The Legendary Blue Horizon undercard 10-13-07

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Photos by Zack Radel

This good night of boxing at The Legendary Blue Horizon on Friday night headlined by the rematch between Harry Joe Yorgey and Martinus Clay and there was also a very good undercard. It was once again Hammer Time at The Blue and Hank Lundy turned the muther out scoring a 1st round KO over Starr Johnson with some fierce straight lefts. Faruq Saleem stayed undefeated by the skin of his teeth, earning a 6 round majority decision over Sedrick "Big Buck" Fields who clowned his way out of a victory but in the meantime won over most of the crowd with his antics. Long Island's Tommy "Razor" Rainone fought a smart fight and stays undefeated by winning a unanimous decision over Jaime Morales. Jules Blackwell and Arthur Parker had an entertaining 4 rounder that was a much tougher fight than originally expected and was very close on the scorecards. Olivia Fonseca and Kimberly Harris had a good 4 rounder where both ladies let it fly. In the opener, Luis Castro made his pro debut and quickly disposed of Elias Castillo within the first minute of the fight. Castillo tried to fight back but he was just never in this one. In the walkout, the lights dimmed and the crowd piled out, but those who hung around saw Aaron Torres look to get back on the winning side of things over 6 rounds against Manuel Guzman of Lancaster.

Lightweight Action

Hank Lundy ...vs...Starr Johnson
South Philly….........Kileen, TX
8-0, 5ko’s…………3 – 16 – 1, 2ko’s

It was Hammer time at the Blue and Hank Lundy turned the muther out as he put a fierce one on Starr Johnson, finishing things near the end of round one. Midway through the first, Lundy scored a knockdown with what appeared to be a body shot. Johnson got up but that was a bad idea as Lundy switched to southpaw and landed three consecutive left hands to finish the job. Lundy jumped on the turnbuckles in celebration as Johnson as stars.

Winner by TKO: Hank Lundy who improves to 9 – 0, 6ko’s







Welterweight Action

Tommy Rainone ...vs...Jaime Morales
Long Island, NY….......North Philly
8-0, 2ko’s.....................4 – 4, 2ko’s

This was an interesting matchup as Tommy “Razor” Rainone put his undefeated record against Jaime Morales, the fighter also known as AAA. This means he will fight anybody, anytime, anywhere and more than once Morales has stolen the show with his guns blazing style.

The southpaw Rainone is more of a boxer than a slugger but will fight when the time is right. In this one, things started out slowly as there was a lot of tangling along with Rainone looking to pace himself in his first trip to the 6 rounders. Morales came out swinging and scored the most when he worked the body. The body work looked to be effective at first but in the long run cost him because he would be deducted two points during the fight for low blows.

From the middle rounds, Rainone circled and used his jab and picked spots to move in and out against the aggressive Morales. This is when the action started to pick up as both fighters began to land good some clean punches. Morales would lunge forward throwing a big right hand which sometimes landed, the best one came in round three where it landed to Rainone’s head as the bell sounded.

There were some nice exchange as the fight finished up, Morales continued in attack mode while Rainone circled and began to slip in a straight left counters in return.

The fight went to the cards and they read 59 – 54, and 58 – 54 x2 for Tommy Rainone.

Winner by unanimous decision: Tommy “Razor” Rainone who improves to 9 – 0 , 2ko’s









Featherweight Action

Jules Blackwell ...vs...Arthur Parker
Phoenixville, PA….....Lancaster, PA
5-0, 2ko’s……………1-3, 1ko


Two featherweights still in the rookie season of their career squared off and this one was a pleasant surprise. With Terry Nye on assignment in Baltimore, Joey Eye and Mike McCarney were hired to work the corner of Lancaster’s Arthur Parker and they must have put a good spark under his backside because Parker came to fight. Not to be outdone, Jimmy Deoria Jr and John Mulvenna were able to get their man refocused after a rough start to earn a hard fought majority decision win.

In the first round, Parker came out blazing and was able to get inside of the much taller Blackwell, landing a sneaky right hand on multiple occasions. Jules tried to fend him off with a big left but Parker managed to slip them go back to work. After a close second round where Parker continued to get inside early but Jules began to use a jab to fend off his opponent. Blackwell had a big round three where he threw multiple combinations to the body which set up some straight lefts upstairs as the round progressed. Parker was worn down by the 4th but by no means was he ready to quit. The tank looked to be approaching E, and Jules capitalized, throwing big flurries of punches on Parker. The Lancaster native took these shots and signaled for Jules to “come on” with his arm which led to both men exchanging rights and lefts until the final bell sounded. It went to the cards and they read 38 – 38 draw, 39 – 37 for Blackwell and a ridiculous 40 – 36 for Blackwell.

Winner by majority decision: Jules Blackwell who improves to 6 – 0, 2ko’s









Jr. Middleweight Women’s Action

Olivia Fonseca ...vs...Kimberly Harris
Philly………….........Tampa, FL
1-0, 1ko….…………4 – 9

The ladies were in action on this night as well and this was anything but ladylike as these two went toe to toe in four rounds of very good action. It basically went like this, half of the fight was spend at a fast pace with both ladies exchanging big rights and lefts upstairs. Along with the ability to throw down, both women showed very good chins. The often exchanges kept the crowd on their feet. The difference was during the slower points where Harris was able to get off first with the jab and then slip in a counter right when Fonseca would return fire. Overall it was a good fight that had many good moments. It went to the cards and they read 40 – 36 & 39 – 37 x2 for Harris.

Winner by unanimous decision: Kimberly Harris who improves to 5 – 9







Heavyweight Action

Faruq Saleem ...vs...Sedrick Fields
Newark, NJ….........Augusta, GA
36-0, 32ko's.............22-34-2, 16ko’s

A long long time ago, a bloody Englishman named Charles Dickens penned a classic novel called “A Tale of Two Cities” It has nothing to do with professional boxing but in a nut shell it revolves around two guys who look the same yet are very different. There are all kinds of twists and turns with wild subplots going on. Let’s call this match “A Tale of Two Fighters” and it revolves around two boxers, one who has plowed through a long line of nobodies, while the other has lost to a laundry list of champions.

On paper, it looked like a king with a large jaw would be taking on a queen with a plane face. But in boxing, the only numbers that really count are the ones in the paycheck and once these two got into the ring, undefeated heavyweight Faruq Salem and journeyman Sedrick “Big Buck” Fields had a close, evenly contested match-up that could have gone either way.

In the blue corner stood the 6’7” Saleem, who carries a 36-0 record. Most fighters with this resume are usually getting a good whiff of a world title shot, not fighting as the co feature at the Blue Horizon. Maybe the Saleem team is content with this approach, getting steady work for a steady paycheck, nothing wrong with that. Something has gotta give because Saleem does seem to have talent and definitely has punching power. At 33 years old, there doesn’t seem to be much time left to cash in.

In the other corner you had Sedrick Fields who has fought just about every brand name heavyweight fighter in the book. He has lost to the likes of Oleg Maskaev, Jameel McCline, Michael Moorer, Chris Arreola, Sergei Lykovich just to name a few. For those who don’t know, these men are bona-fide world class opposition. He even stole a win from Shannon Briggs back in 2000. He could have stolen a win on this night as well.

In Saleem’s last fight, he showed some heavy hands in dispatching an outgunned Wallace McDaniel in less than 1 round. Tonight he had some trouble against the more experienced fighter and at one point did stun Big Buck with a few overhand rights. Fields was able to recover and fought in spurts, doing his best work when pinning Saleem on the ropes and throwing punches in flurries. It wasn’t very entertaining and there were plenty of rounds that could have been stolen here but instead of going for broke, but Buck played to the crowd which did win over the fans who chanted “Buck, Buck, Buck”. In the end it went to the cards where one judge saw it dead even at 57 – 57 but the other two over ruled with scored of 58 – 56.

So is it better to fluff your record up against nobodies or get knocked around by every tough guy in the sport? I am sure Fields has made some good money in his day and his silly ring antics aside, seems to not have any negative effects of taking some of the sports heaviest hands. On the other hand, with one or two wins over legitimate prospects, Saleem could likely secure a meaningful fight in a lackluster heavyweight division. A fight against Joey Abell could be a good way to start.

The winner by majority decision: Faruq Saleem who improves to 37 – 0 ,32ko’s




Jr. Middleweight Action

Aaron Torres ...vs...Manuel Guzman
Philly…..................Lancaster, PA
14 – 6, 6ko’s…..…3 – 4, 2ko’s

Just before this fight started the Yorgey - Clay rematched ended. The corwd emptied and the lights were dimmed. Those who remained got to see a fight between former contestant of The Contender II series and the always improving Manuel Guzman looked like a bad blood match from the start. Not much technical maneuvering in this one, more / less heavy right hands which tried to knock the other guy out. Guzman was cut above the eye early but continued to fight on as Torres would look to get inside and dish out some more punishment. It stayed like this for 6 rounds and when it went to the cards, they all read 59 – 55 for Torres

With the win, Aaron Torres improves to 15 – 6, 6ko’s


Lightweight Action

Luis Castro ...vs...Elias Castillo
Philly…................New York
Pro debut……… 0 -2


Poor Elias Castillo, man has he been put in tough since turning pro. His first assignment was against Teon Kennedy which lasted four one sided rounds before he got knocked out. His last fight was in Baltimore against another former amateur standout Darrell Martin which went the distance. On this night he went in against Luis Castro as lasted a whole: 52 seconds before referee Art Bayless did the right thing and called off the fight. Castro was on him from the opening bell and firing off some big rights and lefts, many of which found their mark.

Winner by knockout in the 1st round: Luis Castro who improves to 1-0, 1ko








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