Lenny DiVictoria stops Elad Schmouel in 2007 Philly fight of the year

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The Philly 2007 boxing season wrapped up at the Legendary Blue Horizon and Lenny DiVictoria vs. Elad Schmouel's main event was a perfect way to close the book on an exciting year from the fight capital of the world. At the pre fight press conference, matchmaker Don Elbaum promised an exciting action fight. Many thought he was selling snake oil and expected to see a solid boxing match. The Don nailed it and what the fans got for their money was a full blown toe to toe war with both men tasting canvas. The co-feature pitted two talented undefeated featherweights against one another in an effort to find out who is the man in this talent heavy division. The 0 had to go when Jules Blackwell and Paul Fernandez stepped into the ring. This one was very competitve early but one of the young lions pulled away down the stretch to secure the victory. Gee Cullmer and Marcus Brooks faced off in middleweight action and this one turned out to be a competitve, close range fight which ended in majority decision. Luis Castro looked to celebrate his 22nd birthday in style but tough Mexican Conrado Garcia refused to be used as a stepping stone over 4 rounds of action. All of this and a few pro debuts to boot capped off the night from the hoiuse where many legends were made.

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Main Event
Junior Welterweights
Lenny DiVictoria....vs....Elad Schmouel
9 - 10, 2ko's.............18 - 1, 9ko's
Philly....................Israel

It was the tough Philly journeyman going against the rising prospect and what a fight this was! No doubt fight of the year in Philly for 2007. It didn't look like this in the early going though. Elad came out flaming in the opening rounds, staying in Lenny's chest and bombing away at close range. After taking a close first round, Elad looked to seal the deal early in the second when he buried El Diablo along the ropes with a body assault, then followed up with a straight right which sent DiVictoria to the canvas. Lenny beat the 10 count and weathered another storm but did finish the round strong as his trainer Billy Briscoe frantically screamed "Stay Conscious!"

After two rounds, it was obvious that Elad was able to goad Lenny out of his game plan and suck him into a toe to toe war. Lenny's corner would plead "Please Box!" but the action never seemed to move more than a few inches away from both fighters.

The war was on and neither fighter budged as they traded hard punches to the head and body for two more rounds. It looked to be curtains early but Lenny turned the tide through 5 rounds and was getting the better of it though Elad was probably still had a slight lead on the scorecards at this point. The crowd who cheered for Elad early were now finding themselves in the DiVictoria corner as the chanted "USA,USA" & "Lenny, Lenny"

The Blue Horizon's house camera man was not one of the people cheering for Lenny, instead opting to be very unprofessional and scream obscenities at DiVictoria during the fight from his camera post.

In the six, both came out firing away again. Trainer Billy Briscoe once again dug into hsi bag of tricks and called for combo's called "The Mexican" & "The Mickey" which sparked off a fiery body assualt on Schmouel along the ropes. At this point blood was flowing from Schmouel's mouth and he could no longer withstand the charge, dropping down to his knees. He beat the 10 count but Lenny went right back to work with more hard body shots leaving Schmouel defenseless causing the referee to stop the fight.

Lenny jumped on the ropes in celebration as the fans went wild and he also gave the camera man a piece of his mind to cap off one of the best two way action fights North Broad street has seen in some time.














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Co- Main Event
Featherweight Division

Jules Blackwell....vs.....Paul Fernandez
Phoenixville, PA..........Vineland, NJ
6-0, 2ko's................2 - 0, 2ko's

While the main event eventually stole the show, this was the fight that the regulars wanted to see as two local featherweights with good records who we have seen before faced off to gain an upperhand in this division. Both were going 6 rounds for the first time as professionals and someone's 0 had to go.

This fight came as advertised with Fernandez as the aggressor and Blackwell playing to role of boxer. Through 4 rounds it was a back and forth fight. Fernandez was successful when he was able to get inside of his taller opponent, Jules looked best during those spots where he used his jab and good footwork to avoid the rush.

As the fight came down the stretch, Fernandez seemed to gas while Jules looked to grow stronger. Fernandez was still very game but Blackwell was able to find his range and land his straight left hand at will which sealed the final two rounds and secure the hard earned win. The final scores read 60 - 54, 59 - 55 & 58 - 56 for Blackwell. I had it scored 58 - 56 for Blackwell.







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Middleweight Action

Gee Cullmer....vs....Marcus Brooks
Philly..............Atlanta
11 - 1, 3ko's.......6 - 3, 3ko's

If you like fighters who stand on the inside and are willing to take a few punches to get theirs in, Gee Cullmer is your guy. Like we have seen many times in the past, the Throughbred didn't give an inch of breathing room to an opponent. On this night, he was in against Marcus Brooks who has been making his money fighting rising prospects in the middleweight division. Brooks was no push over and there were some really good spots with both men exchanging at short range.

Gee looked to be in control early, working on the inside and finding his mark with the left hook upstairs. Brooks got a little bit of revenge in the second when a right hook seemed to momentarily stun the Philly fighter. Brooks tried to follow up with a big barrage but was greeted with uppercuts and hooks to the body.

It got physical during 4th & 5th rounds when a lot of time was spend in the corners and along the ropes with both men fighting away. Gee's fellow Shuler's Gym residents really seemed to like what they saw as they shouted encouragement to their guy from the stands.

Gee clearly outworked Brooks in the final round with more rights and lefts at short range to the head and body as Brooks looked to land a big blow to get him back into the fight. It went to the scorecards which read 58 - 56 x2 and 57 - 57 giving Gee Cullmer the majority decision win. I had it scored 58 - 56 for Gee.








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Olivia Fonseca....vs....Michelle Linden
Philly........................Pittsburgh
1-1-1, 1ko....................6 - 4, 6ko's

If Olivia Fonseca is in the building, you are usually going to see a good fight and once again she outworked most of her male colleagues in this entertaining four rounder. Michelle Linden was no push over, evident by her 6 ko's in 6 career wins and she looked to add to that total in this fight.

Linden won the first round by the landing cleaner, harder punches in what was a good round. While Olivia's skills and looks get most of the attention, Many don't realize that this girl has one hell of a chin. In the third she decided to stand in the pocket and fight fire with fire causing a big pop from the corwd in appreciation.
Olivia seemed to take over the rest of the fight once she was able to slow things down and establish as jab to slow down her head hunting opponent. In the final round, Olivia outlanded Linden pretty convincingly. The fight went to the cards and they read 39 - 37 for Fonseca but over rulled by 2 scores of 38 - 38. I scored it 39 - 37 Fonseca.







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Luis Castro....vs....Conrado Garcia
Philly...............Mexico
1 - 0, 1ko...........pro debut

Luis Castro made his pro debut a few week prior at the Blue an mopped the ring with his opponent durign a 1st roudn KO win. His looked to follow that up on his 22nd birthday but Conrado Garcia was a fighter who took no crap.

Garcia, who was at something like a 5 inch height disadvantage took the fight right to Castro in the 1st, getting inside and bombing away as Castro tried to fend him off but missed. The first round was promising for Garcia but that is pretty much where his success ended as Castro was able to find range with a jab in the second, then continued to pick it up more and more through. Before long he was burying Garcia with hard right's and left's upstairs. I'll give Garcia a lot of credit, He ate everything thrown at him and asked for more. With that being said, it was obvious who the better man was on this night and that was Castro, who was impressive for a second consecutive outing and could be a fighter to keep an eye on in 2008. The final scores read 40 - 36 x2 & 39 - 37 for Castro. I also had it scored 39 - 37 for Castro.







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Gerald Smith...vs....Darrell Martin
Philly.................Maryland
pro debut..............1-0

I saw Darrel Martins pro debut a few months back and liked what I saw from the slick boxer from Maryland. Tonight, he took on the debuting Gerald Smith who hailed from Philly and while this fight got a little rough & sloppy, Smith showed he is a tough customer who isn't afraid to get into it and make a fight happen. Smith sweeped all four rounds while Martin lost two points for rabbit punching and spitting out his mouth piece. All three cards read 40 - 34 for Smith who goes 1 - 0.







Kamarah Pasley...vs....Sean McClain
Philly.................NY
PRO DEBUT..............1- 1

This was an interesting way to start the night as McClain, a part time actor fought Pasley, A Temple U graduate with a Masters degree over four rounds. The first round started slow but Pasley got the crowd warmed up in the 2nd as he scored a nice knockdown with a quick left to the chin. McClain was rocked but to his credit got back to his feet and was able to fight on.

McClain was down early but fought tough in rounds 3 and 4 against the southpaw Pasley who looked to finish the night with a knockout. Both went at it but it was Pasley's straight left hand which seemed to be the difference maker in the fight. The fight went to the scorecards which somehow read in favor of Sean McClain by majority decision. The crowd booed in disbelief letting everyone know that Pasley was just ripped off.




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