Pearson, Buchanan Win; Miller Draws at Show Place!

Three of the DC-area’s most talented boxers survived tough competition during Keystone Boxing’s “In Yo Face at Show Place” card at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. For two of the three, survival led to victory. For one, survival meant a tough draw after five years of inactivity.

In the main event, USBA Super Featherweight champion Lamont “Bay” Pearson of Capitol Heights, MD scored an eight-round unanimous decision over a game Pascal “El Gato” Adorno in a non-title bout. The bout was a lot tougher than the judges’ scores would indicate.

Pearson used his right hand lead very effectively in the contest, stepping up the pressure as the bout progressed. But Adorno, although he was rocked a few times, did not falter and kept coming back. All three judges as well as my unofficial scorecard gave the bout to Pearson 79-73.

After the bout, Pearson told me he would rather not see any more southpaws. Pearson has fought left-handers in his last two bouts.

Pearson, who is currently ranked number 14 by the IBF, raises his record to 23-3-1, 12 KO’s while Adorno falls to 9-4-2, four KO’s.

In the co-feature, undefeated super middleweight Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan of Capitol Heights pitched an eight-round shutout over Dhafir “No Fear” Smith of Philadelphia, PA. This was a tough one for a different reason. Buchanan threw a lot at Smith progressively through the contest but was unable to knock him out.

However, this may have been the most complete performance that I have seen in Buchanan’s career. In my opinion, Buchanan progressed well during the bout. He started with the feeling-out process in the first two rounds. You could see Buchanan thinking in there and deciphering what he had in front of him.

Then Buchanan started with the body shots using primarily the right hand. When Smith defended himself from the right, Buchanan saw the left was open to the body. Buchanan did a solid job of taking what Smith’s defense gave him.

Buchanan told me after the bout that he was disappointed that he didn’t knock Smith out. The reality is the quality of competition has increased for him over the last couple of fights. Yes, Buchanan had been off since March of this year, but he shouldn’t look to knock everybody out. I thought he fought a smart, tactful fight and deserved the 80-72 scores he received from the judges’ cards and from my unofficial card.

Buchanan is now 12-0, 10 KO’s while Smith is now at .500 with a record of 13-13-2, three KO’s.

But the toughest bout of the night involved the returning Purcell “Hard Rock” Miller. Prior to his six-round comeback bout against “Notorious” Jason Naugler of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the middleweight from DC had three things going against him.

1. The bout was Miller’s first in more than five years.

2. Miller was facing a boxer who outweighed him by more than eight pounds. Naugler weighed in at 167 ½ compared to Miller’s 159. And that was at the weigh-in the day before the bout. You have to think Naugler stepped in the ring closer to 180 or more.

3. Miller had to lose weight in the last two weeks because he came in heavy for a bout scheduled for Michael’s Eighth Avenue earlier this month. Miller came in at 163 for that bout and his opponent refused to fight him.

When those three factors are added to the fact that Miller was facing a talented opponent, the recipe could be disastrous. However, Miller hung in there and managed to get a six-round majority draw.

Miller showed flashes of the form that made him so popular in the mid-late 90’s. The quick jab, the intensity and a little of the power were all still a part of his arsenal. However, Naugler started to win the latter stages of the round but just didn’t do enough in two of the judges’ eyes to win the bout. Judge Kenny Chevalier saw the bout in Naugler’s favor, 58-56. The other two judges, John Gradowski and Malik Waleed both saw the contest a draw, 57-57. I agree with Gradowski and Waleed. I thought Naugler won rounds 1, 5 and 6 while Miller won the middle rounds.

Miller’s record stands at 21-3-1, 17 KO’s while Naugler is 13-4-1, nine KO’s.

Another Beltway Boxer making his return after a brief hiatus was DC junior middleweight Reggie “The Mechanic” Holly, who returned after nine months of inactivity. That inactivity would help lead Holly to his first career loss.

Also, Holly faced a relentless opponent in Sheldon Rudolph of Paterson, NJ, who pressured Holly for most of the six-round contest, landing telling blows throughout.

Rudolph also benefited from a phantom knockdown in the fourth round. It looked like Holly slipped while throwing a punch. As Holly stumbled forward, Rudolph was throwing a punch and he grazed Holly enough to help him fall to the canvas. Referee Bill Holmes ruled a knockdown.

One judge, Don Risher, saw complete domination by Rudolph, scoring the bout 60-53. Judge John Gradowski saw the bout 58-55 while Judge Kenny Chevalier saw the contest 59-55, the same as I did.

Rudolph raised his record above .500 with the victory. His record is now 4-3, two KO’s. Holly is now 5-1, two KO’s. After the contest, Holly was taken to a nearby hospital as a precautionary measure.

The decision to send Holly to the hospital came during the next bout between La Plata, MD light heavyweight Nick Caroleo and Albert Bankivicious of Philadelphia, PA. After the two finished the first round of their scheduled four-rounder, both ringside physicians (Dr. John Stiller, the chief physician and neurologist and Dr. Ian Weiner) were summoned back to the locker room to check on Holly. Since there were no doctors at ringside, the bout had to be halted. The delay lasted approximately 10 minutes.

When the action resumed, Caroleo made short work of his opponent, landing brutal shots and forcing referee John Gradowski to stop the contest at 1:15 of the second round.

Caroleo is now 2-0, one KO while Bankivicious falls to 0-3.

Let me interject a quick comment about the Maryland State Athletic Commission here. The Commission’s work during the Holly situation was first-rate all the way. This could have been handled poorly and we’ve seen that in other states with similar problems. However, Maryland handled it in the best possible way. For many years, the Maryland State Athletic Commission has had a Chief Physician who is a neurologist. For many years, it was Dr. Stephen Manekin and now it is Dr. Stiller. That proves that this commission is putting the safety of the boxers first and foremost.

This has also been a very busy year for this commission and their operations have been efficient and professional in every card that I’ve attended this year. The commission will have sanctioned close to 20 pro cards by the end of this year. That’s not exactly Nevada numbers but it is the busiest I have seen the commission in many years. Kudos goes to Chairman David Norman, Executive Director Patrick Pannella and the entire staff.

In the first bout of the card, Hilton Head, SC welterweight Muhsin Corbbrey won his first pro bout with a four-round unanimous decision over Ben Lock of Philadelphia. This was a close bout that I thought should have been a draw. But all three judges (Chevalier, Risher and Malik Waleed) saw the bout in favor of Corbbrey, 39-37. Corbbrey is 1-1-1 while Lock is 0-2. Lock’s brother, former lightweight world title contender “Mighty”
Ivan Robinson was at ringside for the bout.

Overall, this was a very good, competitive card that tested the locals nicely. Nice work by matchmaker Chris Middendorf. Then again, that is par for the course for Middendorf who is truly one of the best matchmakers in the business.