Billi Facundo Godoy. In 2012, Abalos moved up in weight to fight Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna for the Argentina super middleweight title, but lost the fight. Maderna won when the fight was stopped in the seventh round. Abalos went back to middleweight and defended his South American middleweight title a few times. For this fight, the question was could Abalos move up to super middleweight again and defeat a contender like Angulo when he already lost to Maderna who is rated No. 34 by BoxRec and Angulo is rated No. 33.
Angulo fights with an orthodox stance whereas Abalos is a southpaw. Abalos proved to be very durable throughout the fight and took several hard punches to the head, but Angulo was expected to win and he did convincingly. However, it was not expected that they would be wearing different brands of gloves. Angulo wore Reyes gloves whereas Abalos wore Everlast gloves. The gloves were not the determining factor in the fight. Angulo was in better shape than Abalos, but both of them could have gone 12 rounds if it was scheduled for that duration. This fight was scheduled for eight rounds and it went the distance. The judges’ scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.
Angulo won by unanimous decision and remains unbeaten with a record of 18-0, 15 KOs. With the win, Angulo’s BoxRec rating rose to No. 18 in the world at super middleweight and he is now a legitimate contender in the division. Abalos did better than in his fight with Maderna because he did not get stopped, but he probably should go back to the middleweight division where he has achieved more. Abalos’ record is now 30-15-3, 8 KOs.
In the co-main event, it was a middleweight attraction with Elias “Latin Kid” Espadas of Yucatan, Mexico facing Manny “Shake ‘Em Up” Woods of Saint Petersburg, Florida. Like the main event, this was also a bout in which the boxers wore different brands of gloves. Espadas wore Reyes gloves whereas Woods wore Everlast gloves. The brand of gloves did not affect the outcome of this fight either. Espadas was favored to win, but Woods did what his nickname suggests as he shook things up by getting the win. Woods had bigger muscles and seemed physically stronger, but they both had their moments in which they landed punches. The fight was close and this was also reflected in the judges’ scores. All three judges scored the six round fight in favor of Woods by scores of 58-56, so Woods won by unanimous decision. Espadas was visibly upset by the upset victory for the underdog Woods.
Frank Gentile, the Assistant Executive Director of the Florida State Boxing Commission, entered the ring to talk to Espadas. The scores were not going to be changed. This was more of a consoling chat. Woods improved his record to 15-4-1, 5 KOs and Espadas’ record is now 9-3, 5 KOs. Woods’ four losses in his career have all been by decision with two of those losses by split decision and one loss by majority decision, so he has never been knocked out as a pro. Woods will have to get more wins against good opponents in order to become a contender. Woods probably will be in a main event on another fight card in the near future and that will be his opportunity to get another quality win.
In the light heavyweight division, Manuel “El Venado” Ceballos of Yucatan, Mexico faced Zachariah “The Punisher” Kelley of Lawton, Oklahoma. It was actually Ceballos who was doing the punishing in this fight. In the second round, Kelley was fortunate that the bell rang to end the round because he was being hurt by straight rights to the head and body. In the third round, Ceballos continued where he left off. With Kelley’s back against the ropes, Ceballos landed several unanswered punches and the referee decided to stop the fight. The time of stoppage was 2:01 of the third round and Ceballos won by TKO. Ceballos is now 7-1, 6 KOs and Kelley falls to 5-14, 5 KOs. Ceballos’ wins have all been against boxers with losing records or making a pro debut. His only loss was to the undefeated Ronald Mixon by split decision.
In the featherweight division, Antonio “Bang” Williams of Fort Lauderdale, Florida faced Bryant Rios of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Williams was too fast and strong for Rios. Williams repeatedly banged Rios to the body and Rios could only cover up to defend near one of the ring corners. Rios was knocked down as a result of the body shots. He did get up to stand on his feet, but the referee waved off the fight anyway. The time of stoppage was 1:33 of the first round and Williams won by KO. The ring announcer originally said that it was a TKO, but it was changed to a KO. Williams had a lot of fans at the event who came just to see him because after his fight, they left early and did not see the other fights that were remaining on the card. Williams is now 2-0, 2 KOs and Rios remains winless at 0-6, 0 KO.
In the heavyweight division, Tyrone “King of the Ring” Spong of Miami, Florida faced Lucas “Lucky” Queen of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Spong is originally from Suriname and was a MMA fighter and kickboxer before becoming a pro boxer. Queen needed more than luck to defeat Spong. He needed more strength and skill, but he did not have it. A straight right to the head by Spong knocked Queen out. Queen was sprawled on the canvas. The time of stoppage was 1:04 of the first round and Spong won by KO. Spong remains undefeated at 4-0, 4 KOs. Queen is now 1-5, 0 KO.
In the light heavyweight division, Lucas de Abreu Martins of Miami, Florida faced Maurice “Fritz the Cat” Elk of Paplar, Montana. Martins was making his pro debut and is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Elk was soft around the middle and that is where Martins directed his punches. Martins landed a right hook to the body that caused Elk to be knocked down. Elk got up and was able to continue, but soon after he was hurt by a left hook to the body. Elk was knocked down again, fell to his knees, and spit out his mouthpiece. The time of stoppage was 1:43 of the first round and Martins won by KO. Martins gets his first pro victory and is now 1-0, 1 KO. Elk is now 1-2, 1 KO.
In the welterweight division, Larry Redrick of Fort Lauderdale, Florida faced Clifford Gray of Miami, Florida. Redrick was also making his pro debut. Redrick had a longer reach than Gray and he used that to his advantage. Redrick used his left jab to keep Gray at bay who missed wildly sometimes with his punches. Gray did better in the third round and Redrick seemed hurt from a right hook to the head. Redrick came back in the fourth round and landed several punches. It seemed as if Redrick was going to win the decision and he was celebrating after the last round was over. The judges thought otherwise and scored the fight 39-37, 39-37, and 38-38 in favor of Gray by majority decision. Gray gets his first pro victory and improves to 1-2, 0 KO while Redrick loses his pro debut and starts his pro career at 0-1, 0 KO.
There were a few celebrities in attendance: super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, and MMA fighter Rashad Evans. It was an entertaining night of boxing on this “Fight Night” event. The people in attendance saw rising stars and a world-class boxer in Angulo. Another “Fight Night” will probably be scheduled due to the success of this event.