Friday, June 26, 2009
UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
Never a promotion to disappoint, 8Count served up a scorcher of an event to set the summer off right. What an outstanding array of talent this promotion has, from a seemingly unending stable of fighters from all over the world. They just keep on churning out event after event, each even more competitive than the next, and the Chicago fight fans can’t get enough, as they piled into the UIC Pavilion on this warm June evening.
Achour Esho TKO4 Dontre King
This welterweight fight started the night off, with back and forth action and killer body attacks. Esho owned most of the exchanges, except for in Round Two, where King stepped it up and opened up some effective combinations to the body, that seemed to bother Esho. However, from Round Three on, it was all Esho, who sends King nearly backflipping down to the canvas, as the referee waves the fight off at :41 of the round. Achour Esho of Palatine, IL improves his record to 3-0.Tommy Atencio UD6 Juan Bailon
Next up were the littler guys with the really big hearts. Atencio, visiting the Chicagoland area tonight from Denver, CO, took a unanimous decision over the now 4-2 Chicago native, Bailon. Atencio floored Bailon with a right uppercut to score the 10-8 in the second round, followed by the last four rounds of apparently razor-thin rounds with the slight advantage going to Atencio. However, the judges saw it 60-53 (twice) and 59-54, where many present ringside saw it just a bit closer. The right fighter won, though, and this Colorado fighter, who has all the tools to be an effective southpaw (but is a naturally orthodox fighter) is going to be a talent worth keeping an eye on in the future. Tommy Atencio improves his record to 4-1.Tamara Johnson MD8 Rita Figueroa
This is a rematch of these two Chicago ladies’ first fight, which was ruled a draw by the judges. Everyone in the audience was interested to see these two matched up again, since their first bout was such a crowd-pleaser. This one wouldn’t disappoint, although Tamara Johnson clearly was the winner this time. There were tremendous exchanges throughout the fight, and each fighter had their moments, but overall, Johnson simply imposed her will over Figueroa more often. From the beginning of the fight, Johnson’s right hand just couldn’t miss its target. Johnson’s body attacks are brutally accurate, and to her credit, Figueroa didn’t seem fazed by them at all, but the judges saw them as points. Figueroa clearly took the fifth and eighth rounds, but Johnson’s aggression and forward movement kept her in the lead, prompting the judges to score it 76-76 and 78-74 (twice), giving Tamara Johnson the majority decision and improving her record to4-2-2.
Ryan Smedick UD4 Gabriel Morris
Smedick pulled out a unanimous victory over Morris, but that doesn’t quite explain the real story to this fight. This bout was a real barnburner, complete with fast exchanges and back-and-forth action, with both fighters going toe to toe to obtain the upper hand. Smedick deserved the win, but Morris should keep his head high, because a lesser man would have crumbled under the relentless attack of Smedick, who improves his record to 3-0-1.Andrzej Fonfara TKO2 Skylar Thompson
This bout was for the WBA International Super-Middleweight Championship, and Fonfara wanted it badly enough to nearly end the fight on the first punch he landed, but Thompson was able to fend off the attack, for the first round, at least. Toward the end of Round Two, Fonfara unleashed a straight right hand “right down the pike”, sending Thompson crashing to the canvas. . . possibly breaking Thompson’s nose, and forcing the referee to stop the fight when Thompson was still wobbly after attempting to fully get up. Fonfara improves his record to 13-2 with this outstanding victory.Fres Oquendo TKO3 Mark Brown
Former top-ten heavyweight contender Oquendo was matched with late-substitute Mark Brown, who proved to be a really tough challenge for the taller, more experienced Oquendo. It was difficult to land cleanly on Brown, who was content to bull-rush and hold in most of the exchanges, whereas Oquendo tried to actually box. This fight was full of wrestling and takedowns, prompting one ringside spectator to compare it to a mixed martial-arts fight. Always the professional, Oquendo stayed focused, and near the end of the third round, dropped Brown with a beautiful overhand right, prompting the referee to stop the contest at 2:38, improving his professional record to 30-5, with all of his losses coming against top-notch opposition like Chris Byrd and John Ruiz.Ivan Popoca UD8 Hector Alatorre
Alatorre was NEVER in this fight, which went completely the way that Popoca wanted it to go. Popoca, a Chicago native and one of the most popular of the 8Count stable of talent, outworked, outhustled, and outclassed the Californian from the first round to the last. His bodyshots were killer, his footwork was clean, and his energy didn’t even think of giving out as he dismantled Alatorre in this eight round blowout. With this unanimous victory, Popoca improves his record to 11-0-1, and has been lately fighting better and better opposition, which will make him difficult to ignore in the lightweight/superlightweight rankings in the near future.Special thanks to Mr. Dominic Pesoli and Mr. Bernie Bahrmasel for issuing Bolo Punch the credentials to report on this stellar event from the UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL.
**Ringside photography taken by Emil Kegebein, who has been Bolo Punch’s lone photographer since its inception. Ringside report by Chris Guzman, who has hosted The Bolo Punch Boxing Hour since 2002.
