HARTFORD (April 9, 2011) – Heavyweight Tony “TNT” Grano got back on the winning track tonight in the main event on “The Willie Pep Boxing Classic,” presented by Hard Hittin’ Promotions, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
Grano improved his record to 18-2-1 (14 KOs) with a sixth round technical knockout of crafty veteran “Diamond” Dominique Alexander (20-11-1, 10 KOs). Grano dropped Alexander three times in the final round.
“I am impressed by his durability,” Grano said after the fight. “I caught him with a lot of clean shots early. He’s a lot more durable than I thought. I hit him right on the button. It was a good experience for me. He gave me six rounds and I needed to be back in the ring. Surprisingly, he took my best shots. I didn’t think he had a good chin. I want to fight again very soon. I’m in great shape. I want to keep busy. I hope to fight again in May or June.”
In the co-feature, Meriden bantamweight prospect Danny Aquino (6-1, 2 KOs) turned in a very impressive performance, effectively working the body and then going upstairs to stop James Owens (4-3, 2 KOs) at 2:12 of the opening round. Aquino hurt Owens with a powerful left hook, trapping him on the ropes, and then unloading a barrage of punishing punches until referee Danny Schiavone signaled that the fight was over.
Fan friendly East Hartford super featherweight Joseph “Chip” Perez’ unbeaten win streak ended at five when he was disqualified for hitting undefeated Esteban Nichol, who had been decked and was on one knee as the referee counted.
Philadelphia light weight Frank Trader (8-0) kept his undefeated record intact, winning all six rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory against a game Tommy Atencio.
Welterweight Shakha Moore won his first fight in nearly four years by way of a technical decision against Noel Garcia. The scheduled six-round bout was halted after four due to damages resulting from accidental head-butts by both fighters.
Ian Cannon, an 18-year-old college student, was matched with former New England Golden Gloves champion Luis Reynoso, of Springfield (MA), in a wheelchair boxing exhibition (three, one minute-rounds) under amateur boxing rules (headgear, large gloves, etc.). Cannon, of Glastonbury (CT), suffers from cerebral palsy but he trains regularly at Lion’s Den Connecticut in Middletown, where he has created a wheelchair boxing program, Rollin With The Punches
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra proclaimed Saturday, April 9, 2011 as Willie Pep Day in a special ceremony, in which the late Pep’s son, Billy, represented the family.
Complete Results:
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Tony Grano (18-2-1, 14 KOs), Hebron, CT WTKO6 (2:09) Dominique Alexander (20-11-1, 10 KOs), Topeka, KS
WELTERWEIGHTS
Shakha Moore (11-15-3, 2 KOs), Norwalk, CT WTD4 (40-36, 39-37, 39-37) Noel Garcia (2-9, 1 KO), Springfield, MA
SUPER FEATHERWEIGHTS
Esteban Nichol (3-0, 1 KO), Denver, CO WDQ3 (1:23) Joseph Perez (5-1, 2 KOs), E. Hartford, CT
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Frank Trader (8-0, 2 KOs), Philadelphia, PA WDEC8 (60-54-60-54, 60-54) Tommy Atencio (5-7, 3 KOs), Denver, CO
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Danny Aquino (6-1, 2 KOs), Meriden, CT WTKO1 (2:12) James Owens (4-3, 2 KOs), Milwaukee, WI
Seda Completes Camp, Heads to Argentina
After five weeks of hard work in which he sparred more than 140 rounds, undefeated WBO-NABO Super Flyweight Champion Cesar “Junito” Seda, Jr. (20-0, 15 KO’s) has completed training camp at the Olympic Village in Salinas, Puerto Rico and left for Argentina.
He will challenge WBO World Champion Omar Narvaez (33-0-2, 19 KO’s) on Friday, April 15 at the Club Estudiantes de Bahia Blanca in Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires.
“This was the best camp of my life,” said Seda as he prepared to leave. “In previous fights, I would stay here for about two weeks in advance of fights, but this time we decided to stay almost six weeks in the village. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and for that reason I stayed longer.”
Seda’s co-promoter, Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions (along with Javier Bustillo of Universal Promotions), says the difficulty of the task at hand was what dictated the extended camp. “Omar Narvaez is a great fighter and that’s why we’re taking it very seriously. He was an outstanding amateur boxer and boasts a record 16 successful defenses, surpassing the record of the great Argentine middleweight champion Carlos Monzon.”
“We are very grateful for the help and support of our people. The stay at the lodge was excellent, ‘Junito’ is in tremendous condition and ready to bring this belt to Puerto Rico,” said Seda, Sr., coach and manager.
The Seda vs. Narvaez fight is presented by Universal Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions and will be broadcast on pay-per-view by Direct TV, Choice Cable TV, Liberty Cable TV, Claro TV and One-Link Communications at a price of $29.95.
Caramelito Promotions boxers on action last weekend
Finnish professional boxing stable Caramelito Promotions with its promoter Markus Lammi arranged already the second show during this year on last Friday at its home town Vaasa Finland. The show which contained 3 professional boxing matches and one Muay Thai fight took place in a local night club.
On the pro boxing matches the main event was scheduled for 6 rounds and for vacant Baltic Boxing Union (BBU) International welterweight title. The challengers were local hero Jarkko Jussila (who is also reigning WAKO Pro European champion and WKC International champion in kick boxing) and Lithuanian warrior Arvydas Trizno.
In two first rounds Trizno was taking the control of the ring while Jussila was a bit more slow to start his engine. In round three Jussila started to put more pressure and was dominating the ring. At the end of fifth round Jussila was hurting Trizno a couple of times badly and getting him near to stoppage, but wasn´t able to finalize the moment while Lithuanian boxer showed his big heart with throwing some heavy counterpunches although being very tired and hurt. The final stanza was again more equal and both boxers were able to hear the final bell. After six rounds of action Jarkko Jussila was crowned as a new BBU International welterweight champion with a split decision while judges scored were: 58-59 (in favour of Trizno), 59-57 and 58-56 in favour of Jussila. With the victory Jussila improved to 3-0 with 1 KO. Although Trizno lost the fight, he made good show all time and will surely offer many entertaining moments in various professional boxing shows around the Europe in future.
In two other fights Latvian Ivars Sedlins upset Finnish Roope Puumalainen in a middleweight bout by taking unanimous decision victory after 6 rounds. After losing the first round, Sedlins, who was over 4 kilograms lighter than Puumalainen, was taking the control of the fight. The fight was very entertaining with many wild change of punches. After the final stanza all three judges were scoring the fight for Latvian boxer who earned a very valuable abroad victory for his record. Sedlins improved to 4-2-2, 2 KO while Puumalainen dropped to 3-1-1, 2 KO.
In a 4-round scheduled cruiserweight bout Caramelito Promotions´ newest member Janne Forsman was floored after one minute boxing with a punch which was hitting partly to his neck. Forsman was immediately up again and was able to hurt his opponent Valerijs Gubins, who was 4-2, 3 KO while entering the ring, with some heavy body punches. After 2 minutes of boxing Forsman hit a heavy right hand punch to Gubins face and Latvian dropped to canvas. TKO 1 victory for Forsman who improved now to 2-0, 1 KO.
Upcoming bouts
On 15th April Caramelito Promotions´ Estonian super middleweight fighter Anton Sjomkin (10-3, 9 KO) will be back on action at Riga, Latvia, after his loss in EBA title fight back in January 2011. The show will be promoted by Riga-based Gladiators-stable.
Caramelito Promotions will be back on promotional action on 28.5. at Kankaanpää, when stable´s undefeated heavyweight star Janne Katajisto (8-0, 3 KO), will be fighting in main event first time over 8 rounds in his pro career. Also a couple of bouts will be on card.
For more information please visit at:
http://caramelitopromotions.com/