After serving as the league’s battering ram for the better part of the season, the Memphis Force finally came out of their season-long slumber to pull off the upset of the year in World Series of Boxing Americas. With a dominant 4-1 performance over the Los Angeles Matadors at the DeSoto Civic Center just outside Memphis, the Force add to the Matadors late-season woes of late handing them their second-straight defeat.
Combined with the Matadors’ loss and another home win by the hard-charging Mexico City Guerreros, the WSB Americas standings are deadlocked at 19 points apiece between the Matadors and the Guerreros, with just three weeks remaining in the season.
Perhaps overshadowed on the evening by the Memphis Force upset, the Guerreros have methodically climbed back into the hunt for the first WSB Americas league crown as they scored their fourth consecutive win Friday night with a decisive 4-1 win over the visiting Miami Gallos at Jose Cuervo Salon in Mexico City. See recap below.
LA Matadors vs. Memphis Force Recap
In Memphis, the Force didn’t look anything like the team that had just one previous win all season. After an opening bout loss that featured World Champion bantamweight Detelin Dalakiev, the Forced reeled off three straight victories to take their first win against the Matadors and their first win since a November 26 defeat of the Miami Gallos.
Stepping back into the ring after a 45-day medical suspension and dealing with the afterthoughts of a bad knockout loss his last time out, Raynell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) got it rolling for Memphis and erased the demons of that December 16 bout against Matador Everton Lopes.
The 2008 Olympian scored a 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 unanimous decision at lightweight in his return over WSB newcomer Eric Flores (Inglewood, Calif.). Williams moved his WSB record to 2-1.
FellowCleveland native Terrrell Gausha kept the momentum going for the Force with the upset of the evening, handing undefeated Russell Lamour (Portland, Maine) his first loss of the season, 49-46, 48-47, 49-46 in the battle of U.S. middleweights. Gausha, who has been one of the busiest WSB fighters, is now 3-2 on the season. Lamour, meanwhile, falls to 3-1.
Heavyweight Cam Thompson (Uniondale, N.Y.) demonstrated he has Javier Torres (Pico Rivera, Calif.) figured out early in their WSB careers, proving again to be one tough matchup for the Matador boxer. Thompson won all five rounds on his way to a 50-45, 50-45, 50-45 win to run his record to 2-1 on the season while Torres’ record is now 2-2.
The bantamweight matchup featured a rematch between Dalakiev and upstart Fernando Martinez (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and once again it was Martinez getting the best of the 2009 World Champion in the most tightly contested duel of the evening. Martinez would prevail with a 49-46, 49-46, 47-48 split decision victory to move to 4-0 on the season, which moved him to second place in the overall WSB standings at bantamweight.
The Force also had the fortune of picking up a walkover win in the light heavyweight division after Matador fighter Elber Passos (Salvador, Brazil) was unable to attend.
The Matadors won’t have to wait long for the rematch, as Memphis will travel back to Los Angeles to take on the Matadors on Monday, February 28 from the Avalon Hollywood.
Miami Gallos vs. Mexico City Guerreros Recap
Led by two of their more consistent warriors, Mexico City preyed upon the road woes of the Miami Gallos one more time Friday night. Bantamweight Braulio Avila (Tlaxcala, Mexico) and middleweight Yamaguchi Florentino (Espirtu Santo, Brazil) helped provide the necessary firepower in leading the Guereros to their second win in three tries over the Gallos. The Gallos have struggled away from South Florida having no road wins in five attempts.
Avila outclassed Miguel Luis Diaz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) from the opening bell and earned a 49-46, 50-45, 49-46 win. Avila is now 4-1 in WSB action and will surely improve upon his No. 7 WSB ranking, but the struggles continue for Diaz who has dropped all four bouts this season.
Braulio Avila
Braulio Avila (left) of the Mexico City Guerreros defeated Luis Miguel Diaz of the Miami Gallos Friday night in Mexico City to run his WSB record to 4-1 and help move the Guerrreros into a first-place tie with the Los Angeles Matadors with three weeks left to go in the inaugural WSB season.
In a lightweight rematch featuring Juan Romero (Mexico City, Mexico) and Roberto Navarro (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), it was Romero avenging an earlier loss to Navarro and picking up a 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 unanimous decision victory. Romero evened his record at 2-2 while Navarro now is 1-2.
Gallos newcomer Felix Hernandez (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had his hands full making his WSB debut against the experienced Florentino and so it was as the Brazilian fighter eased through with a 50-44, 50-45, 48-47 unanimous decision. Florentino joins his teammate Avila at 4-1 on the year and he’ll be rising up the WSB rankings, up from his No. 6 position currently.
The next two bouts would be premature endings. The first would be the Gallos picking up their lone win of the contest at light heavyweight as Sijoula Shibazz (Las Cruces, N.M.) would win after the bout was stopped when an accidental head butt would bring an end to Kennedy Katende’s (Sundsvall, Sweden) night in the ring in the third round. Shibazz was winning on two of three judges’ scorecards when the bout was called.
Last time out, it was Donovan Dennis (Davenport, Iowa) showcasing a heavy hand with one of the highlight punches of the season as he floored Danny Calhoun of the Memphis Force back on January 5. On this night, it was Donovan on the receiving end with the punches being administered by WSB newcomer Mario Heredia (Chihuahua, Mexico) in the fourth round. Dennis was winning the bout before being hit with a barrage of punches from Heredia as the fourth round opened. Dennis, who was ranked No. 5 coming, is now 2-1 on the season.
After three straight road losses and five total road defeats overall, the Gallos are anxious to return home where they are undefeated and they’ll be excited to unveil their new home arena, the Solaire Coliseum. They’ll get that opportunity Sunday, February 27 against the Guerreros.
About World Series of Boxing Americas
The World Series of Boxing is a global sports league created by the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) to reunite the broader boxing world and its grassroots foundation, provide a bridge between Olympic boxing and professional boxing, and grow the sport’s fan base in the United States and throughout the world.