On another action packed night of boxing in NYC, Ronson Frank’s Uprising Promotions brought us another edition of “A Boxing Explosion”. With various prospects and club fighters filling up the card, supporters and fans filled up the classy Five Star Banquet, and by the time the first bell sounded off, we had a house packed full of anxious fight fans. With six bouts scheduled, we were sure to experience ups and downs all night in fairly competitive fights.
The first bout of the night was a four round match between junior welterweights Danny “El Gallo” Gonzalez (3-0 1KO) from Queens, NY and Brooklyn bred Anthony “The Spoiler” Smith (1-2). Action started quickly as “El Gallo” stalked the southpaw Smith throughout the first round as he attacked the body, Smith looked to land hooks to the head but Gonzalez’s tight defense made sure not to many entered as he landed his own. The second round would see more of the same as the fans cheered on Gonzalez, he would really start to land his signature body blows in this round followed up to short punches on the inside while he cut Smith off in the ring. The fateful third round would come after a desperate Smith looked to land a wild barrage only to be answered back by stiff shots upstairs and monstrous body blows that caused him to turn away in agony and take a knee. The ref waved it off at 2:06 of the third round as Smith indicated he could not continue due to broken ribs suffered from a Gonzalez right hand, the hometown fighter moves up to 4-0 with his second knockout victory.
The next battle would pit featherweight favorite Trevis Hall (2-1-1 1KO) against the tall and lanky Bronx fighter Jose Del Valle (1-1-2). The height difference was almost comical as they stood toe to toe but it wouldn’t matter much as Hall was quick to engage and bounced in and out with quick right hands to the body as Del Valle tried to touch upstairs with a short jab. Not using his reach as much as he should have, he landed the occasional left hook to the head but Hall used his superior speed to land a straight right off the pivot to drop Del Valle for an eight count, the bell sounded soon after to save him. Determined to get a KO in front of his hometown crowd, Hall would go head hunting throwing straight rights and left hooks upstairs as Del Valle stood in the fight with his own uppercuts and using his reach to stay out of range. Still looking for that decisive victory, Hall came out in the final round with a higher work rate and by landing overhand rights and hooks down stairs which managed to back up and stun his opponent but not enough to get the knockout, judges awarded Trevis Hall the decision with scores of 38-37 39-36 and 39-36, notching his 3rd win.
With the fans enjoying their time at the venue, action resumed with a cruiserweight matchup between popular Queens Cruiserweight Armin “The Bosnian Prince” Mrkanovic (5-2 3KO’s) and winless but willing Eric George (0-2) from Niagara Falls, NY. George would come out at the bell on a mission and threw powerful hooks from both side to try and offset Mrkanovic, but he would be answered back with his own medicine as they traded overhand rights and short left hooks on the inside between clinches, for most of the round. “The Bosnian Prince” who also trains as an MMA fight and kick boxer; switched his stance throughout the fight with success by landing pot shots from his low defense as George tried to hold and hit against the ropes, they landed simultaneous right hands to end the second stanza. With a higher volume of punches and the more accurate shots, Mrkanovic was dominating his opponent who seemed to be tiring, frustration was building but George would continue to fall into place to eat right uppercuts. The last round saw Mrkanovic try to go for the kill but George’s holding tactics helping him survive as an overhand right seemed to not only cause blood to flow from his nose but stun him as the final seconds brought in the end of the bout. In the end the scores read 39-37 across the board for Armin Mrkanovic who rises to 6-2 as the tough but out gunned Eric George drops to 0-3.
Flamboyant and energetic middleweight Peter Reyes (1-0 1KO) of Brooklyn; squared off against the rugged Arizonian Gustavo Medina (1-4-1), in a four round battle that had the crowd “oohing” and “ahhing”. Reyes always with a smile on his face came out looking to plaster his opponent throwing a tornado of straight punches that caught Medina as he tried to retaliate with his own punches. The shorter Medina was outgunned in the speed and skills department as Reyes was able to constantly time his punches and answer back with stiff counters that sometimes snapped back his opponent’s head. As the crowd voiced their excitement, Reyes continued to feed off the crowd and feast on his opponent’s guard, one that he was able to pierce with uppercuts and hooks to the body that had many amazed as to how Medina could stand up. Piling up the points with his non-stop punching, the hometown fighter was awarded a unanimous decision as scores of 40-36 were announced giving the talented young fighter in Reyes; another victory as he moves to 2-0.
In what would be the fight of the night, Susan Reno (1-1) would take on Vanessa “Lil Gladiator” Greco (1-2-2) in a rematch in a six rounder at 114lbs. The ladies would start the bout the same as the last fight ended with Greco throwing punches upstairs and downstairs as the smaller Reno came in with her head down and guard up as she tried to brawl back. Both fighters used the whole ring as Greco was able to push her from corner to corner while landing hooks to the body and overhand rights to drop her opponent’s guard as she continued to dominate over the first half, a completely different fighter than she had faced in their first bout. By the middle of the fight Reno seemed to adjust and found a bit of success by throwing steady one-two’s upstairs and landing some as “Lil Gladiator” chased her back but dropped her work rate in a competitive third round. With momentum shifting back and forth, the inside battle between both boxers was reminiscent of all the great 1950’s brawls, except this time over six-two minute rounds with both ladies trying to one-up each other. The crowd was going wild by the last round and it seemed like Greco exacted revenge as she was able to bring the fight back to her groove in the last round but the judges thought otherwise. In a controversial decision, a majority draw was announced with one card in favor of Susan Reno by scores of 58-56, perhaps another rematch will settle the score one day.
The main event was finally upon us, and with a hard act to follow, cruiserweight Newton “The Butcher” Kidd (7-8-2 4Ko’s) of the Bronx by way of Jamaica; took on hometown fighter Borngod Washington (3-12 1KO) in a scheduled six rounder. The two fighters quickly started the first round trying to land jabs and Kidd looking to land a hook, when he finally did it was all over, but in bizarre fashion as Washington threw a right hand that seemingly dislocated his shoulder. With the crowd not knowing what they were witnessing the ref was forced to wave off the match at 2:33 of the first round when Washington was told he couldn’t continue awarding “The Butcher” a TKO victory as he evens out his professional record.
Overall we were treated to some competitive bouts, a good showing by future prospects, and a bizarre ending that entertained all of those in attendance. We look forward to the next Uprising Promotions event and the rare gem it potentially has hidden on it’s card.
