28.05.04 – By Don Deane: ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights was once again shown from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. The show was promoted by Star Boxing. The main event featured two top level light heavyweights squaring off. The semi-main was the television showcase for local fighter Tarvis Simms.
Derrick Harmon vs David Telesco—175lb Main Event: This turned out to be a great fight and a worthy, even matched main event. Telesco came out after the cautious Harmon and was able to land a few wide left hands in exchanges. Harmon took the first round to feel out Telesco but still landed some counters to finish the round. In round 2 Harmon began to move away behind his jab and eluded Telesco for a lot of the round. Telesco closed the gap to score with a nice flurry during the round. Round 3 saw Telesco further close the gap and use some strength to get Harmon to the ropes. Telesco kept a steady work rate and threw hard punches. Harmon used a pretty weave and right hand move to slip off the ropes at one point. Throughout the fight, Harmon looked fundamentally skilled and well prepared to fight. Harmon stepped the countering up in round 4 and 5. He used good defensive skills and a nice guard on the ropes to set up short hooks with both hands when Telesco got in close. When Telesco backed straight up Harmon took advantage to land stiff, long jabs and lefts. Telesco seemed to lessen the force of his blows and was good for one or two stiff left hooks each of the middle rounds. Round 6 had a good example of this as Telesco would get Harmon to the ropes and Harmon would sit in that nice guard and let Telesco throw his weakened arsenal at Harmon’s gloves and arms. Round 7 and 8 had more Telesco pursuit and more Harmon countering. Harmon did throw a nice left hand lead in round 7 that disrupted Telesco’s assault. Down the stretch it seemed Telesco ran out of gas and Harmon’s casual, circling counter punching style gave him enough gas left in the tank to finish off the final two rounds. Telesco came out hard in round 10 and certainly closed the show with his last bit of energy but it was not enough. Harmon improved to 24-5 with the split decision 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94 (for Telesco) victory. Eastside agreed to the 96-94 for Harmon score. With the loss, Telesco drops to 28-4.
Jameel Wilson vs Tarvis Simms—160lb Semi-Main
A run of the mill showcase fight here. Simms had an easy time against Wilson in this effort. Rounds 1 and 2 were slow paced rounds with not much action. Simms landed a few meaningful left hands including a nice upstairs-down south combo in the second. In round 3 Wilson landed a few body shots that may have given him a little confidence to let his hands go in round 4. Simms landed counter left hands to begin and end the third stanza. In round 4, Simms was able to push Wilson to the ropes and smother him. Simms was able to land straighter harder punches than Wilson to score on the ropes. Wilson threw mostly wide flapping punches when he was pushed to the ropes. Round 5 had more Tarvis Simms counter lefts and a nice flurry in the corner to end the round. He started to get Wilson to the ropes more often and landed a nice left in round 6 to go along with his slick counter off a weave in round 7. Rounds 8 and 9 were more of the Simms strength and conditioning wearing on the gangly Wilson. Wilson did drop a good 1-2 to Simms’ face in the ninth round. In round 10 the two finished the show and Simms calmly dispatched of Wilson to the roars of the home state crowd. The two went toe to toe until Simms dropped Wilson with 2 solid left hands. When Wilson got up he was greeted by a big uppercut followed by a right and the stoppage. With the 10th round finish, Tarvis Simms improves to 18-0 with KO number 10. Jameel Wilson falls to 13-6-2.
Undercard Results
In the opener, Robert Wiggins blasted out Marvin Hunt in an exciting heavyweight slugfest. Wiggins ended the show at 1:12 of the second round as he spent most of the 4+ minutes dropping shot after shot to the head of the overmatched Hunt. With the win Wiggins improves to 18-3-1 with KO number 11. Hunt drops to a dreadful 11-11.
At cruiserweight, Queens, NY native Hino Ehikhamenor came into the ring in great shape and stopped Scott Halton in 1:57 of the first round. Halton had a bug eyed stare proving him to be scared stiff and he was decked with a big right to the temple. Upon Halton’s rising, he was quickly reintroduced to the canvas and was finished. Hino gets to 4-0 with his third KO win. Halton drops to 3-1.
In the walkout bout, Cruiserweight Mark Duko took a 60-54, 58-56, 59-55 unanimous decision over local Connecticut fighter Craig Salamone. Eastside had it 58-56 for Duko as well. Duko with the mild upset improves to 6-4-1 while Salamone drops to 15-3-1.