Jones still unbeaten!

May 10, 2008

By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside

Photo: Zachery Radel

A standing room only crowd at the New Alhambra in South Philadelphia laid witness to yet another sterling performance, as undefeated Philly welterweight knockout artist Mike Machine Gun" Jones (14-0, 12 KOs), went eight one sided rounds with the always tough Gilbert Venegas (10-6-3, 7 KOs) for the unanimous decision victory. The card promoted by Russell Peltz of Peltz Boxing Promotions Inc. The undercard had several interesting bouts, including one that was stopped due to a swelling reminiscent of the famous bump on the head of Hasim Rahman in his epic battle with Evander Holyfield.

Hard hitting knockout artist, Mike "Machine Gun" Jones went the distance for the second time in a row, blistering Gilbert Venegas of Chicago, IL over eight solid rounds of action.

In his last bout on March 28th, Jones was forced to go the distance for the first time in his professional career by late replacement Germane Sanders in Salamanca, New York. Jones was stunned during that fight and had to come form behind winning the last two rounds to defeat the crafty Sanders.

His original opponent on that night was supposed to be even a harder puncher then Sanders in Gilbert Venegas who pulled out at the last minute. Venegas accepted the match again and provided an interesting challenge to see if Jones actually could stand the heavier shots and aggressive style of Venegas on Friday night.

Jones opened the early rounds peppering the advancing Venegas with sharp jabs.

Giving up over four inches in height and several inches in reach, Venegas had a hard time getting inside of long arms of Jones.

Late in round two, Mike Jones startled Gilbert Venegas with a left hook-right hand up top that forced him to the ropes.

Jones continued to attack with various combinations of heavy hooks and uppercuts in rounds four and five. Venegas backed him up into the ropes where landed a couple of body shots, but Jones was slick and escaped with a few body shots of his own.

Jones quick and constant combinations began to show their damage as the face Venegas swelled and had a small cut under right eye in round six. Late in round six, Jones banged a heavy right hand off the face of Jones that apparently hurt his hand, which was later revealed in the locker room.

In rounds six through eight, Jones worked mostly with left jabs, left hooks and movement that Venegas just had no answer for. A frustrated Venegas could only land the occasional right hand. A left uppercut in round eight by Jones actually forced the feet of Venegas to leave the canvas. Battered and bruised Venegas pressed forward all the way until the final bell sounded to end the fight.

All three judges gave every round to Jones by scores of 80-72 x 3.

Promoter Russell Peltz expanded on the bright future of hard punching welterweight:

"We were looking at Ubaldo Hernandez or someone like that on Telefutura in August, but we will have to see about his hand. Experience is the key. He is getting it now, but you can never get enough experience. We just don't want to rush it."

Rosado outworks Johnson

Hard punching junior middleweight prospect Gabriel "King" Rosado (9-2, 6 KOs) of North Philadelphia was forced to go the distance to capture an unappealing, but one sided six round unanimous decision victor over Indianapolis Indiana's Mustafah Johnson (5-4-1, 2 KOs).

Johnson 156 lbs. counter punched well and clinched a lot early to keep the aggressive Rosado ineffective in round one.

Rosado's corner led by Billie Briscoe, used a smart tactic in rounds two and three as Rosado went on the bicycle and snapped nice jabs, that forced the counter punching Johnson to chase, which he didn't look comfortable doing.

Rosado pinned Johnson to the ropes in round four and banged away at his exposed midsection. The bodywork did its job as Rosado push a tired Johnson around the ring throughout the final two rounds of the fight.

The fight went to the scorecards with Rosado winning all round on one scorecard 60-54 and 59-55 on the other two card for the one sided unanimous decision.

"I knew this would be a tough fight coming in," said Rosado afterward. "He drew with Martinus Clay who is a tough opponent and he beat Gee Cullmer but was robbed of the decision at the Blue Horizon.

"It was definitely a hard fight because he was such a defensive fighter," continued Rosado He is a hard fighter to look good against because he is so defensive." Rosado continued: "I wish it was for longer rounds, so that I could have broken him down, but I did what I had to do to win and that is what counts."

Belasco stops Vasquez due to softball size swelling

It was billed as an evenly matched toss up six round junior welterweight battle featuring two local stars, ready to see who would take the next step in their careers and it was pretty much an even fight until a huge swelling developed on the left eye of Victor Vasquez that eventually forced the bout to come to a close between rounds five and six, declaring Ryan Belasco the winner.

The early rounds went back and forth as both fighters tried to take control of the ring. Belasco of Wilmington Delaware controlled the opening two rounds with his stiff jabs and quicker combinations. Vasquez who has become a crowd favorite at the New Alhambra abandoned his jab and fought back with some brutal right hands up top that garnered him the second round. Round three was very close until what looked like a head butt induced a huge swelling above and below the left eye of Vasquez. Referee Gary Rosado did not see it that way.

Belasco continually targeted the eye in round four, and it swelled to almost the size of a baseball. Vasquez knew it was being close to being stopped after Gary Rosato had the doctor at ringside take a look at the swelling. Vasquez went for broke and desperately swung away before connecting with a tight two punch combination in round five. Ryan Belasco continued to fight back though, as Vasquez just could not see the punches coming from his left side.

Vasquez corner realizing the danger of the swollen eye, which now looked like the bump Rahman had in his famous battle with Holyfield, stopped the fight before the sixth and final round started, to save Victor any further damage.

Scores at the time of the stoppage were 48-47 and 49-46 x 2 in favor of Belasco.

Belasco raised his record to a nice 7-2-3 2 KOs while Vasquez dipped to a respectable 8-2, 4 KOs.

Robinson Stops Bailey

Cruiserweight Larry Robinson (9-3, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA dropped William "The Storm" Bailey (8-14-2, 5 KOs) twice en-route to a second round knockout of their scheduled six round clash. It was not easy as though, as Robinson also had to get off the canvas himself.

Bailey of Chesapeake, VA lived up to his nickname as he stormed out of the corner and traded wildly with Robinson. A right hand during the wild exchanges sent Robinson right to the canvas. It was more of a flash knockdown and Robinson was fully recovered and traded throughout the round.

Bailey began to swing and hold which he is known for, but a right hand by Robinson went right through the guard and onto his chin, and sent him to the canvas. He rose to his feet, but was still in trouble and attempted to cover up. Robinson jumped all over him with four unanswered punches. As Bailey turned a way, a right hand sent him crashing to the canvas for the ten count. Time to the knockout was 2:33 of the second round.

Samir wins slugfest

It looked like an early night for undefeated cruiserweight Ahmed Samir, who dropped Pedro Martinez twice in the opening stanza, but was forced to go the distance in capturing a hard fought four round unanimous decision victory.

The first knockdown came from a blistering right on the chin. Martinez rose to his feet, but just moment later, an overhand right put him back on the canvas for the second time in the opening round.

Martinez regained his senses in round two as both traded throughout the second and third rounds. Late in the third round, Martinez appeared stun Samir with two nice counter right hands on the chin, which forced the him to clinch.

The counter rights appeared to energize Martinez who pounded away at the body in the final round. Samir tired from the constant exchanges in round three and many of his own punches had lost steam, but he stayed out of trouble until the final bell.

All three judges cored the bout in favor of Ahmed Samir by scores of 39-35 x 2 and 38-36 respectively.

Garcia Decisions Thompson

Hartford Connecticut lightweight Tommy Garcia moved above the five hundred mark (2-1, 1 KO) with a hard fought four round unanimous decision over Travis Thompson (2-2) of Pottstown, PA.

Thompson 131lbs, nicknamed "The Animal" for his wild attacking style, was kept a bay in the opening two rounds by the sharp jabs and short right hands by Garcia 133lbs. on the inside. At the behest of his corner, the busier Thompson tried to step up the pace and banged away with arm punches in the final two rounds, but Tommy Garcia methodically kept him off balance with pinpoint combinations and movement. In the end Garcia was able to land the cleaner shots to capture the majority decision by scores of 38-38 and 40-36 x 2.

Hasson stops Kirby

Undefeated Kensington, PA middleweight prospect Dennis "The Assassin" Hasson continued his move up the proverbial ladder with an impressive stoppage of Charles Kirby (1-4) of North Philadelphia to raise his record to 2-0, 1KO.

Hasson 168lbs had his chin tested in the first minute of the fight as Kirby 167lbs unloaded a big right hand on the button. However, the punch did little to deter the hard punching North Philadelphian, who returned fire and wobbled Kirby immediately with a right of his own. Kirby went to the ropes and tried to fight back, but was again caught cleanly, this time with a solid one two combination. Hasson continued to swing away as the bell sounded to end the opening round.

Referee Shawn Clark stopped the fight between rounds as Kirby refused to come out of his corner for round two.

Flores outpoints Martin

North Philadelphia, PA junior lightweight prospect Anthony Flores 130lbs outworked a game, but out gunned Darrell Martin 130lbs of Baltimore, MD over four rounds to move his record to 2-1 with one knockout. Flores' superior hand speed was evident throughout as he banged away with various combinations. Martin though never hurt, just couldn't muster enough offense to force Flores to slow his constant barrage of punches. All three judges gave every round to Anthony Flores by scores of 40-36 x 3. Darrell Martin's record falls to 2-3 and below the .500 mark for the first time in his career.