By James Stillerman, photo by Emily Harney – New England welterweight champion Mike “Bad Man” Ohan Jr. destroyed Israel “Filipino Tigre” Rojas en route to a second-round knockout in the main event. He knocked Rojas down twice in the second and Rojas was unable to beat referee Jack Morell’s ten-second count on the last knockdown and was counted out at two minutes and sixteen seconds. Ohan scored the first knockdown via a left hook to Rojas’ body and the second one was from a left hook to Rojas’ jaw.
“I wanted to get at least a round in, so I jabbed him for most of the first and then I pressed the action in the second and ended the fight,” said Ohan.
Ohan upped his record to 14-1, 8 KOs. He captured the vacant New England welterweight title with an eighth-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Ryan Dibartolomeo and made a successful title defense in his last outing against Tyrone Luckey, who retired after the fifth-round. Ohan’s title was not at stake for this bout. He has won five in a row since his majority decision loss to Carlos Hernandez. Rojas dropped to 14-25, 5 KOs.
“I am ready for a breakout year in 2022. I am going to step up the competition and be the top fighter at my weight class in New England. Next year, I want Marqus Bates or Khiry Todd. I want to stamp my name in New England at 140,” said Ohan. “I also want to thank my promoter Chris Traietti for signing me and putting me in this fight.”
“Championship Road” was promoted by Granite Chin Promotions from The Rim Sports Complex in Hampton, New Hampshire. This was Granite Chin Promotions’ seventh and final fight card of the year. The main event and the eleven undercard bouts were all streamed live on bxngtv.com.
Denzel “Double Impact’ Whitley defeated John Ferrara in an exciting, action-packed welterweight bout via a six-round unanimous decision on the judges’ three scorecards (59-55, 58-56, and 58-56), in the co-feature. Whitely improved to 7-0, 5 KOs, in his sixth fight of the year. Ferrara fell to 0-2. Ferrara controlled the first two rounds as he got the better of the exchanges. Whitely, however, fought more aggressively for the rest of the fight and badly staggered Ferrara with hard combinations in the third, fifth, and sixth round. He connected on the harder punches throughout the fight, which became evident as Ferrara had a bloody nose in the sixth-round that bled so badly that the bout was briefly stopped, so the ringside doctor could check it out (he allowed the fight to continue) and by the time the fight ended, Ferrara’s blood was all over both fighter’ trunks, the ring canvas, and the ringside table where the judges and reporters sat.
Alfred “Keenan” Raymond (1-0), who was making his professional debut scored an upset victory over previously unbeaten Julien “Black Dragon” Baptiste via a four-round split decision: two judges’ scorecards (39-37) were for Raymond, while the other judge’s scorecard (39-37) was for Baptiste. Raymond was the more aggressive boxer, who outworked and out-landed Baptiste for the first three rounds of their middleweight bout. Baptiste, who connected on the harder punches throughout this bout controlled the fourth-round, but it was not enough, as he dropped to 3-1, 2 KOs.
Robert “Golden Boy” Nolette obtained his first professional victory (1-1, 1 KO) from a first-round knockout over Devin Wright. He connected on a hard-left hook that dropped Wright, who could not beat referee Leo Gerstel’s ten-second count and the middleweight bout was stopped at two minutes and fifty seconds. Wright (0-1) lost his professional debut but connected on several hard shots that had Nolette in trouble early in the round until he got tired and his offensive output slowed down considerably.
Undefeated super middleweight Steve Sumpter defeated Juan Celin Zapata via a first-round technical knockout. He knocked Zapata down from a hard straight left to his body and Zapata was unable to beat referee Morell’s ten-second count and was counted out at one minute and one second. Sumpter upped his record to 3-0, 3 KOs. Zapata fell to 6-20-2, 4 KOs.
Jamer Jones scored two knockdowns en route to a first-round technical knockout over Caleb Denham. Jones kept his unbeaten record intact (2-0, 2 KOs). Denham dropped to 0-3. Jones scored two knockdowns from hard-left hooks to Denham’s body. Denham got up slowly from both knockouts, but referee Gerstel had seen enough and stopped the super middleweight bout at one minute and fifty-six seconds.
“El Gallo” Kevin Rodriguez made quick work of Dominick Joyner as he landed several hard combinations on Joyner who went down to the canvas in a great deal of pain while holding his right shoulder. Referee Morell immediately stopped the lightweight bout at one minute and forty-three seconds in the first-round, as he saw that Joyner could not continue to fight. Rodriquez improved to 3-1, 2 KOs with the technical knockout. He has won three in a row following a majority loss in his professional debut. Joyner fell to 0-5.
Unbeaten prospect Laurent Humes scored a first-round technical knockout over Thailisson Nunes via two powerful left hooks to the body. Nunes (who was bleeding from his nose) took a knee and did not attempt to get up. He was counted out by referee Gerstel, stopping the light heavyweight bout at forty-five seconds. Humes upped his record to 3-0, 3 KOs. Nunes (0-1) was making his professional debut.
Carlos Castillo defeated Anthony Andreozzi via a fourth-round unanimous decision on the judges’ three scorecards (40-36, 40-36, and 39-37). Castillo kept his undefeated record intact (4-0, 3 KOs). Andreozzi dropped to 0-2. Castillo, a promising super welterweight prospect outworked and out-landed Andreozzi, connected on the better combinations, and landed the much harder punches in this hard-fought bout. Castillo opened a cut over Andreozzi’s left eye in the first-round (from a straight right) that bled for the rest of the fight. The cut was so bad that the ringside doctor took a long look at it in the second-round but decided that the fight could continue. Andreozzi also bled from his nose in the fourth.
Undefeated welterweight Damon Towns knocked down Calvin Glover from a straight right to the body, which Glover was unable to beat referee Gerstel’s ten-second count, ending the fight at two minutes and thirty-six seconds in the first-round. Towns, in his first bout in almost two years improved to 4-0, 3 KOs with the technical knockout. Glover fell to 0-3.
Former 2020 New England Golden Gloves novice champion Quinton Sumpter made quick work of Wallace Nass Silva, as he landed a barrage of powerful combinations on a defenseless Silva, which prompted referee Morell to halt the heavyweight fight at twenty-three seconds in the first round. Sumpter, with the technical knockout, upped his record to 2-0, 2 KOs. Silva dropped to 0-3.
Heavyweight Nkosi Soloman scored a first-round technical knockout over Wewerson Silveira Silva. Referee Gerstel stopped the bout at one minute and thirteen seconds after Soloman connected with several unanswered power shots on Silva. Soloman obtained a knockdown earlier in the round, however, Silva went down due to a slip, not a punch. Soloman improved to 4-1, 3 KOs. He won his fourth in a row since losing a unanimous decision in his professional debut. His next bout is scheduled for December 23rd. Silva (0-1) was making his professional debut.