By John DiSanto at ringside
Photos: Darryl Cobb Jr.
The Met on North Broad Street in Philadelphia made a successful return as a boxing venue after more than six decades on Saturday night.
In the main event, Steven Ortiz, 10-0, 3 KOs, won impressively over Jeremy Cuevas, 11-1, 8 KOs (both of Philadelphia) to take the PA State lightweight championship by unanimous decision. Ortiz knocked Cuevas down twice during the fight. In round two, a brutal left hook nearly ended the fight, but Cuevas got up and finished the round. Ortiz continued to dominate the action, and in round seven, he dropped Cuevas with a right.
By the end, there was no doubt about the verdict and Ortiz claimed the win by scores of 79-71 and 78-72 twice. Ortiz was the favorite going in, but the fact that his victory was so complete was a surprise. Now I’d love to see Ortiz face the winner of next month’s Hank Lundy – Avery Sparrow match.
In an 8-round welterweight contest, Malik Hawkins, Baltimore, 14-0, 9 KOs, defeated Gladwin Ortiz of the Bronx, 6-3, 5 KOs, by unanimous decision. It was an action fight with both men landing freely throughout. In the end, Hawkins won by scores of 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75.
Tre’Sean Wiggins, Newburgh, NY, 11-4-1, 6 KOs, won the PA State junior welterweight title with a wide margin unanimous decision over Philly’s Samuel Teah, 15-3-1, 7 KOs, in an eight rounder. Wiggins’ southpaw style appeared to give Teah fits, and the out of towner won by easy scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. So the Pennsylvania title goes back to NY with Wiggins. Go figure!?
Philly’s Branden Pizarro, 14-1, 7 KOs, blew out Zack Ramsey, Springfield, MA, 8-6, 4 KOs, in just 1:50. First, Pizarro floored Ramsey with a left to the body, and then put him down again with a left to the chin. The second trip to the canvas lasted for ref Shawn Clark’s full 10 count. The junior welterweight bout was scheduled for six rounds.
In a junior lightweight fight scheduled for six, Gadwin Rosa, 10-0, 8 KOs, dropped Jorge Luis Santos, 5-3-1, 2 KOs, with a left hook in round two. Santos survived, but Rosa swarmed him when the action resumed and referee Eric Dali stopped the bout moments later at the 1:28 mark.
Lightweight Christian Tapia, Coamo, PR, 8-0, 7 KOs, devoured David Veras Pena, Odenton, MD, 0-2-1, in two one-sided rounds. Tapia pounded away at Pena, and the fight could have been stopped much earlier, but the southpaw lasted until 1:28 of round two.
In a 4-rounder scheduled for four rounds, wild-but-entertaining light heavyweight Benny Sinakin, 3-0, 2 KOs, ate a few early bombs from Ronald Lawrence, 0-4, but eventually overwhelmed his fellow Philadelphian, scoring a knockout at 2:42 of round one. Eric Dali was the referee.
In a 4-round female featherweight fight, Tamar Israeli, 2-0-1, 2 KOs, and Karen Dulin, 3-16-1, 1 KO fought to a majority draw. One judge scored it 39-37 for Israeli, but was overruled by the two remaining judges, both of whom had it 38-38.
Philly bantamweight Josue Rosa, 1-0, 1 KO, made a successful pro debut by stopping Willie Anderson of Paulsboro, NJ, 0-2, at the end of the first round. Anderson made it to the bell, but then called it quits in his corner before the second round started. The official time was 3:00 of the first round.
In the opening bout, Newark, NJ bantamweight Emanuel Rodriguez remained undefeated (4-0) with a 4-round unanimous decision over New Yorker Jose Lopez (0-1-1). Rodriguez scored a knockdown in round one, and won by scores of 39-36, 39-37 and 38-37.
The 10-bout card was promoted by Hard Hitting Promotions. Although exact attendance numbers were not announced, the first boxing show at the venue in 64 years drew a very large crowd of at least 3,500.
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