INDIANAPOLIS — In a pair of heavyweight fights set as the headliner and co-feature on The Race Weekend Rumble card presented by 4 Champs Promotions, the big fellas delivered ample excitement to boxing fans at the Egyptian Room inside the Old National Centre.
Scott Conner and Jamal Woods fought to a four-round majority draw in a back-and-forth fight in the main event. And in the co-main event, Jermaine Franklin of Saginaw showed why people call him the “989 Assassin” by going into Willie Jake Jr.‘s own backyard and stopping him in the fifth round.
Hoosier native Conner (15-4-1, 9 KOs) built an early lead by maintaining distance and landing straight rights and lefts, but eventually committed a cardinal sin which cost him on the scorecards: clearly losing the final round in a close fight only scheduled for four.
Woods (8-26-6, 8 KOs) stayed competitive early, winning an early round on two of three judges’ cards. Sensing he was behind, he really turned up the heat in the fourth round and showed why all of his wins have come by stoppage.
Woods landed several power shots that rattled Conner, but Conner showed a solid chin and weathered the storm until the final bell. Woods’ late rally cost Conner a win, however, with the bout being ruled a majority draw with scores of 38-38, 38-38 and 39-37 for Conner.
The highlight of the evening was the Franklin-Jake matchup. Rarely in boxing is there an extremely entertaining fight with tons of clinching, but sure enough, this fight was the exception.
A pattern developed from the opening bell that would continue throughout the fight: Jake (2-1, 0 KOs) throwing and landing more, while the heavy hands of Franklin (7-0, 6 KOs) landed less frequently but with thudding authority each time.
A familiar voice, light heavyweight prospect Anthony Sims Jr., could be heard ringside near the corner of Jake, imploring his friend to circle to the right instead of staying stationary or moving to the left. The advice was intended to help keep Jake away from Franklin’s best weapon — a big right hand.
Unfortunately for Jake, the excessive clinching limited his movement. While the Indianapolis resident actually landed quite a few solid shots on the inside during clinches and won some early rounds, Franklin ultimately turned the tides late.
In the fourth round, Franklin wore Jake down and took control of the fight. He began trapping Jake on the ropes and uncorking some heavy combinations. Jake took the shots fairly well and survived the round, but it was clear that Franklin’s power had taken both a physical and mental toll on Jake.
A huge right by Franklin in the fifth round sent Jake staggering back into the ropes. Franklin sensed his opponent was badly hurt, and pounced on Jake with a series of power shots. Jake went down from the flurry but showed tremendous heart to beat the count. The referee deemed Jake unfit to continue and waved the bout off at the 1:15 mark of round five.
Fishers, Indiana native Agustin Cicero also appeared on the undercard in a four-round welterweight fight against Lionel Jimenez. After a very close first round, Cicero (7-10-3, 4 KOs) asserted himself in the second by landing a devastating overhand right near the end of the round that hurt Jimenez (2-13, 2 KOs).
While the fight (pictured left/above) was somewhat competitive throughout, Cicero landed the crisper shots and also landed more often en route to a unanimous decision. The official scores were 40-36 on all three scorecards.
Other results from Indy:
Bobby Gunn Jr. def. Guy Packer TKO4
Caleb Chesternut def. Anthony Crowder KO2
James Brown vs. David Perez SD4
Henry Stewart def. Martez Williamson UD4
Ve Shawn Owens def. Reymundo Hernandez KO1
4 Champs Promotions also announced that they’re again partnering with Live Nation to bring their next card to the beautiful Old National Centre on July 16. Stay tuned for more information.
