Cherry bombs Ramirez on ESPN2!

July 28, 2004

By Christopher P. Cook
Photos by Aaron Dye

One of Tampa's fastest rising prospects delivered a knockout performance last night live on nationally-broadcasted ESPN2's Tuesday Night Fights. Live at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Florida, Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry, 133.5 pounds, improved his record to 16-2-2 with 7 KOs as he defeated veteran Antonio Ramirez (21-9-6, 15 KOs), 133.5 pounds.

In front of over 1000 spectators, the much younger Cherry, 22 years old, took a huge step up in competition facing Ramirez, 32 years, who and faced the tops of the division, such as Angel Manfredy, Justin Juuku, and Michael Clark.

Cherry began the first round flickering his punches in at Ramirez and was able to establish that he is the much quicker fighter early on. He had success in the first with the jabs and was out-boxing Ramirez. Cherry succumbed to his tendency to brawl and trade punches, and in the second was hit hard by a right hook that took him down to the canvas. He rose quickly and would be met with a series of punches by Ramirez. He would survive the round and returned the favor by taking Ramirez down in the ensuing round.

New life grew in Cherry as his confidence regained and the pressure of the "Cherry Bomb" went on the offensive. Cherry would cap off the night with a left hook-right hook combination to the head of Ramirez which sent him into the canvas. He would rise for the count, but clearly had a glazed look on him causing referee James Warring to call a stop to the action at the 1:11 mark of the fifth. Cherry, with this TKO victory, places himself as a legitimate contender and one the division cannot ignore.

In the co-main event of the evening, Prince Badi Ajamu (21-2-1, 12 KOs) squared off with hard-punching Fred Moore (29-3-0, 27 KOs). The bout started off very well with both fighters exchanging and trading rounds. However, as the bout continued, the 37-year-old Moore began to show his age against his younger opponent. Ajamu, who also seemed exhausted, outlasted Moore and was able to end the bout in the tenth and final round at the 0:32 mark, landing a hard right-left hook combination that sent Moore to the mat. Referee Brian Garry stopped the count and called the match as Moore was not getting up any time soon. Ajamu, with the KO victory under his belt, will see his stock rise with this solid victory.

Also in televised action, Calvin Shakir, junior middleweight, improved his record to 7-2-0 with 3 KOs as he won a majority decision over Edgar Reyes (6-3-0, 3 KOs). Judges scored the bout 38-38, 39-37, and 40-37 all for Shakir.

On the undercard, Jose Gutierrez (2-2-0, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Frederick Tukes (1-1-0, 1 KO) in four-round welterweight action.

St. Petersburg native middleweight Glenn "Caveman" LaPlante (7-2-1, 6 KOs) lost a split decision to the Haitian-born Julio Jean (3-3-1, 2 KOs).

Light heavyweight Aaron "Jedi" Jaco improved his unbeaten record to 10-0 with 4 KOs as he easily defeated Hilario Guzman over six rounds.

Tampa's super heavyweight Moses Droz, 245 pounds, was defeated by Willie Herring in a rematch of a 2002 debacle. Herring (9-2-2, 1 KO) improved to 2-0 against Droz (11-4-0, 9 KOs), taking out the big man in the second round.

The final match of the night showcased undefeated cruiserweights Matt Godrey (3-0-0, 2 KOs) versus Chris Riley (2-0-1, 0 KOs). Godfrey won the match soundly, with all three judges scored the bout 40-36 in his favor.

StarFight Productions will be returning to the A La Carte Event Pavilion on Friday, August 27.

Comments? Questions? Contact Christopher Cook