Banner Promotions along with Kings Boxing and ESPN hosted the Boxcino Tournament Semi-Finals earlier tonight at the Sands Casino and Resort in Bethlehem, PA. The event, which features the Jr middle middleweight semi-final and the heavyweight semi-final had preliminary undercard bouts to warm fans up before the show started.
In the opening bout, we saw Curtis Morton take on Greg Jackson in a 6 round welterweight bout. In the first round, Morton controlled the pace by pressuring Jackson. He continuously landed devastating body shots that had Jackson shelled up. Morton effectively walked Jackson down in the second, doing so being the smaller guy in the fight. Late in the round Jackson showed flashes of coming back as he fired combinations that seemed to stun Morton before ending the round.
Coming into the third round Morton looked like a man on a mission, letting his hands go right from the start to try and seal the deal. Jackson weathered the storm and held his ground, eventually coming back in the round before Morton once again went back to throwing nothing but power punches, slowing down and walking down Jackson.
The fifth round was looking promising for Jackson as he smothered Morton for the entire round. Landing hard shots that seem to have little effect on Morton. It was in the closing seconds of the round that Morton landed a right hook that sent Jackson to the canvas. Jackson ultimately beat the count and was then saved by the bell. Finally in the sixth and final round, both men went to war, exchanging power shots in the middle of the ring. Jackson seemed to be on the verge of planting Morton on the canvas before Moron came back with a rally of his own.
Both fighters went toe to toe in the closing seconds of the fight, taking it the distance. In the end it was Curtis Morton who pulled off the unanimous decision win with scores of 60-53 x2 and 58-55.
The second fight showed a more evened out fight between Ed Fountain and Jon Bolden who contested in a 6 round heavyweight bout. The two fighters smothered each other with punches for the first two rounds with Bolden landing two punches in the second that seem to catch Fountain’s attention. The third round was a lot sloppier, neither guy landing anything really effective. They both pounded each other with body shots but did little to no damage.
By the fifth round, both fighters were starting to wear down but it was Bolden who was throwing the more effective shots, landing his right hand when he wanted too. The last round looked a lot like the early rounds, both fighters smothering each other, throwing shots that seemed to shake neither guy. The judges, in the end, had it 58-56 and 59-55×2 in favor of Jon Bolden for the unanimous decision win.
The action slowed down when we were introduced to a 4 round heavyweight bout between Eric Newell and Brandon Spencer. Newell and Spencer had a very slow first round; the action fired back up in the second but not cause of the fighting. As the referee called for a break while the fighters were tied up, Spencer threw a sucker punch that prompted Newell to go down.
After a break, the fight resumed, only to be stopped again as the fighters wrestled to the ground. The final round was the most action packed as both men came out swinging with deadly intentions. Especially Spencer, who, for whatever reason was crying as he walked into the ring and in the fight. Spencer pressed the action, literally moving Newell back with his body as they fought on the ropes most of the round. The final scores of this very slow paced heavyweight fight were 40-36 and 39-37×2 in favor of Eric Newell.
