The former IBO middleweight titleholder, Peter ‘The Pride of Providence’ Manfredo, Jr.’s comeback fight after being out of the ring for three years, didn’t go as planned as he had settled for a eight round draw against Vladine Biosse in a good back and forth super middleweight bout. Manfredo, Jr. received one scorecard 78-74, Biosse the other 77-75, and the third was 76-76.
“The Battle for the Capital” boxing card was promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports at the sold-out Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
The first three rounds were quiet as neither fighter pressed the action nor did they throw a great deal of punches, although Biosse connected on more shots than Manfredo, Jr. Manfredo, Jr. had a big flurry of combinations at the end of the fourth round that staggered Biosse; however, he was unable to capitalize on that momentum as the next couple of rounds both boxers landed effective shots on the other. Manfredo, Jr. sensed that the fight was slipping away and had a big seventh round as he landed several powerful punches that appeared to hurt Biosse. Both fighters closed the eighth round with good two-way action.
This was an extremely close fight to score and one that could have gone either way, so a draw wasn’t a bad decision. Manfredo, Jr. pressed the action for most of the second half this fight and he landed the much harder shots yet overall, he really struggled. He wasn’t as aggressive as he usually is and was getting hit with many shots that he would usually block. Maybe his uneven performance was due to the long layoff, or that Biosse is a left handed fighter when he trained to fight Angel Camacho Jr. who is right handed boxer, or maybe father time at age of 35-years-old and 48 fights has finally caught up with him.
Nevertheless, this shouldn’t take away from Biosse’s performance because he looked great for taking this fight on two and half weeks notice as he replaced Camacho, Jr. who withdrew from the bout due to a foot injury. Biosse outworked Manfredo, Jr. especially in the first couple rounds and he displayed great counter punching that continued to frustrate and keep Manfredo, Jr. off balance. He was also aggressive enough to prevent Manfredo, Jr. from getting into any kind of offensive rhythm.
Manfredo, Jr. (40-7-1, 21 KOs) is unbeaten in his last four bouts and ten of his last eleven while Biosse (15-7-3, 7 KOs) stopped his five-fight losing streak. We’ll see if Manfredo, Jr. continues with his comeback and fights Biosse in a rematch or takes on his original opponent Camacho, Jr.
Khiary Gary Pitts delivered another sensational knockout as he stopped Quinton Wills at 1:41 in the second round. Gary upped his record to 13-0, 10 KOs and picked up the Universal Boxing Federation Northeast junior middleweight title with the victory. Willis dropped to 10-4-2, 5 KOs. Gary scored a knockdown in the first round from a right hook. He then connected on a powerful left hook that knockdown Wills in the next round which he slowly got up but was on unstable footing, so referee Steve Smoger wisely stopped the fight. Eight of Pitts’ ten knockouts have come before the second round.
Nick DeLoma won the vacant New England super lightweight title as he prevailed over Freddy Sanchez with a six round unanimous decision. He won on all three scorecards, 59-55, 58-56, and 60-54. This was an extremely close bout for the first three rounds as both fighters traded nonstop punches. DeLoma took over the bout in the second half with his power shots. He had a dominating fifth round especially at the end when he had Sanchez on the ropes and landed numerous unanswered punches. It appeared that Sanchez was going to be knockdown, yet he somehow hung in there. DeLoma controlled the sixth round as he landed more punches than Sanchez. DeLoma improved his record to 9-1, 2 KOs while Sanchez fell to 7-1, 5 KOs.
“Quiet Storm” Jimmy Williams kept his undefeated record intact (11-0-1, 5 KOs) as he scored a six round unanimous decision with two scorecards of 59-54 and one scorecard of 60-53 over Manny Woods who dropped to 15-5-1, 5 KOs. Williams scored a knockdown in the first round from a right hook. He controlled the action for the rest of the fight as he was the aggressor and landed the crisper punches throughout their welterweight matchup.
Mohamed Allam defeated Travis Demko over six rounds in their super lightweight bout and got revenge in the rematch. This was an all out war with both fighters throwing nonstop powerful punches throughout the bout which swung back and forth. Both boxers had their momentums as they staggered the other at various points in this fight. Allam got the unanimous decision via two scorecards of 58-56 and one scorecard of 59-55. Allam upped his record to 3-1, 1 KO while Demko, who won their first encounter, fell to 4-1, 1 KO.
Issouf Kinda scored a six round majority decision, two scorecards of 58-56 and one scorecard of 57-57 over Zack Ramsey. Kinda improved his record to 18-3, 7 KOs while Ramsey dropped to 7-1, 3 KOs. Ramsey displayed the better defense as many of Kinda’s punches missed their mark and he was the better counter puncher; however, Kinda was the more active fighter and threw and landed more punches than Ramsey in this super lightweight fight.
The highly touted lightweight Jamaine Ortiz scored a first round technical knockout over Josh Parker who didn’t come out for the second round. It was reported after the fight that Parker suffered a broken jaw. Ortiz landed whatever he wanted in the first round and severely punished Parker especially in the last 30 seconds when he connected on numerous unanswered power shots as he had Parker pinned on the ropes. Parker didn’t offer any offensive in return and instead tried to cover up as best as he could. Ortiz is 1-0 while Parker fell to 0-2-1.
Kendrick Ball, Jr. (1-0, 1 KO) made his professional super middleweight debut a memorable one as he scored a devastating left hook knockout over Tunde Odumosu (0-1) at 1:39 in the first round. Odumosu stayed on the canvas for a couple of minutes before he was able to get up on his feet. This was Odumosu first bout as a pro.
Cido Hoff defeated Julio Perez by a way of a four round unanimous decision via three scorecards of 40-36 in this lightweight bout. Hoff improved to 1-0-1 while Perez dropped to 4-1.