Glen Johnson Pounds Out Decision Over Daniel Judah

Article by Chris Robinson for 8countnews.com

Heading into his bout with Glen Johnson, Daniel Judah appeared to be on an emotional high as he spoke about his past battles throughout life and what a victory over Johnson would mean to him.

For as much as Judah wanted this fight, Glen Johnson proved to serve him a heavy dose of reality in their anticipated rematch at the Hard Rock Casino on Friday night. Starting early, Johnson caught Judah with a beautiful right hand that had the Brooklyn native down and against the ropes towards the end of the first round.

 

It was an explosive punch and it appeared that the contest was over almost as soon as it had begun.

           
Johnson continued the assault in the second round and Judah appeared to be very weary. Body shots and head shots were all landing for Johnson but Judah found a way to weather the storm and even shook his head, as if to tell Johnson it wasn’t affecting him.

 

Judah showed signs of life late in the round and just maybe it looked as though a fight was on our hands.

           
Judah tried to gain control of the fight in the third by leading with his jab from his southpaw stance. Johnson’s aggression appeared to slow for a moment and his dominance in the fight had slowed up to this point. Despite the pace slowing, Johnson appeared to win the round.

 

In the fourth Judah began backpedaling as Johnson kept stalking forward. Right hands to the head and left hooks to the body were doing the trick for Johnson and Judah began to look very shaky at times.

 

Judah had his moments late in the contest after landing back to back right hands bombs but neither were enough to deter Johnson.

           
Johnson went back to work in the fifth round and appeared to again be in control of things. Despite his corner pleading with him to get busy, Judah simply didn’t do enough to halt Johnson’s momentum.

           
Slow and steady, Johnson again was the man in the sixth as he chopped away at his younger foe. By this point Judah was doing just as much mocking as he was fighting and Johnson poured the pressure on late in the round.

 

All Judah could do was cover up as Johnson greeted him with a series of viscous body blows late in the round and you had to wonder at that point what exactly he could do to phase his Jamaican foe.

           
As the fight wore on, the rounds began to mirror each other and Johnson’s intensity and precious punching looked to be too much for Judah to cope with. Judah showed fine defensive skills in evading much of Johnson’s attempts but he was still clearly coming up short.

           
Johnson and Judah clashed on an apparent headbutt in the final round, which slowed the action. Despite Judah seemingly in pain, the crowd urged both men to continue. Judah would fight on, only to be met along the ropes with a salvo of punches from his charging foe.

 

The round closed with Johnson in full command and the ending verdict was obvious.

            
Johnson prevailed by unanimous scores of 99-89 and 99-90 twice, again showing little signs of slowing down at age 40. He is still a dangerous, relentless bruiser and will give anyone in his division trouble, if they are willing to meet him.

 

If Johnson isn’t able to land any title attempts in the near future, surely bouts against either Tavoris Cloud or Shaun George would satisfy the public’s appetite.

 

 

Antwone Smith outbrawls Norberto Gonzalez in a thriller

           
In the evening’s co-feature bout, undefeated Monterrey , Mexico native Norberto Gonzalez squared off with highly dangerous Miami , Florida resident Antwone Smith.

 

While not much was known about Gonzalez, Smith had proved his abilities in previous wins over ‘Con tender’ participant Aaron Torres and rugged Ghanaian Ben Ankrah, with his only loss being to talented Ed Paredes. If Gonzalez’ undefeated record was any indication of his ability as a fighter, this would serve to be a true fight.

           
Both men attempted to take control in a very tight first round. Right hand shots from Smith were barely missing their mark but his lead jab was on point early. Gonzalez seemed a bit confused and couldn’t seem to get his punches off. The round appeared to be edged by Smith.

           
High excitement followed in the second as Gonzalez staggered Smith and had him in serious trouble. He attempted to push the issue, only to be dropped with a right hand coming in. Gonzalez rose and finished the round in strong fashion, pinning Smith to the ropes and firing off unanswered combinations.

           
In the third the tense action continued. Smith’s face was visibly marked up and he had a look of a man who knew just how severe the situation was. Smith fired a beautiful counter right hand and would later cause a cut on Gonzalez’ left eye.

 

Smith’s reflexes allowed him to stay out of harm’s way and his counter punches appeared to win the round for him.

           
Smith started the fourth with one-two combinations as his confidence rose. For the first time in the contest Smith also focused his attack on the body and appeared to be doing well for himself.

 

Smith caught Gonzalez coming in towards the end of the round with a beautiful uppercut and tagged him again with a counter right towards the end of the round.

           
Gonzalez threw caution to the wind in the fifth and unloaded a series of right hands near the midway mark of the round. Smith attempted to counter and the action was very close to call. A right-left combination cracked Gonzalez’ chin late in the round and may have won the round for Smith.

           
The sixth was a great round as both men took turns controlling the tempo of the bout. Smith had success early but Gonzalez appeared to hurt him at the end of the round, prompting him to continue his attack.

 

Smith answered in return and the last ten seconds saw both men swinging for the fences. The crowd rose to their feet at the end of the round.

           
Smith appeared to edge the seventh round with his right hands and things appeared to be very close on the scorecards heading into the eight and final round.

 

Smith got the first noticeable punch in as he staggered Gonzalez with a right hand and looked to follow up. Gonzalez regained his composure but wasn’t able to mount a rally against his versatile opponent.

 

As the round closed Smith dug down and appeared to simply want the win more than his game opponent. Despite slipping towards the end of the round the victory appeared to lie with the younger Smith. Scores of 78-74 were all read in favor on ‘The Truth’, Antwone Smith.

 

 

Danny O’Connor digs down to defeat dangerous Jamar Saunders

 

Another one of Warrior’s Boxing’s prospects was on display as undefeated Jr. Welterweight Danny O’Connor faced off with dangerous Jamar Saunders. O’Connor hails from Boston, MA but has admitted that Florida has began to feel like his second home after signing with his new promoter.

           
In a highly competitive first round, the southpaw O’Connor and Saunders fought a very close contest. Both men showed very sound boxing skills along with nice fighting instincts.

           
In the second round O’Connor began to open up more and app eared to daze Saunders with a looping left hand. O’Connor continued the assault but Saunders remained relentless and in his face throughout. O’Connor began to dominate later in the round but couldn’t halt the aggression of Saunders.

           
Before the fight Saunders wore a shirt that read ‘I AM A BEAST’ and in the third round he definitely showed some fierce intentions. Bruised and battered for a stretch in the second round, the Atlanta, GA native showed true grit in taking the fight to O’Connor throughout the third.

 

O’Conner had moments of success in countering the rushing Saunders but it was a round that could have gone either way.

           
In the fourth round O’Connor attempted to pick up the tempo. He tried potshotting Saunders with his left but the action continued to be close and competitive. Despite O’Connor winning the praise of some ringside, the fourth round was another very close round that could have swayed either way.

           
Final scores of 40-36 twice and 38-38 lead to an O’Connor victory, as he raises his record to 4-0 with 1 knockout. Much credit to both men for a spirited clash Afterwards in their dressing room, Saunders and his team were visibly disappointed, but his trainer Al Brown told 8 Count News ‘We’ll be back.’

 

 

Augustama outlasts Deets in Wild fight

           
In his last fight at the Hard Rock Casino, underdog William Deets showed much heart in upsetting touted prospect Timothy Taggart to the surprise of some. Tonight his assignment was much stiffer as he faced undefeated Middleweight and local favorite Eli Augustama.

           
Working behind a tight guard, Augustama took early control with his jab in the first. Deets attempted to rally back at the end of the round and it seemed apparent he wouldn’t go away easily, despite losing the round.

           
The crowd got into the action early in the second as Augustama rushed Deets, who countered in return. The fight returned to the middle of the ring moments later as the fight slowed.

 

The action picked up as Deets corned Augustama, only to be greeted with a brutal onslaught of body punches. You could see the pain in Deets’ face as he weathered the storm and found a way to survive the round, but not before being cracked with a right hand to the crowd’s delight.

           
The third round saw Deets bite down and exchange wildly with Augustama. Nate Campbell could be heard ringside saying ‘This Deets guy isn’t as talented but he has just as much heart’. That statement would prove to ring true and both men went back and forth throughout the duration of the third.

           
Despite looking completely gassed, Deets still went all out in the fourth round. Body shots from Augustama were obviously beginning to take their toll but that didn’t stop Deets from pressing the issue and he even found a way to turn the tide of the fight in the middle of the round.

 

Right hand from Deets highlighted a very entertaining round as the crowd rose to show their appreciation at the end of the contest.

           
Scores of 39-37 twice and 38-38 lead to a victory for Augustama, who moves to 3-0 after a very tough affair.

 

 

Motivated Henry Fuentes stops Samuel Brown in the third

           
Cuban Heavyweight Fuentes improved to 8-0 with five knockouts with a sloppy yet efficient stoppage over Fort Campbell, KY's Samuel Brown. At Wednesday’s press conference, Fuentes admitted that he had looked less that stellar in previous contests and vowed to redeem himself.

           
His efforts were worth note, as he did apply pressure throughout the contest. After a slow first round, Fuentes began to take control of the contest as he began to land repeated left hands from his southpaw stance.

 

Brown would counter with the occasional right hand but didn’t have enough firepower to detour Fuentes.

           
In the third round Fuentes backed Brown to the ropes and unleashed a volley of answered punches. A knockdown followed and it seemed uncertain if Brown would rise.

 

He did beat the count, only to be greeted with a right hand in the center of the ring moments later, resulting in a referee’s stoppage. Fuentes still needs a lot of work but he was able to come away with the victory tonight.

 

 

Abdusalamov Blasts Winslow Early

           
Undefeated Heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov improved his record to 3-0 with three knockouts with an early stoppage of outgunned Maurice Winslow. Winslow attempted to get aggressive early, only to be dropped moments later.

 

He rose on shaky feet and was stopped following a barrage of punches from the hard punching Abdusalamov.

           
The 27 year old Abdusalamov is a former two time Russian amateur champion and is new to the Warriors Boxing stable. His training for this fight was done at Contender’s Gym under the tutelage of John David Jackson.

 

 

Allahverdiev’s left hand halts Pratt

           
Habib Allahverdiev used his powerful left hand to easily overwhelm The Bahamas’ Richard Pratt. Allahverdiev, also from Russia and also training out of Contender’s Gym alongside Abdusalamov, rushed Pratt early and often, scoring with repeated left hand blows.

 

He scored three knockdowns before the fight was waived off in the first. With the victory Allahverdiev moves to 9-0 with 4 stoppages.

           
8 Count New caught up with the assistant trainer to both Abdusalamov and Allahverdiev, Noel Carbajal, to get his thoughts on both men.

           
“They definitely have something to work with,” Carbajal, also referred to as ‘Chico Gold’ said. “They definitely put their work in at the gym but they are still trying to adapt to American culture. They will come around eventually.’

 

 

Notables in attendance were Nate Campbell, Allan Green, Randall Bailey, Jameel McCline, Jermain Taylor, Kassim Ouma, Juan Urango, and former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith.

 

Article by Chris Robinson for 8countnews.com