NEW YORK (Oct. 29, 2011) – Middleweight prospect Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales won an eight-round split decision over veteran Ossie Duran by the scores of 77-75 two times for Gonzales and 78-74 for Duran. In the co-feature, Artemio Reyes scored the biggest win of his young career by upsetting 2008 U.S. Olympian Javier Molina by the scores of 78-74 twice and 77-75 in an eight round welterweight bout from Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City, N.J.
In an extremely tight main event, Gonzales (15-0-1, 10 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., threw crisper, cleaner punches in the early going. In a solid third round where Gonzales was able to successfully stick-and-move, he suffered a cut beneath his left eyebrow that didn’t seem to faze him throughout the fight.
By the middle of the bout, however, Duran (26-9-2, 10 KOs), of Paterson, N.J., began to stack rounds by pushing the action with constant pressure and a hard jab. He displayed his experience advantage over Gonzales by catching him with hard shots from odd angles.
Gonzales’ trainer Virgil Hunter had strong, inspiring words for his young fighter entering the sixth round. Gonzales, 27, responded by boxing and moving. He landed punches in combinations to stop Duran’s momentum.
To the pleasure of the crowd, the fighters fought the final two rounds as if they needed the points to win. At the final bell, SHOWTIME analyst Steve Farhood scored the fight 78-74 for Duran while boxing expert Antonio Tarver scored the fight a draw.
“We expected an all-out brawl coming in,” said Gonzales. “The 10-month layoff didn’t make it any easier. Virgil (Hunter) said I had to step it up those last three rounds and that’s exactly what I did. I listened to my corner and stayed compose and let my hands go first. I think it was a great victory tonight. I hired the best trainer in boxing in Virgil Hunter. We pulled it out.”
The opening bout featured the tale of two game plans: The quicker Molina (9-1, 4 KOs) of Norwalk, Calif., wanted to use his jab and box while the hard-hitting, slower Reyes (14-1, 11 KOs) of San Bernardino, Calif., wanted to apply pressure to keep Molina off his bicycle. However, Molina only dictated his game plan in round one before Reyes dictated the final seven sessions in a toe-to-toe thriller.
Molina snapped his quick jab and kept his distance for the first three minutes of the contest but capitulated to Reyes’ desire to close the space between them from the second round on. Molina tried to punch with the older Reyes – but with little efficacy.
Reyes smothered the shorter fighter and Molina could not shake Reyes’ pressure. With no room to work, Molina tried to brawl with Reyes but had no room to work. He threw ineffective arm punches with his oft-injured right hand paving the way for Reyes to dominate most of the fight.
Reyes’ father has been in a coma since a tragic car accident in 2008 left him in a vegetative state. “Fighting 4 Pops” is his life statement and those words are written into his trunks.
After his emotional win, Reyes said of the fight, “We trained hard, ridiculously hard. It was insane, man. I didn’t stop punching the entire time. We knew it was going to be a long fight, you know, eight rounds. It was a good fight. We trained hard.”
The telecast will replay on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and be available on SHOWTIME On Demand from Oct. 31 through Nov. 13.
Curt Menefee called the ShoBox action from ringside with Farhood and Tarver serving as expert analysts. Gordon Hall is the executive producer of ShoBox with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
ARTEMIO “KING” REYES REIGNS SUPREME!!!
Atlantic City, NJ (October 28) – In an all-out action fight tonight at Bally’s Atlantic City, WBC Latino welterweight champion Artemio “King” Reyes (14-1, 11 KOs), outworked previously unbeaten 2008 Olympian Javier “El Intocable” Molina (9-1, 4 KOs) and won a well-deserved unanimous decision with scores of 77-75, 78-74, 78-74.
Reyes, who was considered to be the underdog of this welterweight matchup, pulled off an upset by dominating Molina for most of the rounds, and battling on the inside throughout the fight. The always-tough Molina took a fearless approach throughout the match and never once backed down to Reyes’ relentless attack.
“Before the fight Molina said I was not at his level,” said a victorious Artemio Reyes after the bout. “We gave the fans what they came to see, a great fight. Molina showed a lot of guts but he couldn’t put up with the pressure. I came to Atlantic City to get what I deserved: Respect.”
Along with his mother and two sisters, Reyes was followed by a large contingency of fans all the way from California. “I did this for my family and all the people that came from home to support me, they are a rowdy bunch and I am sure I made my pops proud, this is for him. I am taking the gloves I wore tonight back home for him.”
BRANDON GONZALES vs. OSSIE DURAN JAVIER MOLINA vs. ARTEMIO REYES
Friday, Oct. 28, Bally’s Grand Ballroom, Atlantic City, N.J.
Live at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on SHOWTIME®
(Oct. 28, 2011) – An exciting night of fights concluded tonight on the ShoBox: The New Generation broadcast which took place at Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City, N.J. In the main event of the evening, Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales (15-0-1, 10 KOs) fought his way to a majority decision over tough veteran Ossie “The Ghanaian Gladiator” Duran (26-9-2, 10 KOs) of Paterson, N.J. Both fighters held nothing back and swung for the fences in an action packed fight that had everyone in attendance roaring. Gonzales scored 77-75 on two judges score cards, while giving one up to Duran 78-74.
“We expected an all out brawl coming in,” said Gonzales. “The ten month layoff didn’t make it any easier. Virgil (Hunter) said I had to step it up those last three rounds and thats exactly what I did. I listened to my corner and stayed composed and let my hands go first. I think it was a great victory tonight. I hired the best trainer in boxing in Virgil Hunter and I just stay composed and listen and you know, we pulled it out.”
In the eight-round welterweight co-feature, 2008 US Olympian Javier “El Intocable” Molina (9-0, 4 KOs) from Norwalk, California stepped in the ring with Artemio “King” Reyes (13-1, 11 KOs) of Colton, California. The two fighters put on an impressive performance that had the ballroom crowd on its feet. At the end of eight rounds, Artemio Reyes was on the winning end of a unanimous decision (77-75, 78-74, 78-74).
Reyes said of the fight, “It was a good fight man, we trained hard. We knew it was gonna be a long fight, you know, eight rounds. Molina is definitely an amateur stand out so we knew he’d last so we trained hard for all eight rounds. We trained hard, ridiculously hard. It was insane man, I didn’t stop punching the whole fight. I just want to thank my team, Capital Punishment.”
Molina also spoke of his first taste of defeat, saying “it was a tough fight but i just didn’t feel like my self tonight. No excuses he came to fight he was a tough fighter. I just didn’t fight my fight. The first few rounds I boxed him easy but after that I just didn’t feel my legs under me. I just need to learn from it and do better next time.”
Prior to the ShoBox telecast, there was a great undercard in store for the fans in attendance. In a battle for home-town bragging rights, two warriors from Philadelphia, Ramon Ellis and Jesse Crawford went toe-to-toe in a four round welterweight bout. In the final seconds of the second round, Ellis connected with a strong right that floored Jesse Crawford keeping him winless in his third fight. Ellis looked sharp, improving his record to 2-7, 1 KO.
The crowd was heavily favoring hometown heavyweight John Lennox of Carteret, NJ as he pummeled Winchester, Virgina’s Donnie Crawford for four rounds winning all rounds on every judges card. Lennox improves to 7-1, 3 KOs, while Crawford slips to 1-3-1, 1 KO.
In a another bout pitting two Philly natives against one another, Korey Sloane and Jason Sia squared off in a 4-round junior welterweight bout. Sia, who was looking for his first win in his third fight, fell behind on the cards and ultimately lost to Sloane who goes home with a 2-1 record won on the cards by majority decision (38-38, 39-37, 39-37).
Also making his pro debut, Anthony “Ghost” Allen of Philadelphia was unsuccessful in the first fight of his career against Jason Sosa from Camden, New Jersey. The referee in charge called a controversial knockdown in the second round and gave Allen a standing eight count, although it appeared his knee had never hit the mat. In the end the point deduction had no impact on the outcome as Sosa was ahead on all three cards (40-34, 39-35, 38-36). Sosa’s record improves to 4-1-1, 1 KO.
In the first bout of the evening Kevin “The Scarecrow” Womack Jr. from Baltimore MD scored a unanimous decision in his pro debut, evening his opponent Korey Pritchett’s record out at 1-1 in a 4-round super lightweight attraction.