Rasheem Brown TKO's Medina at The Blue Horizon

photos by Zach Radel

The 2008 fight season kicked off at The Legendary Blue Horizon with Greg Robinson & the Power Productions posse playing host with a 7 fight card for the near sell out crowd in attendance. The original main event between Trenton's Italian Assassin Chucky Cavallo and Philly's Jameel "Black Gold" Wilson for the Tri State Light Heavyweight title was canceled at the last minute due to a sports hernia suffered by Cavallo. Look for this one in March. Not to fear because two Philly sluggers were waiting in the wings and "The Untouchable" Rasheem Brown and Jose "El Macho" Medina gladly took over the role as headliners and both gave it their all. The under card was stacked up with up and comers who were looking to position themselves for big things in the near future. Mark "Oaktree" Brown, Tyric "Too Sweet" Robinson, "Hammerin" Hank Lundy and more were set for action. To the naked eye, this could have looked like an easy night for some fighters, but matchmaker Ty McNeil once again did his thing and put together a good card which had a big upset, a big knockout and a couple of toe to toe battles that went the distance and could have gone either way. Scroll down to get the full report.

Middleweight Division

Rasheem Brown...vs...Jose Medina
South Philly.........North Philly
17-3, 14ko's.........14 - 9, 10ko's

This impromptu main event featured two experienced fighters who came through the local ranks and are known for the TNT loaded in their mitts. It was figured that this one would end early though it was scheduled for 8 rounds, the only question was who would it be? "The Untouchable" Rasheem Brown was returning after two years out of the ring though he has played stayed active going into camp with some of the top names in the business. Jose "El Macho" Medina has stayed pretty active lately with mixed results and made the jump up to the middleweight division for this one.

Brown looked to be in tip top condition and didn't look very rusty. Medina fought with the heart that earned him the name "El Macho". For the first two rounds Brown bounced, jabbed and slipped in his powerful right hand which landed at a high percentage. Medina stayed game through 2, taking some clean punches and lunging back throwing his fiery left hook which has left many men on their back staring at the ceiling. Brown staggered Medina near the end of two with an uppercut as the bell sounded. To start the 3rd, Medina came out with the intentions of going blow for blow but early in the round was caught with a short left hook which put him down. Woozy but not completely done, Medina rose to his feet around the 8 count but Brown jumped right back in there with a hard four punch combo which left referee Gary Rosato no choice but to end the fight.

It was a good fight while it lasted, if 'Sheem is back for good we could have a major shake up in the pound for pound rankings. Macho hung tough but is probably better suited going back down in weight. Hopefully we will see both fighters again soon.

Winner: Rasheem Brown who improves to 18 - 3, 15ko's



Junior Welterweight Division

Tyric Robinson...vs...Jason Jordan
Philadelphia..........Akron, Ohio
8-1, 3ko's............4-17

The co-feature turned out to be the surprise of the night as traveled journeyman Jason Jordan gets his first win in Philly on his sixth try over the highly regarded jr. welterweight prospect Tyric "Too Sweet" Robinson with a four round unanimous decision.

Too Sweet, who was fresh off a fight of the year candidate has been gaining a very good buzz lately with his recent run of entertaining fights. Jordan on the other hand has found a niche in boxing as the guy brought in to give some work to fighters in the 140 - 147 lb class but rarely coming out on top.

On this night, Jordan found a plan that worked early and stuck to it. Jab, run, jab seemed to be the theme of this fight. Tyric made attempts to kick start his offense with combinations to the body but Jordan was able to squirm out of harms way in a nick of time.

There weren't many big punches landed and no one was hurt at any point. It was an off night for Too Sweet who hopes to bounce back soon against a more talented opponent, Jordan on the other hand parlays this win into a date against former amateur great Danny Garcia on February 2nd in Boston.

It went to the cards after four and they read 40 - 36 x 2 and 39 - 37 for Jason Jordan.

Winner: Jason Jordan who improves to 5 - 17



Heavyweight Division

Mark Brown...vs...Kevin Hood
Salem,NJ..........Coatesville, PA
11 - 1, 3ko's.....5-6

Mark "Oaktree" Brown's last fight in his hometown was cut short due to some rough housing and he wasn't very happy about it. He took this fight on short notice and took out soem frustrations on Kevin Hood by scoring three big knockdowns to secure a 1st round knockout. It all started about a minute into the fight with a left hook to the top of the head which put Hood down. Hood got up but never seeemed to fully recover as Oaktree stayed on him, throwing and landing hard combinations. After a second knockdown, Hood showed heart and got back up but Oaktree landed his patented super punch to finish the job at 2:51 of the round.

Winner: Mark "Oaktree" Brown who improves to 12-1, 4ko's




Light Heavyweight Division

Tony Ferrante...vs...Camron Bright
Northeast Philly.....Philly
1-0..................1-8

Tony Ferrante started his pro career with a bang last month at the Blue with an entertaining two way battle which he won. On this night, it was more of a calculated approach against an experienced opponent in Bright. The majority of this fight was spent on the inside with Ferrante mixing it up going to the body and head and Bright looking to do the majority of his work downstairs. It got physical in there at times but both fighters kept their composure and kept a steady pace throughout.

Bright fought hard every round but Ferrante's speed and combinations were the deciding factor in earning a unanimous four round decision by scores of 40 - 36x2 and 39-37.

Winner: Tony Ferrante who improves to 2 - 0




Lightweight Division

Jesus Barbosa...vs...Rami Ibraham
Philly...............Philly
1-0, 1ko.............2-6

Jesus Barbosa was returning to the ring after starting his career with an impressive first round knockout win at the Blue in November. His opponent was Rami Ibraham was returning after two years and was known for putting out entertaining fights despite a sub par record.

This one didn't disappoint as both fighters went at it from the start. Ibraham was the busier of the two but Barbosa was the one landing harder punches. Neither fighter stayed more than a few inches away from the other and put together good spots in the middle of the ring as well as on the ropes. It was one of those fights where it could have gone either way as most of the rounds were very close. The was ruled a draw at 38 - 38 by all three judges and I'm not going to argue it.

Light Heavyweight Division

Farah Khalil...vs...Juergan Hartenstein
Jersey..............Germany
2-2, 1ko............11-12, 2ko's

Farah Khalil come into this match riding a 2 fight winning streak, much of which is attributed to his work with new trainer Billy Briscoe. Juergan Hartenstein has been in our area before and though he isn't the most technical guy out there, he does fight with heart and has a good chin.

This one was the tale of two fights. In the first two rounds, Khalil slowly but surely picked Juergan off with the jab as the German fighter tried to get inside. Khalil continued to find opportunities as he used the ring, jabbed and mixed in some good body shots. In the second round, Briscoe called for "The Windshield" wiper and shortly after, Juergan went to a knee courtesy of a short left hook. Juergan got up but it didn't look like things were going to change anytime soon after the second round.

Boy was I wrong because in the 3rd, Hartenstein came out like a house on fire. He kept coming forward and landed big right after big right for the entire round. The crowd went nuts. It was more of the same in the 4th and those right hands looked to be taking their toll but Khalil hung in there making it to the final bell.

There outcome was in the hands of the judges who all scored the fight 38-37 in favor of Farrah Khalil with the knockdown being the deciding factor. The crowd loudly disapproved and some argued that the third could have been counted as a 10-8. Either way, Briscoe's newest charge goes 3 - 0 since joining the Oven gym.

Winner: Khalil Farrah who improves to 3-2, 1ko
Junior Welterweight Division


Hank Lundy...vs...Damon Antoine
Philly............Ohio
9-0, 6ko's........7-20, 3ko's

In the opener, rising prospect Hammerin Hank Lundy continued his winning ways as earned a unanimous decision over the wily Damon Antoine, who makes it his duty to test the up and comers in the world.

Due to a through inspection by security, we were unable to catch this fight but word is that the Hammer was in control throughout and scored a 5th round knockdown after switching to southpaw. All three judges scored it 60 - 53. Look for The Hammer to fight on a big stage really soon!

Winner: Hammerin' Hank Lundy who improves to 10-0 6ko's



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