New Alhambra 08-10-07

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Photos by Philly Keith Sports & Larry Tornambe

Action returned to The New Alhambra as J. Russell Peltz and Golden Boy Promotions again joined forces to put together 8 fights that made the crowd say this was money well spent. Leading the card were four very experienced middleweights with the main attraction being a NABF title fight which was televised live on Telefutura / Univision. There were also some local talent on the bill with Kaseem Wilson taking on "Classy" Chris Gray, "Slick" Simon O'Donnell looking to stay undefeated against Danny "The Invader" Rivera, "Big" John Poore who is looking for a big payday in the near future, tonight taking on rust remover Dione Craig. All of this and more, scroll down to read the results.


12 ROUNDS - VACANT NABF MIDDLE TITLE
BRONCO McKART vs. ENRIQUE ORNELAS
159.5 pounds WEIGHT 160 pounds
36 years/6'0" AGE/HEIGHT 26 years/6'1"
Monroe, MI CITY La Habra, CA
Red/White/Blue TRUNKS Black/Mexican Flag
50-7, 31 K0s RECORD 25-3, 15 K0s
The top biller was aging ring vet Bronco McKart (51 - 7, 31ko's) who returned to Philly after 10 long years on the road but quickly won back any long lost fans by winning a slim, hard fought thriller over Enrique Ornales (25 - 4, 15ko's) of Mexico via split decision and earning the right to be called NABF Middleweight champion. McKart started off fast and built an early lead but Ornales came alive down the stretch leaving many to wonder the outcome when the final bell sounded. The difference maker was a knockdown scored by McKart in the 3rd when he smoked Ornales with a short right hand that dropped the usually steel chinned Mexican down to his knees. Ornales shook off the cobwebs and continued to take McKart's best while dishing out some punishment of his own sparking off some great moments of two way toe to toe action, in particular, during the 9th round which has become the leader for Philly round of the year. After 12 grueling rounds, it went to the judges score cards and after a long calculation with press row speculation all over the place, all three judges saw it 114 - 113, once for Ornales and twice for McKart giving the rugged journeyman the hard fought victory.







BOUT #2 10 ROUNDS - SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
LARRY MARKS vs. DAVID LOPEZ
168 pounds WEIGHT 162 pounds
35 years/6'0" AGE/HEIGHT 29 years/6'2"
Wilmington, DE CITY Nogales, Mexico
Blue/Black TRUNKS Gold/Black
29-8, 16 K0s RECORD 31-12, 21 K0s

David Lopez (31-13, 21ko's) of Mexico won a one sided unanimous decision over Larry Marks (29-9, 16ko's) of Delaware over 10 uneventful rounds. Both fighters have been in with some of the best in the business in their day and to their credit you can tell both were seasoned vets who still have some skill but neither decided to really press the issue. Lopez, the southpaw was able to control the action for most of the fight by circling Marks popping a jab an throwing straight rights to the body. Marks got in some shots of his own causing a nice mouse under Lopez eye early in the fight, then switched to southpaw for a round and continuing to stuff leather in his face. Marks wasn't able to keep the pace and Lopez cruised through the rest of the fight throwing two to the body, circling and popping a few more up top. The fight went to the cards and they read 98-92, 99-92, 99-91 in favor of Lopez.


6 ROUNDS - WELTERWEIGHTS

KASEEM WILSON NAME CHRIS GRAY
147 pounds WEIGHT 148.5 pounds
21 years/5'11" AGE/HEIGHT 31 years/5'10"
Philadelphia CITY Miami, FL
White/Black TRUNKS Blue/White
7-0-1, 3 K0s RECORD 4-3, 1 K0

Philly born Kaseem "The Nightmare" Wilson (9-0, 3ko's) outclassed Miami's "Classy" Chris Gray (4-4, 1ko) en route to a unanimous decision win. Gray has pulled the upset in the past but this wasn't going to be his night because he couldn't get a hold of the slick southpaw. Wilson took a page out of Max Alexander's book as he dipped, dodged and punched over 6 rounds while making Gray fight out of character and try to make it a fight instead of using his assets of footwork and speed.

6 ROUNDS - MIDDLEWEIGHTS

DANNY RIVERA NAME SIMON O'DONNELL
161.5 pounds WEIGHT 161.75 pounds
27 years/5'11" AGE/HEIGHT 21 years/6'3"
Hormigueros,PR CITY Galway, Ireland
Colors TRUNKS Green
5-3, 2 K0s RECORD 4-0, 2 K0s

Danny "The Invader" Rivera (6-3, 3ko's) of Puerto Rico conquered Philly's favorite Irishman "Slick" Simon O'Donnell (4 - 1, 2ko's) with a stunning 4th round knockout. O'Donnell had the name value coming in but the unknown Rivera showed from the beginning he came with more than a bad haircut and a pair of flashy Lucha Libre ring trunks. After the ring intro which included a very spirited fan cheer off, both fighters got right into it. O'Donnell was ahead early but Rivera proved right away he was tough and in the 4th, caught the slick fighting Irishman with a big left followed by barrage which led to a stop of the fight at 2:25. The Invader jumped the turnbuckles in celebrations and the crowd joined together to sing "olay olay olay o lay". Expect to see Rivera in our town again taking on another of our long line of middleweight prospects.

4 ROUNDS - LIGHTWEIGHTS

VICTOR VASQUEZ NAME THOMAS McCUISTON
133 pounds WEIGHT 135.5 pounds
24 years/5'5" AGE/HEIGHT 23 years/5'4"
Philadelphia CITY Bronx, NY
White/Red & Blue TRUNKS Black/White
3-1, 3 K0s RECORD 1-0

North Philly's Victor Vasquez (4-1, 3ko's) continues to make entertaining fights and in this one he took a unanimous decision over Thomas McCuiston (1-1)of the Boogie Down Bronx over four rounds of non stop battling. Vasquez looked to be on his way to scoring an early knockout when he rocked the New Yawkers chin with a straight right late in the 1st. McCuiston recovered and made a point of it to get into Vasquez chest the rest of the fight. Vasquez used his lateral skills, side stepping his smaller foe and popping off two and three punch combo's to the delight of his sizable fans in the crowd. It went to the cards and the judges saw it 40 - 36 & 39 - 37 twice in favor of Victor Vasquez who goes the distance for the first time in his career.





6 ROUNDS - HEAVYWEIGHTS

JOHN POORE NAME DIONE CRAIG
212 pounds WEIGHT 228 pounds
35 years/5'11" AGE/HEIGHT 36 years/6'2"
Upper Darby, PA CITY Cincinnati, OH
Blue TRUNKS White/Black
17-2, 17 K0s RECORD 4-9, 1 K0

"Big" John Poore (18 - 2, 18ko's) returned from a year lay off and used Dione Craig (4- 10, 1ko) like a can of rustoleum, polishing up and eventually scoring a 5th round knockout. Early in the fight, Craig tried to press the issue and did some good body work as Poore throw his patented over hand right while under pressure. At first it looked like Poore lost a little steam off his fastball but he eventually wore down his opponent in the middle rounds and eventually took him as his gloves found more pop as the fight went on. Craig was obviously done and the ref rightly called a halt to the contest at 2:01.

4 ROUNDS - JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS
FELIX ARROYO NAME TOMMY GARCIA
131 pounds WEIGHT 129 pounds
24 years/5'7" AGE/HEIGHT 30 years/5'6"
North Philadelphia CITY Hartford, CT
Red/White/Blue TRUNKS White
Pro Debut RECORD Pro Debut

Tommy Garcia (1-0, 1ko) of Connecticut took a 3rd round stoppage over Felix Arroyo (0-1) of Philly in what was thought by many to be a quick stoppage. Arroyo started strong and fired off rapid left hooks to the body building a nice lead after 2. Garcia did step it up in the 3rd and began to land some hard rights that seemed to stun Arroyo. After Garcia landed consecutive rights, the ref jumped in to stop it at 2:36 though Arroyo did seem to recover quickly. Garcia jumped for joy and Arroyo was left with the look of a guy who just got towed by Lew Blum. Both men were making their pro debut.

4 ROUNDS - CRUISERWEIGHTS
DAVID WILLIAMS NAME LARRY ROBINSON
198.25 pounds WEIGHT 197 pounds
30 years/6'2" AGE/HEIGHT 31 years/5'10"
North Philadelphia CITY South Philadelphia
Black TRUNKS White/Black
5-0, 2 K0s RECORD 7-3, 5 K0s

The night ended in typical Peltz style, Philly vs. Philly, North vs. South in the curtain closer as South Philly's Larry Robinson (8-3, 6ko's) won by 4th round KO over North Philly's David Williams (5-1, 2ko's) in an entertaining fight that was definitely a quick stop and giving Williams his first loss as a pro. Both fighters dished out hard punches through the first three rounds but in the 4th, Robinson gained the upper hand with a couple of hard hooks that sent Williams back on his heals. The ref jumped right in and closed the show leaving the Williams camp fuming. I think a rematch is in order for this one. Can we please bring back the standing 8 count?



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