| |
|
|
Mike Jones
Knocks Out Raul Pinzon In Fifth Round;
Gabriel Rosado Defeats Latif
Mundy
and Other Results From Bally’s in Atlantic City
By Tim Donaldson
Under the bright lights of the Bally’s Grand Ballroom in
Atlantic City, Mike Jones increased his record from 18-0
with 15 KO’s to 19-0 with 16 KO’s. It never seemed to be a
question of if Mike would win, but when. Raul Pinzon never
backed down from Mike. He did his best to stay in the fight,
but in the end, it was to be Mike’s night.
In the first round, Pinzon tried to put pressure on Mike,
but the majority of his punches just didn’t seem to be
connecting. Then Mike landed a hard shot to the head of
Pinzon. After that, Pinzon seemed a little less eager to get
too close. Mike took control of the round from that point,
not only the round but also the fight. He was doubling his
jab, and he was landing more of his punches.
In the second round, Mike spent most of it following Pinzon
around the ring. Pinzon would come in and try to fire off a
shot, but Mike had no problem again controlling the round.
In the third, however, Pinzon started to get brave. He
started coming forward more, landing more jabs. At this
point, Mike started doubling and tripling his jab. And when
Pinzon would land a punch, Mike would answer it with a
combination. Still Pinzon kept coming at Mike.
The fourth round signaled the beginning of the end. After
being hit by a combination from Mike, Pinzon showed signs of
being hurt. His punches looked wild. He was just looking to
hit Mike with anything. The problem was he wasn’t hitting
Mike with anything that would stop him. Mike was still in
control of this fight. The fifth round started right where
the fourth left off. Mike was chasing Pinzon around the
ring. After another combination, Pinzon stumbled. Mike just
opened up and fired off several combinations. It was the
end. Pinzon went down and did not get up until he was
counted out. At one minute and forty seconds in the fifth
round, Mike Jones won the fight.
It was one more victory for Mike Jones, one more knockout.
But the question still remains, when will he get his title
shot? How many more opponents like Pinzon and Arroyo does he
have to fight before he will be noticed? You ask if he is
ready. There is only one way to find out.
In the co-feature, Junior Middleweight Gabriel Rosado fought
Latif Mundy. Unlike the Jones fight, the outcome of this
fight was not so easily seen. When I spoke to Latif Mundy
last week, he said that he was working on being more
aggressive. He was just that. He threw the first punch in
the first round. There was no testing each other in this
round either. Mundy and Rosado were in a fight from the
beginning, and Mundy’s aggressiveness was keeping Rosado
from being able to throw many punches in that first round.
But that didn’t mean that Mundy was dominating Rosado. Far
from it. Rosado kept moving. This movement caused Mundy to
miss with several of his punches.
In the second round, Rosado was able to catch Mundy on the
ropes. The first half of the round was Rosado’s. But Mundy
was able to get off the ropes. Mundy was able to come back
at the end of the round, even though he slowed down some
from the first round. He started the third round right where
he left off in the second. The power from his punches could
be heard in the first few rows. Still, Rosado did not back
down and was able to land a few good shots of his own. After
one, Mundy hit his own chest, letting Rosado know that he
wasn’t hurt.
Neither fighter backed down in the fourth, and you could see
that both were talking trash to each other. Mundy started
out the fifth round chasing Rosado, but Rosado was able to
land a hard shot to the head of Mundy, helping to change the
dynamic of the round. Mundy was still on the attack, but he
did not seem to be doing quite enough. Instead of throwing
combinations or doubling up on his jab, Mundy was just
throwing a lot of single jabs.
Mundy and Rosado seemed to be wearing themselves out by the
sixth round. Both were fighting with their left hands down.
Mundy was able to catch Rosado on the ropes at one point,
but Rosado was able to slip away. In the seventh, Rosado
landed a combination. In turn, Mundy fired off a
combination. Rosado again was able to land a combination. At
this point, it became obvious that Mundy was not only hurt
but also in trouble. Rosado unleashed on him, and Mundy
couldn’t respond to the barrage of punches coming his way.
The referee stopped the fight at 1:53 in the seventh round.
Two other fights stood out. The first was between
welterweights Josh Mercado and Epi Cosme Rodriguez. Although
Mercado is ten years younger than Rodriguez and has about as
much professional experience, he did not have the easy time
that most of his fans thought he would have. Rodriguez
wasted no time in the first round. He went straight for the
body of Mercado. He pressured Mercado around the ring.
Mercado was able to land a left to the head of Rodriguez,
helping Mercado to finish the round strong.
In the second round, Mercado was much more aggressive. He
was countering the punches coming from Rodriguez and landed
several good shots to the head of Rodriquez. The third round
started with Rodriguez landing more punches and chasing
Mercado around the ring. However, Mercado was able to come
back at the middle of the round. Mercado was able to stay in
control in the fourth and final round. He was moving more
and doubling his jab. Mercado won the majority decision.
The other fight that stood out was between welterweights
Ronald Cruz and Ashantie Hendrickson. Although the fight
started out slow, it did not stay that way. By the end of
the first round, Cruz was chasing Hendrickson around the
ring. But by the beginning of the second, Hendrickson was
dominating the action. He was able to catch Cruz on the
ropes and Cruz was having trouble fighting his way out. In
the third, both fighters looked tired. Hendrickson at times
looked to be landing more of his shots.
In the fourth, Hendrickson complained of being hit in the
back of the head. It was at this point that Cruz just came
to life. By the end of the round, Hendrickson looked not
only tired but also hurt. The fifth round was back and forth
between the two, and the sixth started with neither fighter
backing down from the other. However, Hendrickson was able
to catch Cruz on the ropes. This might not have been much of
an advantage. Although Cruz was having trouble getting off
the ropes, he was still landing more punches than
Hendrickson. Cruz spun away from the ropes once, only to be
caught there again. It didn’t matter. All three judges
scored the fight for Cruz.
Other results from the night. Mike Stewart won by unanimous
decision over Louie Leija. Keith Kozlin defeated Khalil
Farah by TKO in the third. Lastly, Phillip Jackson Benson
knocked out Julio Sanchez at 2:59 in the first round.
|
|
|
