Ennis wins at the Armory

It was the return of Dee Lee Promptions coupled with the debut of Richard Clark's Prime Time Entertainment and the end result was a solid night of boxing at The National Guard Armory in Northeast Philadelphia. The evening was highlighted by Junior Middleweight prospect Derek Ennis who returned home to fight for the first time in over three years. Ennis was coming off a hard luck loss in a gun fight against fellow prospect Allan Conyers in a match where Ennis was seconds away from scoring a knockout victory. The setback was behind him and tonight he was matched up against Edgar Sosa of Puerto Rico. Ennis came to the ring with a huge entourage and once he entered the ring, had Sosa in trouble from the beginning. He showed both speed and power working upstairs and downstairs. Reyes showed some machismo early, but by the end of the third, he wanted no more of Ennis' assault and decided it would be in his best interest to not continue. With the win, Ennis improves to 11 - 1 8ko's and gets the slot as the co-feature at The Legendary Blue Horizon on June 1st.

In the co-feature, Venezuelan Welterweight southpaw Patrick Lopez also returned to the Philly scene and was impressive once again as he broke down Sabastien Hamel, a fighter who in the past has gone the distance with prospect Jorge Teron and lost a slim majority decision to Mike "No Joke" Stewart. Lopez made easy work of the traveeld vet and made him quit on the stool after 2 round. Lopez threw lots of combos, his best combination of the night was a 3 piece when he did a cartwheel / back flip after he was announced the winner followed by a Thriller like dance back to the locker room.

With the win, Patrick Lopez improves to 11 - 0 with 9ko's

The undercard was highlighted by Darrell Crenshaw, a fighter whose 1 - 7 record does him no justice. Maybe it is just me but the last three times I watched him fight he was very sharp. On this night he was scheduled to fight Archil Lapachishvili who was making his professional debut. It is reported that this fight almost didn't happen and at the last minute, Crenshaw was doing some roadwork in order to make weight at the last minute. After doing what he had to do and making the weight he still had the energy to put on a good fight. The both fighters had their moments in the first with brief exchanges, and in the 2nd it was all Crenshaw who finished the fight with a hard left hook to the chops which left his opponent on the canvas for much longer than the needed 10 count.

With the win, Darrell Crenshaw improves to 2 - 7

Tim Johnson and Kevin Boswell had a tough 4 round cruiserweight fight. In a good first round where both men gave each other some good punches, Johnson put together a rally near the end which won him the round. Johnson was still game throughout but the southpaw Boswell was also up to the task and scored 2 knockdowns as the fight continued, one of which was very close to being a rabbit shot. The ref didn;t see it and in the books it was scored a knockdown which was enough to push Boswell ahead on the cards and win by unanimous decision.

With the win Kevin Boswell improves to 2 - 0 with 1ko

In the first santioned bout of the night, Philly featherweight Teon Kennedy was signed on for a four rounder against NY's Jose Guzman. Those who follow the local circuit know that Kennedy has been leaving the competition on their back, most recently causing a scary scene at The New Alhambra knocking his opponent out cold. Nothing was really known about Guzman going in but on this night he showed he is a good fighter and could serve as a good measuring stick for the other young featherweights climbing the ranks around this part of town. The action has a steady pace through the first two rounds where Kennedy got the better of both and even scored a knockdown in the 2nd. Guzman was shaken but not done and rebounded to take the 3rd round. Kennedy went back to work in the 4th, clearly winning the final stanza as Guzman tried his very best to get the knockout. The fight went the distance and all three scorecards read in favor of Teon Kennedy

With the win, Teon Kennedy improves to 3 - 0 2ko's

The night started with an exhibition bout, but this was no time to hit the bathroom or run to the consession stand because the fight between Danny Garcia and Moses Calderon was an explosive way to start the show. These guys went at it right away, Calderon dropped Garcia early with a right. Garcia got up and quickly rocked Calderon with a left hook that flattened him. It sounded like a tire busting. Calderon got up and both fired away at each other for the remainder of the contest. They are lucky the helmets were on because both might have had concussions and medical suspensions after this. It was a hell of a rumble, I can't wait to see these two in pro bout!

The overall result was a solid night of boxing put together by matchmaker Sonny Mistretta.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com

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