DIAZ-MALIGNAGGI II Undercard

Saturday, December 12, 2009
UIC PAVILION, Chicago, IL

Heavyweights - 4 rounds
DARLINGTON AGHA ------------TERRY ADAMS
Sugarland, TX---------------------Huntsville, AL
239 lbs, 1-0 (1 KO)----------------208 lbs, 0-1






In this first fight of the afternoon, Agha avoided the heavily-muscled telegraphed hooks of Adams, who seemed winded after the first round, prompting his corner to stop the fight at 0:01 of round two. Agha improves his professional record to 2-0 with 2 KO’s.






DOMINIC GUINN-------------------- CHARLES DAVIS
Houston, TX--------------------------- Tuscon, AZ
239 lbs, 31-6-1 (21 KO’s)------------ 214 lbs, 19-17-2 (4 KO’s)

At one time, it seemed that at least a portion of America’s heavyweight hopes were pinned on Guinn, who impressed with his power and patience early in his career. That was in 2000, and a lot of time has passed since then. In this six-rounder, Guinn showed that he has just enough left in the tank to escape with scores of 58-56 (twice) and 60-54 against a now 19-18 fighter. Despite the boos from the crowd, Dominic Guinn improves his record to 32-6-1 with 21 KO’s.




OMAR FIGUEROA--------------- ANTHONY WOODS
Welasco, TX----------------------- Nassau, BAH
138.5 lbs, 7-0 (7 KO’s)------------ 137.5 lbs, 6-12 (3 KO’s)



It’s really a joy to see a young, undefeated power-puncher in the lower weights, and Omar Figueroa definitely fit’s the bill. He’s fast, has good power, and he improves to 8-0 with all eight wins coming by way of knockout. Tonight, the Welasco, TX native needed only a round and a half to dispatch of the game and wiry Woods with his accurate jab and relentless two-handed body attack, paired with his strong hooks to the head. The referee was forced to stop the fight at 1:46 of round two for a Figueroa TKO victory. Look for Figueroa to be quite a force in the junior welter or welter divisions in the near future.



RONALD HEARNS--------------- SHADRACK KIPRUTO
Southfield, MI--------------------- Nairobi, KEN
154 lbs, 22-1 (17 KO’s)------------ 154.5 lbs, 10-11 (7 KO’s)



Ronald “The Chosen One” Hearns boxed with his legendary daddy, Tommy “Hitman” Hearns sitting ringside, to the delight of the Chicago crowd. This Hearns is still lanky, and quite powerful, too. Perhaps he’s on the same road that his father paved, but only time will tell. On this night, Hearns sent Kipruto to the canvas in the second with his lightning-quick right hand, which was set up by his “flicker” jab, which kept Kipruto off-balance the whole fight. A perfectly-timed overhand right landed square on the temple of Kipruto, prompting the referee to immediately wave off the fight at 2:33 of round 6, improving Hearns’ record to 23-1 with 18 KO’s.


JERMELL CHARLO--------------- ABDON LOZANO
Houston, TX------------------------ Las Vegas, NV
146.5 lbs, 9-0 (4 KO’s)------------- 146.5 lbs, 6-0 (1 KO)



Now this isn’t something you see everyday. Two young undefeated up-and-comers willing to fight one another, neither of which anywhere near their hometown. Lozano sustained a flash knockdown in the first ten seconds of the fight but recovered nicely, making the first round really exciting. Charlo caught Lozano with a left hook at 2:11, sending him to the canvas, slamming Lozano’s head backwards onto the canvashard enough to keep him down for a full ten-count, ending Lozano‘s undefeated record, and improving Charlo‘s professional record to 10-0 with 5 KO‘s.




RANDALL BAILEY------------- GERMAINE SANDERS
Miami, FL----------------------- Chicago, IL
148 lbs, 39-7 (35 KO’s)--------- 146.5 lbs, 27-7 (17 KO’s)


Randall Bailey is a real “fight fan’s” fighter. He’s quick, he’s strong, and he scores knockouts. After scoring a knockdown late in the first round, Bailey scored another knockdown late in the second. Again in the fifth, Sanders hit the deck, but got up and continued to take more and more punishment at the hands of “The KO King“. Sanders, to his credit, boxed well in the sixth and seventh, possibly getting a second wind. The eighth round was actually give-and-take, but Bailey had done more than enough to secure the victory by unanimous decision, improving to 40-7 with 35 KO’s. Scores were 78-71, 79-70, and 77-72.

HYLON WILLIAMS------------ HUMBERTO T APIA
Houston, TX--------------------- Tijuana, MEX
137 lbs, 11-0 (3 KO’s)----------- 137 lbs, 14-11-1 (7 KO’s)


Now this was an interesting one. . . Tapia is only capable of moving forward, and Williams is a classic counterpuncher. Combining this with the undefeated record of Williams on the line, we had the ingredients for a real barnburner. After a high-spirited first four rounds, the fifth is where the fire started. Tapia walked into a Williams lead right, then ate ten or so unanswered shots to the delight of the Chicago crowd. The hand speed of Williams is the stuff dreams are made of, but he doesn’t use speed as often as he could, or should. Oftentimes, he’s content to sit back and counter with standard uppercuts and hooks. Just imagine what this 19 year old man will be able to accomplish when his skills are complete. After an all-action eighth round where both fighters scored well, the scores were all the same (80-72) in a fight the audience really rose to the occasion for. Williams improves to 12-0 with 3 KO’s.

JIMMY HERRERA------------ GUSTAVO PALACIOS
Chicago, IL--------------------- Chicago, IL
146 lbs, pro debut------------- 148 lbs, 2-6 (1 KO)





Jimmy Herrera needed only 28 seconds to dispatch of durable but overmatched Palacios. Herrera put Palacios on the seat of his pants almost immediately after the bell started the fight, and Palacios struggled to get, but upon getting up, was waved off by the referee. This gives Herrera a professional record of 1-0 with one knockout.







ARGENIS MENDEZ------------- MORRIS CHULE
Brooklyn, NY--------------------- Nairobi, KEN
130 lbs, 14-1 (9 KO’s)------------ 129.5 lbs, 7-7-1 (7 KO’s)


The overhand right and left hook of Mendez controlled the early part of this fight, keeping Chule off-balance and guessing. Chule’s chin is most impressive, as he took plenty of Mendez’s best shots cleanly. This was a long and drawn-out affair, with Mendez doing most of the landing, and Chule doing more than his share of absorbing blows. Chule’s gameness and toughness are admirable, but I doubt he won even a round. 78-74 and 80-72 (twice) sealed the deal to improve Mendez’s professional record to 15-1 with 9 KO’s.





ERISLANDY LARA---------------- LUCIANO PEREZ
Guantanamo, CUB---------------- Chicago, IL
155.5 lbs, 8-0 (5 KO’s)------------ 155.5 lbs, 17-9-1 (15 KO’s)

Lara’s pedigree, along with his former stablemate, Yuriorkis Gamboa, have been tearing up the sport since their recent deportation from their native Cuba. After bloodying Perez’s nose in the first round, Perez basically threw just as many punches as Lara. The big difference was how often Lara was able to connect which was considerably more than Perez. Perez fought gamely, but in the end, was no match for the more polished Lara, who with scores of 100-90 and 99-91 (twice) improved his undefeated record to 9-0.



***Special thanks to Golden Boy Promotions, Dibella Promotions, and 8Count Promotions for issuing Bolo Punch the credentials for to cover this event.

Photography by Emil Kegebein LegUpPhotos.com. All photos are the sole property of Bolo Punch, and cannot be used without permission. Ringside report by Chris Guzman. No portion of this report can be used without permission.

WALL TO WALL EXCITEMENT IN CHICAGO!!!

When Dominic Pesoli's 8Count Productions puts on a boxing event, it's generally a given that the evening will be highly multicultural in nature. Tonight, the casual fan might have believed they were actually at an Olympics event, since flags and banners representing Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Poland, and the United States were on full display. The highly-charged UIC Pavilion is the new home for Chicago's premiere boxing promotion, and the crowd of well over 3,000 ravenous boxing fans demanded satisfaction, and they received it in heaping helpings.

The first fight of the night pitted undefeated junior ddleweights Foster Nkodo (Chicago) against Lamar Harris (St. Louis, MO). Harris usually is able to rely on his big left hook to dispatch of his opponents, but loading up to throw them didn't work too well against Nkodo, who saw the "telegraph" a mile away. Nkodo landed the straight left over the low right hand of Harris continuously, and even after a questionable point deduction for excessive holding, Nkodo was awarded a unanimous decision (58-55 twice, 57-56) after six rounds.

Next up were the ladies, and they received some of the loudest cheers of the night. Rita "la Guera" Figueroa (Chicago) put her 10-0 record on the line against Tamara "Tazmanian Devil" Johnson (Seattle, WA). Figueroa's best-known fight to this point was a spirited, albeit short war with Gary's Mary McGee in 2008. That night ended in a technical draw (NC), due to a cut over the eye of Figueroa. This would be Figueroa's "comeback" fight, after more than a year of inactivity due to injury. Johnson spent no time, however, to exploit Figueroa's "ring rust", and push her against the ropes, unloading with both hands with relative ease. This lasted for the first three rounds, when Figueroa decided to take matters into her own hands and change the tide of activity towards her favor. She dominated the last three rounds with incredible accuracy and tenacity, landing several well-placed right hands, even staggering Johnson at one point in the fourth. The fight ended with Figueroa outlanding Johnson 2-1 in the sixth, prompting the judges to score the fight 58-56 (Johnson), 59-55 (Figueroa), and 57-57 (draw).

Outstanding action awaited the 3,000+ fans in this next fight, when Sergio Montes de Oca (Mexico City, MX) battled David Orosco (Atlanta, GA). The opening round was pure boxing bliss, as both men spent no time feeling their opponent out, but simply squared up their shoulders and began throwing bad-intenioned bombs. No defense was shown whatsoever, which in this case, made for some serious enjoyment on the part of the audience. Orosco caught a 15-punch combination against the ropes that ended in him being staggered with both hands at his sides. Blood trickled from Orosco's left eye as well, due mostly to Montes de Oca's accurate overhand right hand. More blood followed Orosco into the third from the heavy attack, and he was staggered again in the fourth, giving Montes de Oca a unanimous decision, moving his professional record to 2-0. This is a young talent we should ALL keep our eye on.

Juan Bailon (Chicago) fought Marsay Buggs (Atlanta, GA) to a 4-round majority decision, raising his record to 4-1 in a low-impact, low-excitement level affair. Bailon appeared content merely getting by, and Buggs simply appeared to be "glad for the opportunity". The crowd was hungry for action, but on this night, these two fighters just weren't up to the task.

Andrzej Fonfara (Chicago, by way of Poland) scored a unanimous decision over Milwaukee's Kendall Gould. Gould, for all his talents, recently has been the second-best fighter in the ring, and tonight would be no exception. The key to this fight for Fonfara was the left jab, which pretty much stayed glued to Gould's face the entire fight. Fonfara's dominance showed throughout all six rounds, and at the end of the fight, the only positive that can be reported about Gould is that he honestly did not appear to be hurt at any point in the fight. He offered very little offense, playing right into Fonfara's offensive traps. Bottom line: Fonfara's height and reach advantage, paired with his killer left jab, won this fight handily for him, with scores of 60-54 (twice) and 60-53.

Michael Kurzeja (Chicago) made his professional debut against overmatched Anthony Dewey (Lafayette, IN) in a scheduled 4 round fight. It would take Kurzeja only 2:09 to dispatch of Dewey, scoring three knockdowns, prompting the referee to stop the contest, and keep Dewey from receiving any more punishment. Kurzeja has more work to do, but with Gary, IN legend John Taylor in his corner training him, he's got a better than average chance to become a contender within the next couple of years.

Dannie Williams (St. Louis, MO) made short work of Jose Guzman (Guanajuanto, MX) as he dropped Guzman at the :30 mark, then continued his two-handed attack, not letting Guzman gain his bearings at all. At 2:58, the referee was forced to stop the action, as Guzman was severely dazed. Williams, trained by the world-famous Mr. Jack Loew (who also trains the World's middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik) moved his record up to 8-0 on this night, and will demand more and more attention as he progresses through the ranks.

The Irish bagpipes were out and blaring for this next bout, where Henry Coyle (Chicago, by way of County Mayo, Ireland) used his thudding body attack to send David Saunders (Cincinnatti, OH) back into the "L" column. Coyle's right hand to the ribs simply is an awesome thing to witness, as it apparently displaced Saunders' ribs each and every time it landed. I kept wondering if Saunders was going to find a way to stop it, but after only :41 into the second round, my answer came, as the referee waved the fight off after a rocket of a right hand sent Saunders reeling into the ropes. Coyle moves to 9-1 with this victory, and told me after the fight that he was looking to "step up the level of competition in his next fight", which could be as soon as May or June. Make no mistake about it, this man is cordial and humorous outside the ring, but inside it, he's insanely dominant.

The final fight of the night pitted Miguel Hernandez (Chicago) against Luciano Perez (Michoacan, MX) in a battle of 8Count stablemates. Hernandez's fans waved Puerto Rican flags rampantly, as Perez's followers clutched their Mexican flags with every bit as much pride. This fight was just as much about "machismo" as it was about records, and was for the WBF Americas middleweight title. Perez would prove to have the upper hand fight-wise, as his overhand right simply couldn't miss, making Hernandez's left eye swell and redden. Hernandez appeared staggered a bit in the second round, and a 4-punch combo from Perez sent Hernandez to the canvas for a 5-count. The fourth round saw an all-out attack from Perez, who was now landing to the body as well as to the head. Hernandez was knocked down again from a three-punch combination, as the packed crowd burst into gratitude and excitement while the referee waves off the fight with a single second remaining in the fifth round. THIS was an outstanding fight, where both fighters had their moments, but Perez winning in dominant fashion.

Special thanks goes out to Mr. Dominic Pesoli and Mr. Bernie Bahrmasel of 8Count Promotions for issuing Bolo Punch the necessary credentials to cover this outstanding night of fights at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

**This ringside report was prepared by Chris Guzman, who has hosted The Bolo Punch Boxing Hour since 2002.

**All ringside photography by Emil Kegebein, whose photos are on display at LegUpPhotos.com(Last Event).