25.02.06 – VERONA, NY — Aaron King at Ringside: The pressure of Oscar Diaz proved to be too much for Russell Jordan as Lou Duva’s prized prospect scored a fifth-round TKO at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y. as a part of ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights. San Antonio’s “El Torrito” (24-1, 12 KOs) put Jordan (12-3, 8 KOs) down with a double left hook combination, reminiscent of Julio Cesar Chavez. As Jordan back away with his chin raised, Diaz threw a hook to the body, pulling Jordan’s hands down, before following up with a firm left to Jordan’s chin..
Jordan was met with a barrage of punches on the ropes after rising and the fight was stopped shortly thereafter at 1:56 of the fifth round. Jordan was ahead on all scorecards.
Jordan and his corner thought the fight was stopped a little prematurely, although no argument was raised after the stoppage.
Diaz bullied Jordan early and had him visibly unsettled at the beginning of the first round. As he gained a measure of composure, “Spiderman” was able to land clean counters. The fight had a feel of a rat race – a chase to see who would get to whom first.
Despite the relentless attack from Diaz, Jordan had the advantage in most CompuBox categories, including power punches landed. Statistics notwithstanding, Diaz’s bull-like advances had Jordan lost at times.
Jordan was able to slip and move his way from clean punches for the first few rounds and was countering effectively. However, Diaz’s persistent flurries began to yield more connects in the fourth and fifth rounds. He was able to get to the Rochester, N.Y. southpaw with straight rights more often than not during the final round and a half.
On the undercard, another Duva fighter, heavyweight Mike Marrone (13-0, 10 KOs), narrowly escaped a major setback with a majority decision win over Zack Page (10-5, 4 KOs).
The scorecards read 75-74 and 76-75 for Marrone, and 74-74. East Side Boxing scored the bout 75-74 for Page. Marrone put Page down twice, but was himself floored once by his much smaller opponent in the seventh. He was in trouble throughout the round, but managed to hang on and pull out a win in the close contest.
In the first broadcast fight of the evening, New Hampshire lightweight prospect Pat Lopez (5-0, 5 KOs) continued his progress with a first round knockout of Christian Lozada (10-3-2, 3 KOs).
Lopez was able to impose his physical superiority from the outset. The Mexico City native Lozada was unable to use his advantages in length and was put away at 2:46 of the opening stanza.
To start what turned out to be an electrifying card, Jr. middleweight Duane Hall (3-1) won a unanimous decision over John Lipscomb (1-2) in a four rounder.
In a heavyweight bout, Wayne Hampton (3-1, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Lujwane Henderson (1-2). The fight was notable for its inept combatants, but closed with standing applause from the audience.
In a showing of great matchup/bad match making, Richard Pierson (3-0, 2 KOs) defeated James Singleton (0-1) via fourth round TKO in the super middleweight battle.
Singleton, making his pro debut, had Pierson, a promising young fighter as well, on the ropes and badly hurt in the fourth. However, Singleton showed his inexperience when he fired off nearly 60 consecutive punches toward his hurt foe.
Pierson waited out the storm, and when Singleton tired, released two counter uppercuts that wobbled the younger fighter. Singleton staggered, and Pierson knocked him out with a well placed left-right-left combination.
Utica, N.Y. Jr. welterweight prospect Jamar Patterson (5-0, 3 KOs) barely escaped an upset against a game Sheldon Rudolph (4-4, 2 KOs).
Patterson won a majority decision by the scores of 39-37 (twice) and 38-38. East Side Boxing also scored the bout 38-38.
In what may have been the most exciting fight of the night, Patterson and Rudolph maintained a torrid pace, trading power punches wildly for all of the 12 minutes that constituted the bout. In the fourth round, Patterson’s corner could be heard shouting, “Loud up Jamar!” as the last 30 seconds saw nothing but power punches thrown from each fighter with reckless abandon.