Smithsburg, MD lightweight Dean “Pit Bull” White won an eight-round unanimous decision over Mike “Little Rock” Ricasa in the main event of a Baltimore Pro Boxing card at Martin’s West in Woodlawn, MD.
The bout was a rematch of an October 2005 bout that Ricasa won in a six-round majority decision. White took the first Ricasa bout coming back from a five-year hiatus from the sport. Since that bout, White fought twice while Ricasa stayed idle. White said the increased activity proved to be the difference in the second contest.
“That was the biggest deal,” White said. You’ve got to stay active in boxing. That five-year layoff killed me. I was so slow (in the first bout).”
In this bout, both White and Ricasa fought a tactical bout with the southpaw White trying to land the left hand while the orthodox Ricasa looked to land a big right. By the fifth round, however it was White who started land the harder blows. In the sixth round, White turned up the heat by landing body shots. In the seventh, those shots took their toll on Ricasa, as White’s body shots set Ricasa up for a left hand that dropped him to one knee.
To his credit, Ricasa fought gamely in the eighth round, but it wasn’t enough to keep White from winning his first eight-round bout and the promoter-created “Jake the Snake (Smith) East Coast Pro Championship.”
Judges John Gradowski and Malik Waleed scored the bout 77-74 while Judge Bill Holmes saw the contest 78-73. Fightnews saw the contest 77-75.
With the win, White raises his record to 13-4, six KO’s while Ricasa falls to 6-2, two KO’s.
In the co-feature, heavyweights Adam “Boom Boom” Bloom and “Irish” Glenn Williams fought a four-round contest that substituted excitement for technical skill. The bout, at times, resembled a back alley brawl as these two tank-like boxers took turns taking shots at each other.
Two of the judges (Holmes and Kenny Chevalier) thought Bloom, fighting out of Nottingham, MD, got the better of the bout and awarded the decision to Bloom, 39-37. Judge Waleed gave the decision to Williams, 39-37. The unofficial Fightnews scored saw the bout a draw, 38-38.
Bloom remained undefeated with the victory, raising his record to 3-0, two KO’s. Williams’ record now falls to 2-21, two KO’s.
The rest of the card was a festival of knockouts. Severn, MD junior middleweight Jessie “The Beast” Nicklow knocked down his opponent, Columbus, OH’s William Armstead, four times en route to a first-round TKO. Referee Malik Waleed stopped the contest at 2:25 of the round.
Nicklow is now 2-0, 1 KO while Armstead is 2-3, 1 KO.
Baltimore, MD light heavyweight Willie “For Real” Williams made his pro debut a successful one by blasting Jay “Baby Boy” Holland of New Castle, PA. Williams rained body shots and upper cuts on Holland early and often, forcing referee Bill Holmes to stop the contest at 1:45 of the first round. Holland’s record is now 1-13.
In the curtain-raising contest, Bel Air, MD super middleweight Nick “Flash” Collins scored his second consecutive knockout with a third round KO of Philadelphia’s Charles Mack-Horne. The knockout seemed to be Collins’ main objective as he loaded up his shots throughout the bout. Collins finally achieved his goal with a crushing right hand that sent Mack-Horne to the canvas to stay. Referee Waleed stopped the contest at 2:59 of the third.
Collins is now 2-0, two KO’s. Mack-Horne falls to 1-8.
The promoter of the card was Baltimore Pro Boxing led by Jake “The Snake” Smith. The matchmaker was Josh Hall.
Gary, it was a pleasure meeting you last night. As far as the fights go, I must say I was somewhat disappointed in most of the bouts. The fighters weren't evenly matched and did not provide the excitement, that i am sure the crowd was looking for. The amateurs did put on a nice display though. Also, let me not forget that heavyweight fight, which I felt was a draw also..
ReplyDeleteIt was my first visit to Martin West, and it is a great venue for ballroom boxing; the fans are great. let's just hope for some competitive fights the next go around. The fans deserve better than what they got last night..
Slickwalt, It was an honor and a pleasure meeting you as well. Thank you so much for your considered support of me and more importantly, the boxing in the area.
ReplyDeleteThis was not one of the best shows Jake has had. But this is few and far between for him. The majority of his shows have been great.
Martin's West has a nice history of housing great boxing shows, going back to the 90's with promoter Stu Satosky. Overall, Jake has done a great job in continuing the tradition.
Two of Jake's better boxers, Mike Paschall and Tony Cygan, are recovering from injuries and of course Mike Dietrich's future is still up in the air. That has hurt a little bit. Fortunately, Jed Phipps is on a little bit on a roll of late and that might help. We'll see what happens in Pikesville next month.