Blue Horizon 04-06-07

photos by Mike McGuigan

On the strength of a dynamite card in February, fans flocked to the Blue Horizon in hopes of another action packed night at the fights. The line outside of the building backed all the way up to Master Street, filled with men, women and children from all walks of life. Some were die hard Philly fight loyalists; others were young socialite spenders who mistakenly identified the side building mural of Joe Frazier for Evander Holyfield but heard that The Blue is the place to be. Asses were in the seats and interest in Philly boxing was at a height we haven't seen since back in the day when my old man and uncle would ditch the wife and kids for an afternoon at the Spectrum for some Willie the Worm and Boogaloo Watts & company. While the game has changed since the stars of yesteryear packed 10,000 into the building on a Saturday afternoon, we were promised that tonight's card would be a display of a crop being hailed as the next generation of great Philly fighters. It was "The Night of the Undefeated" at the Legendary Blue Horizon with heavyweight prospect Chazz Witherspoon as the headliner.

At the pre fight press conference and later in a one on one interview, matchmaker Don Elbaum was saying this night would be better then the last. While lightening didn't strike twice, overall it was a solid card that gave us three knockouts and showed that the Philly crowd wants every cent of their money worth when they cough up between $35 - $60 for a ticket.

The opener was an interesting yet somewhat predictable middleweight tussle between Galway's The Slick Fighting Irishman, Simon O'Donnell (3 - 0 2ko's) and South Philly rumbler Joe "Kid Viscious" Christy (7 - 10 - 1 2ko's) who will bust you up if you get in his face. In a pre fight interview, O'Donnell said he was ready to give it his all and that he did, neutralizing the usually brutish Christy over four tough rounds. In my opinion, the purpose of this fight was for Christy to season up O'Donnell with some rough house tactics in hopes of preparing him for the future fights. Christy’s mahogany hard head was put to use, and he let the 21 year old know what it is like to be in a dog fight. Throughout the contest, Christy was aggressive, especially in the early going when he tried to impose his will over the younger, less experienced O'Donnell by moving straight ahead and throwing long right hooks. Simon showed poise and used a technical approach, finding his mark with a very effective left to the body and left uppercut. Christy kept on coming and at the end of the first he connected with a straight right to the face which let O'Donnell know just who he is dealing with.

Things changed a bit in a good second round when O'Donnell started to work inside, again the left hand was his weapon of choice and he was using it effectively to the body. Christy was countering with wild right hooks that occasionally landed and before long, Simon found himself going toe to toe with one of the baddest men our city has to offer. O'Donnell actually got the better of this situation. The round ended in typical Joe Christy fashion as he sucked up a crisp O'Donnell right hand that landed flush. The crowd cheered but Joe looked him in the eye, smiled, then pretty much grabbed and threw Simon into a corner before connecting with a nice 3 piece just before the bell sounded.

Christy carried this momentum into the third round which I thought he won. After eating a few more rights and smiling them off, he went to the rough housing tactics digging into O'Donnell’s ribs. Simon would return fire, connecting with some hard right uppercuts that would have dropped most people. Christy just kept on coming and continued to go after the rib cage. Christy even surprised us with some nifty footwork at the end of this round and the Irishman was tried to pop him with a combo in the corner. Christy did a little side step move leaving O'Donnell wide open. Christy cocked back and fired a wild right hook backed with everything he had. Unfortunately for him, he whiffed.

In the fourth round, O'Donnell showed why some are predicting championship gold in his future. Even after three tough rounds he was still very fresh and looked like he could go on for 12 more. He popped off multiple left - right combos that found their mark. He move in and got out before trouble was able to find him. He went to the body, dipped out then went upstairs. This went on for most of the round until a flush three piece caught Christy. Christy mouthed off letting the youngster know it didn't hurt then proceeded with some more rough housing. The final bell sounded, the crowd gave both fighters a big round of applause and a fight pitting two of my local favorites was over. Ring announcer Larry Tornambe was handed the official scorecards and they all read 40 - 36 in favor of The Slick Fighting Irishman Simon O'Donnell who improves to 4 - 0 (2ko's). Christy falls to a misleading 7 - 11 - 1.

The second contest of the night was dubbed "What can Brown do for you?" putting Mark "Oaktree" Brown (8 - 1 3ko's) of Salem, NJ against Sargeant Samuel Brown (3 - 1 of the United States Army via Kentucky. Both fighters are coming off strong wins, Oaktree in particular when he caused his opponent Charles Brown to puke all over the ring. Luckily tonight there were no other accidental discharges of bodily fluids. The Sarg on the other hand was making his third appearance going 1 - 1 in his prior contest with his lone loss being a decision that could be debated. It is said he will be deployed to Iraq for a absurd third tour of duty in September so he wanted to go out with a bang in what is likely his final appearance in this legendary fight hall. Like Mic Jagger once sang, you can’t always get what you want because this contest was dominated by the Oaktree who landed with sometimes wild but always heavy right hands.

After an interesting intro where Oaktree danced down the aisle and through the crowd, the first round was somewhat competitive due to many lags because of wrestling but Oaktree go the nod with good use of the upper cut and right hook. Oaktree came on strong in the second landing a wild right at the start then put together a heavy three punch combo that wobbled the tough war vet. After more wrestling, Oaktree landed a serious right flush to the face that had his man ready to go but the bell sounded only to prolong the obvious.

The Sarg was still hurt coming out for the 3rd and Oaktree capitalized right away dropping his man with a short but powerful left hook. There was no quit in the Sarg as he beat the 10 count but Oaktree went right back to business landing a big right to the ear which sparked off a 7 punch flurry that gave referee Steve Smoger no choice but to step in and call a halt to the contest. Oaktree improves to 9 - 1 with 4ko's, Samuel Brown falls to 3 - 2. While it was a strong win for the Oaktree, we all hope Samuel Brown returns from Iraq to fight another day at the Blue. Stay safe Sarg!

In the third fight, the Trenton born and Philly tough Light Heavyweight Chucky Cavallo (13 – 0 4ko’s) bludgeoned a very capable Milwaukee Mike Word (4 – 7 – 3 4ko’s) over 4 rounds leaving the ringside doctor no option but to stop the madness before the start of the 5th. Although he is young and in some peoples opinion still very raw, I think Cavallo is really starting to come into his own and is winning over fans in arenas all around the city. The Italian Bull went at it from the opening bell and gave Word the beating a lot of people wanted him to get since Word spoiled the chance of us seeing the return of Marty "The Wolfman" Lindquist who captured our imagination in the midst of catching a severe beating from Max Alexander in February. Lindquist was originally schedule to fight Cavallo but Word played the role of spoiler ko'ing the Wolfman in Minnesota a few weeks back. In hind sight, Word might be regretting that win because boy did he take a whipping. To his credit, he kept coming back for more and more. After sucking up 5, 6 and 7 punch combos he always was able to muster up the strength to throw one heavy haymaker during the exchange which usually found its mark. To Cavallo's credit, he would take these bombs and go right back to work. Cavallo who had a distinct size and reach advantage didn't do much boxing, he was on the attack the entire fight and I have to say, he has some nice hands. I have said it a million times and I will say it again, Chucky Cavallo vs. Max Alexander to settle once and for all who is the best Light Heavy in the area... It needs to happen!



The next fight was an interesting junior welterweight contest pitting one of Don Elbaum's favorites Elad Schmouel (16 – 1 8ko’s) against a familiar face in Akron Ohio's Jason Jordan (3 – 6 – 2) who has made it his duty to take on only the best up and comers that live in the 140 lb division. Schmouel aka The Kosher Pit Bull is a 20 year old from Tel Aviv and is an active member of the Israeli Army. Jordan has become a regular in our circuit over the past year and excluding a first round loss to Philly knockout king Mike Jones, he usually give a solid performance and is capable of pulling an upset. This was one of those fights that weren’t wildly entertaining like Elad's last bout but it was a steady; grind it out rumble that gave both fighters to show what they were about. While it was an overall good performance, Elad make a fatal mistake at the end and caught the wrath of the Blue Horizon crowd, leaving the ring to a shower of boo's.

The first was a bit of a feel out as Elad lived up to his Pit Bull moniker, moving straight ahead and trying to dig into Jordan's tenderloin. Jordan played it safe, throwing a jab at the incoming Elad and circling his way around danger.

The second started the same with Jordan circling and tapping with the jab but before long the Kosher Pit Bull was able to work his way inside, ripping a 4 punch combo into Jordan's rib cage. Elad stayed working the body for the majority of the round with ripping rights and lefts. Jordan would fire back in spots but it was mostly Elad. As the round ended, Elad began to find the mark upstairs as well.

Jordan was tapping and dancing again to start the third. While his punches didn't look very hard, he was scoring. About a minute into the round, Elad stayed on the prowl and began to effectively cut off the ring cornering the slippery Jordan into a corner or along the ropes firing off lefts and rights to the head and body. Not long after that, Elad started to walk through Jordan’s jab and went back to work. This is when things began to get interesting. It seemed like once this happened, Jordan started to stand toe to toe with Elad and popped off a couple of nice combo's while they men exchanged.

For the most part, the fourth round stunk. Jordan went back to the tap dance routine and Elad spent most of the time chasing him around. Towards the end the fighters found themselves toe to toe in the middle of the ring punching each other in the face. This lasted for a few quick seconds then it went back to how it started.


Jordan started to beef up his punches in the 5th and Elad started to fade out as the fight progressed, something that I saw happen to him in the past. The round started once again with Jordan circling and jabbing, this time with some mustard behind it but Elad still would get inside although not with the force of earlier rounds. Jordan soon after took the fight to the middle of the ring and showed some spark as he fired off combo's. Elad got a second wind towards the end, forcing the action into the turnbuckle starts to fire away. Jordan wiggles out of the turnbuckle but Elad rode him along the ropes highlighting this feat with a left hook to the mouth which knocked Jordan’s mouthpiece onto the ringside table.

Elad is still game at the start of the 6th though lacking the energy he showed earlier. Punches that were landing clean earlier were now being blocked by Jordan. Toe to toe exchanges were now a lot closer than earlier in the fight. Jordan still was fresh and to Elads credit, he was tired but still grinding. Then it happened, Elad backed out of a mid ring exchange and started to clown around, the fans were none to happy and in unison booed a guy they not too long ago gave a standing ovation. He continued the non sense and stuck out the mouthpiece mocking his opponent as Jordan came forward, pretty much saying "hit me with your best hot". Jordan acknowledged this silent agreement and cracked Elad with his best right of the night that sent the slobber filled mouth piece into some sorry sap in the 3rd rows beer. The crowd exploded into cheer. Elad stumbled back and knew he was the one shown up, to his credit he tried to save face and sparked off a spirit exchange to finish the fight. When the bell rang to end the round the fight went to the scorecards and the read 59 - 55 and 58 - 56 twice for Schmouel. Elad raised his arms in victory but the crowd laid it on him with one of the loudest showers of boo's in recent memory. Don Elbaum recognized that the crowd had turned on his guy and for a split second, looked like the bitter beer face guy from the Keystone beer commercials. On the other hand, the crowd gave a solid ovation to Jason Jordan, the tough journeyman who will take on all the fighters most protected prospect refuse to face.







While the last fight caused the boo birds to show their faces, this next one made them fly out of the nest. It is a shame because the week started so well for Max Alexander (13 – 0 2ko’s). TV spots on Daily News Live and The 10 show, a seat on the podium at the press conference. The word was getting out that he was on his way to becoming the new face of the Blue. In the pre fight presser, Don Elbaum told us that Demetrius Jenkins (21 – 15 – 1 16ko’s) even though he was riding a 3 year layoff, never gave anyone an easy night in his life. Boy was he right. Jenkins was apart of one of the roughest nights of Max's boxing career. Injury didn't allow us to see the Max Alexander that I know tonight. Max broke his hand early in the 2nd round and manged to tap his way around the sloppy and wreckless Jenkins for the rest of the night. Jenkins swong wildly and most of the time he missed. One time, Jenkins threw a bomb, missed and actually did a split in the ring. Max jabbed in spots, the crowd booed mercilessly. The only time the crowd cheered is when the final round was announced. In the end, Max gets the nod with scored of 60 - 54 twice and 59 - 55. It wasn't pretty but where I come from, a win is a win. On the flip side, Max needs to rebound strong. Once the hand heals, a fight with Chucky Cavallo is a must! Max raises his record to 14 - 0 2ko's.





In the grand finale, Chazz Withersoon (16 – 0 10ko’s) picked up the slack and came through with a impressive performance with a 7th round knockout over a very tough challenger in Charles Davis (17 – 12 4ko’s), a fighter who went the distance with four highly regarded prospects over the past year. While he is true to his nickname outside of the ring, The Gentleman checked his manners at the door and after the two feel out round he told us were coming, took his game to the next level pounding away on the Arizona southpaw until he couldn't take anymore. After the 2nd, Chazz kept a steady pace using his left jab and working his way to the inside. Davis was game and at times threw a hard straight left that would find its mark. Chazz was able to brush off the blows and stayed on the attack. In the 4th, Witherspoon started to mix in heavy right hands that made Davis back away. Chazz stalked Davis around the ring and was back on the attack. Davis responded with 2 lefts but got caught in the exchange with a right that put him on the canvas as the round neared the end. Davis beat the count and hung on to survive the round. Davis seemed to shake off the cob webs between rounds and started off strong with three straight rights to the body. Action slowed down and made its way to the center of the ring. Chazz stayed cool and started the throw a straight right which consistently splits Davis' gloves. Davis hung in there and goes blow for blow with Chazz for a stretch. It was a close round but Chazz finished it with yet another straight right hand. The 6th round was a very good one as both men once again went toe to toe, this time Chazz focused more on the body and Davis firing with the straight left. It went this way with a few clinches mix in for the majority of the round. During this battle, Chazz rocked Davis with 2 right upper cuts that made Davis wobble around the ring. Chazz mixed in another right upper cut and once again put Davis on the floor. Davis got up but was visibly shaken and held onto Chazz for the remainder of the round. Davis made it out for the 7th but it didn’t last long because he was still reeling from those uppercuts. Chazz came out blazing looking for the knockout. Davis, realizing he had no shot simply took a knee and didn;t get back up. The crowd approved and Chazz Witherspoon further illustrated that he is on his way to big things in the near future. Chazz improves to 17 - 0 11 ko's






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