11.08.07 – By Scott Frake: Middleweight Bronko Mckart (51-7, 31 KOs) won a split decision over Errique Ornelas (25-4, 15 KOs) to win the vacant NABF middleweight title on Friday night at the New Alhambra, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mckart appeared to easily win the first three rounds, knocking Ornelas down once in the 3rd round. However, Ornelas came on starting in the 4th and controlled the action until the ninth round, when Mckart retook control of the fight. Mckart was cut above his left eye in the seventh round, but it wasn’t a factor in the fight. The final judges’ scores were 114-113, 114-113 and 113-114.
In rounds 1-4, the southpaw Mckart, 36, showing that he still has much of his boxing skills intact despite his age, landed right hooks and straight left hands, often catching Ornelas as he was moving in for an attack. During the third round, Mckart timed Ornelas perfectly and dropped him with a wide sweeping right hook as Ornelas was attempting to land a left hand.
In rounds 5-8, Mckart’s punch output suddenly dropped off dramatically, and he looked visibly tired. Ornelas took advantage of Mckart’s lack of offense by opening up with hooks and uppercuts. Though he did an excellent job at defending himself by blocking many of the punches, Mckart still took a lot of punishment during these rounds due to his lack of return fire.
In round 9, both fighters went at it toe-to-toe in the center of the ring, trading hooks. Mckart landed several hard rights near the end of the round to win it, though it was very close.
In the 10th round, action was stopped briefly due to a clash of heads that opened up a cut on the right side of Ornelas’ head.
In the 11th and 12th rounds, Mckart appeared to catch his second wind, as he opened up with numerous straight hand shots and right hooks to the head. Often times, Mckart’s wide right hook would catch Ornelas as he was coming forward.