Up-and-coming junior welterweight prospect, Mike “Bad Man” Ohan Jr. defeated Jonathan “Yoni” Ariel Sosa via a six-round majority decision on the judges’ three scorecards (judge Ken Volovick scored it 57-57 but he was overruled by judges’ Melissa Kelly and Joseph Apice, who both had it 59-55 for Ohan) in the main event.
“He was a tough journeyman who has gone the distance with a lot of fighters, and I buzzed him a couple of times and he did not go down, whereas other fighters would have,” said Ohan. “I wish I had more rounds, but I threw a lot of punches that landed and my defense was good. Hats off to him and now onto my next fight.”
Photo: Emily Harney/Fightography
The former USA New England welterweight titleholder controlled the action in this hard-fought, action-packed bout, in which both fighters threw non-stop punches. Ohan aggressively stalked Sosa around the ring, as he outworked and out-landed him throughout the bout. He connected on the harder punches, especially in the second half of their bout. Ohan also landed more jabs, particularly to Sosa’s body, which caused Sosa to slow down his offensive output in the fifth and sixth round.
“I will talk to Chris [Traietti, promoter of Granite Chin Promotions] and see what is next but hopefully we can get a bigger fight later on this year, maybe in November against better competition,” said Ohan.
Ohan, who fought in the main event for the fifth time, upped his record to 16-1, 9 KOs. He has won seven in a row, four by way of knockout since he lost a disputed six-round majority decision to Carlos Hernandez. Sosa fell to 7-14-2, 4 KOs.
“The Next Chapter” was promoted by Granite Chin Promotions from the Bridgewater Veterans Club in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with a close-to-capacity crowd.
Light heavyweight prospect, Edet “Papito” Mkpanam obtained a third-round technical knockout over Larry “Slo Mo” Smith in the co-featured bout. Mkpanam knocked Smith down from a hard left hook to Smith’s head in the second-round. Smith fell extremely hard to the canvas, flat on his back but he beat referee Jackie Morrel’s ten-second count. Mkpanam knocked Smith down again in the third from a straight right to his head, which prompted referee Morrel to end the bout at one minute and five seconds. Mkpanam, the 2018 New England Golden Gloves runner-up, kept his undefeated record intact (8-0, 7 KOs). This was his third bout in the last five months and fourth consecutive knockout. Smith dropped to 13-51-2, 9 KOs. He had his one-bout winning streak stopped.
The scheduled co-featured fight between Julien “Black Dragon” Baptiste (4-2, 2 KOs) and Anthony “The Gentle Savage” Andreozzi (3-2, 1 KO), for the vacant Massachusetts middleweight champion was canceled halfway through the fight card because Andreozzi got sick in the locker room while warming up for his bout.
Luke Iannuccilli beat Rynell Griffin via a four-round unanimous decision, as he won every round on the judges’ three scorecards (40-35, 40-36, and 40-36). He improved 3-0, 2 KOs, in his third fight in the last six months. Griffin fell to 8-54-2, 2 KOs. Iannuccilli dominated Griffin throughout this one-sided junior middleweight fight, as he landed just about whatever he threw. Iannuccilli connected on a barrage of ten to twenty unanswered punches to open each round and several additional times throughout this bout, yet somehow, Griffin did not go down. Griffin did not throw many punches in this fight, but he demonstrated a great deal of heart, as he absorbed a lot of punishment and did not quit fighting.
The 2020 New England Golden Gloves champion, David “The Blessed One” Ribeiro (1-0-1, 1 KO) and Alfred “Keenan” Raymond (1-3-1) battled to a four-round draw on the judges’ three scorecards (judge Kelly scored it 39-37 for Ribeiro, judge Apice had it 39-37 for Raymond, and judge Volovick had it even 38-38). While the junior middleweight fight was close, Ribeiro threw more punches and landed more shots than Raymond, and connected on the harder punches, especially in the last two rounds, however, two of the three judges did not see it that way.
Heavyweight Kirk Wilmart (1-0, 1 KO) had a successful professional debut, as he knocked Wewerton Silveira Silva down three times en route to a first-round technical knockout. Wilmart scored knockdowns from a right hook, and a left hook, both to Silva’s body and then a left hook to Silva’s head, after which referee Leo Gerstel had seen enough and stopped the bout at two minutes and twenty-two seconds. Silva dropped to 0-4.