Fernwood Resort Bushkill PA 01-20-07

Story by Keith McMenamin with a special thanks to Kurt Wolfheimer of www.fightnews.com
Photos by Mike McGuigan

Boxing returned to the Pocono's on an extremely cold January night and Promoter Mike Fingerman, Bob Rossi & matchmaker Sonny Mistretta managed to put together a very good night at the fights at the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, PA. Fighters seemed to be falling off the card at record speed but when the BS settled and the smoke cleared, it was St. Pete native Mario Hayes who was bumped up to headliner going in tough against knockout artist Julio Dejesus. Household names they aren't but I'll give credit where it is due, these two put on a very good performance. Tommy "Razor" Rainone hoped to give local fighter Jerry Kelly the Outsiders Edge and score the win. The 0 had to go whe Camron Bright took on Heath Harris in a battle of winless warriors. The fight was dead even coming down the stretch in the 4th until one of these guys landed a straight right to score the knockout and break the goose egg. Kevin Boswell was making his pro debut against Rafael Jastrezbski and Raffy wasted no time digging into the fresh meat. In the opener Darrell Crenshaw boxed marvelously but after the scorecards were read, he was left with the look of a pizza man who just had his car stolen. All of this and a photo gallery of the hottest ring girls on the planet brought to you by a dude named Richard Clark.

Welterweight Division
Julio DeJesus ...vs...Mario Hayes
New Jersey ...........St. Petersberg, FL
4 - 1 3ko's ..........2 - 2

Since Max Alexander pulled off the card and Dhafir Smith called out sick, former Quebec light heavyweight champ David Whittom found himself without a fight. Mr. Whittom's unfortunate circumstances gave Mario "Hard Hittin'" Hayes and Julio DeJesus the chance to be headliners and this fight did not disappoint.

From the opening bell, you could tell that DeJesus meant business. His game plan was to bully his way forward and load up with right handed power punches. DeJesus was throwing some bombs but they couldn't quite catch the crafty Hayes. DeJesus was able to get Hayes on the ropes late in the round and put in some good body work which was enough to win him the first round in my opinion. Things changed in the second round as Hayes began to circle the incoming Dejesus and land his jab at will while avoiding any major contact of his own. This was pretty much theme for the rest of the contest as Hayes picked it up more and more every round showing off excellent foot movement and the ability to punches together. DeJesus stayed game throughout and threw big right hands, a couple of which came centimeters away from causing damage. In the end, the fight went to the scorecards with all three judges seeing the fight in favor of Mario Haynes by scored of 60 - 54, 59 - 55 & 58 - 56.

Winner Mario Hayes








Welterweight Division
Tommy Rainone .....vs.............Jerry Kelly
Long Island, NY ..................Lebanon, PA
2 - 0.............................3 - 2 - 1 1ko

In the co-feature, Tommy "Razor" Rainone showed that he is more than just a catchy nickname as he banged out a decision win over a tough Jerry Kelly. Rainone seemed to be a pretty slick southpaw and is also showed he is willing to throw toe to toe when the time was right. Kelly showed a lot of heart as he continued to fight despite not being able to catch Rainone often and he also suffered a pretty good cut above his eye in the second. Rainone was able to land the straight left at will after that eye busted, many of which snapped Kelly’s head back. In the third, Rainone landed a big left followed by a right early in the round and then goes to work inside to score a knockdown. Kelly got right back up and claimed it was a slip. The ref wasn't trying to hear so Kelly tried to make up for the lost point bombing away for the rest of the round. Both fighters had a loud cheering section and it looked like PA commish Greg Serb and one of the Kelly crew were ready to go at it. This built up a lot of excitement for the start of the 4th but before long Rainone took over. He was just too fast for Kelly. Kelly was game but in the end he was sucking up a lot of punches. The fight went the distance and all three judges saw the fight in favor of Rainone by the score of 40 - 35.

After the fight Rainone told us that he is scheduled to appear on the under card of Eddie Chambers - Derrick Rossy in NY on February 10th. The Razor also said "I’m just going to continue to work hard and keep the momentum going with a solid performance, I felt I fought very good against a willing and tough opponent but i still got a bit sloppy at times and there was more i could have done but i plan on putting on an even better performance on the 9th on looking sharp" Good luck Mayn!







Cruiserweight Division
Camron Bright .....vs....Heath Harris
Philadelphia, PA.........Parts Unknown
0 - 7 - 2......................0 - 2

While I am on a bit of a wrestling kick right now, does anyone remember Mike Boyette? He wrestled in the UWF with the Von Erichs, The Fabulous Freebirds, Iceman Parsons and crew back in the day. His claim to fame was that he had a record of 0 - 97! Seriously, this guy would get it from everybody. Coming into this night, Camron Bright was the Mike Boyette of boxing, not registering a single victory during his two and a half year stretch as a boxer and was believed to be on the verge of getting suspended from the sport if he couldn't deliver a win. At the Fernwoods, he found himself standing opposite Heath Harris, a former kick boxer whose transition to boxing has not been smooth at all. He also knows first hand just how elusive getting that first win in the ring can be. Two winless fighters going at it and I was offering 5 - 1 odds to anyone who would take it that this fight was ending in a draw. Luckily, no one wanted a piece of the action.

When the bell sounded, both guys really threw down the best they could and put on a very solid fight. It was a dead tie coming down the stretch until Bright buried Harris with a straight right hand to Harris' jaw, sending him on his back in laying in a dazed funk out for the count. Bright laid flat on the canvas for a second as well then jumped up in celebration. After he exited the ring, fans gathered to congratulate him on the win after two long, hard years!

Winner: Camron Bright improves to 1 -7 - 2 via 4th round knockout





Cruiserweight Division
Kevin Boswell......vs.....Rafael Jastrezbski
Henstead, NY .............Toms River, NJ
pro debut ................0 - 2

This was a good cruiserweight bang and a hell of a way to start a career for Kevin Boswell. The New York southpaw passed a tough test in beating Rafael who is a strong kid with a seek and destroy style. Boswell tried to dance around at first but Rafael brought the fight to him. Boswell was willing to trade on the inside and this is what went on for the majority of the round with a few punches to the face mixed in. Rafael constantly moved forward and threw very wide punches to the head of Boswell. Boswell was willing to take a punch to get inside and that is what earned him the 1st round on my scorecard.

The second and third rounds were very similar with Rafael moving straight ahead, sucking up a punch or two to establish position inside to where he could bully Boswell to the ropes. Rafael straightened out his punches and landed clean combinations to the body and face. While Boswell got the worst of these exchanges, he was landing some nice left hands.

It was bombs away when the bell rung for the 4th as both fighters came out of the corner and immediately threw haymakers at each other. Boswell rocks Rafael in the corner with a big left. Boswell followed up with a straight left that knocked Rafael out.

Winner Kevin Boswell improves to 1 - 0 1ko via TKO 1:38 in the 4th








Welterweight Division
Manuel Guzman....vs.....Darrell Crenshaw
Lancaster, PA................Philadelphia, PA
0 - 2 .............................1 - 6 - 1
This was the classic case of the boxer versus the puncher and in the fight I saw, Darrell Crenshaw out boxed a very willing to fight Manuel Guzman. In the opening round, Crenshaw began by using the jab. Guzman begins to put the pressure on and does a nice job on Crenshaw against the ropes. Unfortunately, that was about the last bit of offense Guzman was able to muster. From there on out, Crenshaw worked the jab, moved his feet and nicely doubled punches to the body.

Crenshaw opened the second by landing a straight right hand down the pipe. Guzman tries to attack but Darrell was able to avoid the rush. The round ended with a nice little exchange in the corner.

Guzman wanted to rumble in the third and tries to goad Crenshaw in by signaling him to come inside but Crenshaw doesn't bite. Crenshaw instead opts to circle around Guzman. Guzman starts chasing him around, but gets greet with a couple of left hooks as he misses his punches. Near the end of the round, Guzman does land one of his heavy rights that seemed to stun Darrell for a second but the two guys trade with each other for the final 10 seconds of the round.

Crenshaw gave Guzman a boxing lesson in the 4th. Guzman seemed to be looking for the knockout and was throwing punches with a lot of steam packed behind them. None of these punches landed and before long Guzman was gassed out. Crenshaw finished the fight landing the right hook at will and doing some very good work to the body.

Ring announcer said the judges scored the fight in favor of Manuel Gomez by way of majority decision, but "Stick em up, this is a highway robbery" would have been more appropriate. Official scores were 39 - 37 for Guzman twice and 38 - 38. I had the fight scored 40 - 36 Crenshaw.

Winner: Manuel Guzman improves to 1 - 2 via Majority Decision.









In exhibition action, RJ Sockwell looks like he is a pretty tough southpaw and had a nice exhibition against Jorge Delgado. Not much is known about Sockwell but I would like to see him without the helmet next time, he has some pop in his gloves. John DeJesus was originally slated for official duty but last minute troubled forced him into a 3 round exhibition. He showed that he had skills too and stayed active for most of the fight. Ring announcer Pat Fattore rocked the mic all night long and the crowd was treated to three of the finest ring girls in business.







Ring Announcer Pat Fattore




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