Cygan, Paschall, Ricasa Winners in Woodlawn!

The Baltimore Pro Boxing card at Martin’s West in Woodlawn, MD featured three local boxers who made minor comebacks due to different situations. One boxer came back from illness and a loss, another returned from an injury and one returned after a loss. All three were victorious, although two struggled to majority decision wins.

In the main event, Baltimore middleweight Tony “Cyclone” Cygan won a six-round majority decision over late sub Roy “The Destroyer” Ashworth of Lake Charles, LA. Cygan, who was making his first appearance since a January 20th loss to Billy Lyell and subsequently suffering through an undisclosed illness, looked sluggish at times during the slow-paced bout. At times, Ashworth, who came into the bout seven pounds heavier than Cygan (167 ¾ to 160 ¾), was able to take advantage and become more offensive-minded.

By the fourth round, however, Cygan picked up the pace, throwing numerous body shots that made Ashworth take a few steps back throughout the second half of the contest.

Judge Malik Waleed scored the bout a draw at 57-57. Judges John Gradowski and Don Risher saw the bout for Cygan at 58-56 and 59-55 respectively. My scorecard saw the bout 59-55 for Cygan.

With the win, Cygan raises his record to 10-1, six KO’s while Ashworth falls to 4-3.

The co-feature saw undefeated light heavyweight Mike “The Persecutor” Paschall of Pasadena return after a six-month absence because of a broken hand. Paschall got off to a good start in his six-round encounter with William “Outside Thunder” Gill of Toms River, NJ but then had to struggle to earn a majority decision.

In the first round, Paschall landed a number of looping left hands that caught Gill repeatedly. But in round two, Paschall used his feet more than his hands, at times clowning in the ring against his opponent.

By the third round, Gill seemed to figure out how to avoid Paschall’s looping shots and pressured his opponent, keeping him on the outside. Gill showed good offense while Paschall had to deal with a cut along the right eye. The judges seemed to give credit to Paschall’s good defense as he avoided a number of Gill’s offensive attempts.

The judge’s scores were very disparaging. Judge Gradowski saw the bout as a draw, 57-57. Judge Risher saw a close contest in favor of Paschall, 58-56, while Judge Gary Camponeshi thought Paschall pitched a shutout, 60-54. My scorecard had a different view of the bout, giving the contest to Gill, 58-56.

Paschall’s record is now 8-0, two KO’s while Gill falls to 3-9, two KO’s.

Also on the card, Ellicott City lightweight Mike “Little Rock” Ricasa registered a first-round TKO over Andrew “The Little Bull” Mendez of South Bend, IN in his return since his tough, eight-round unanimous decision loss to Dean White last February.

Ricasa landed hard shots early in the round and finished the contest with a solid body shot. Mendez did not seem to take the shot well and backed away. In a delayed reaction of about three seconds, Mendez dropped to one knee. Mendez got to his feet at the eight-count, but his corner threw in the towel.

Ricasa is now 7-2, three KO’s while Mendez falls to 3-4, three KO’s.

In other bouts on the card, undefeated middleweight Jessie ‘The Beast” Nicklow of Severn scored a dominating first-round TKO over the debuting Jessie Horton of
Washington, DC.

In the last 30 seconds of the contest, Nicklow caught Horton with a solid right hand that drove Horton to his own corner. Nicklow rained blows upon him until referee Gary Camponeshi stopped the contest at 2:54 of the round. The 19-year-old Nicklow is now 5-0, two KO’s.

Baltimore light heavyweight Willie “For Real” Williams bounced back after a loss in his last outing to win a four-round unanimous decision over Ryan “The Lion” Madigan of Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Williams raised his record to 2-1, one KO.

Heavyweight “Big” Phill Brown of Upper Marlboro, MD made his pro debut a successful one by defeating “The Real People’s Champion” Jonathan Felton of Stafford, VA by four-round unanimous decision. Felton is now 1-2, one KO.

The promoter of the card is Jake Smith. The matchmaker is Josh Hall.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS: To be honest, I thought both Cygan and Paschall were off their games on this card. You may call it ring rust and that may be true, but it took them a while to get going. In fact, I don't think Paschall did much offensively in his contest. I gave the bout to Gill because he pressured Paschall. Yes, Paschall showed good movement but I thought Gill did a better job of pressing the action.

There may be some disparaging comments about Ricasa's victory. Body shots give that delayed reaction sometimes. I think Ricasa's shot was legitimate and obviously his opponent's corner saw something that forced the trainer to throw in the towel.

I am becoming more and more impressed with Jessie Nicklow. He did what he was supposed to do against a debuting boxer. Nicklow has improved greatly over the past few months.

Willie Williams will be a real good prospect when he finds a jab. Everything was a power shot in this case this evening. It got him a good victory but a jab will serve him well.

Phill Brown made a good debut. He is a very tall, very big man (weighed in at 288 1/4 pounds). Too early to tell how good he will be, however.

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: I can now officially reveal a secret I have held about the return of a legendary Beltway Boxing figure. In fact, some of you guessed it correctly when I talked about it, but the official announcement was made at Martin's West.

Former WBO Cruiserweight champion Boone Pultz is slated to return to action on the Saturday, August 12 Baltimore Pro Boxing show at the Ocean City Convention Center in Ocean City, MD.

Pultz, who was the first WBO Cruiserweight titleholder, has not fought in more than 10 years. He has a record of 23-1 with 15 KO's. In his prime, he was one of the most popular boxers to ever represent the Beltway. It will be interesting to see how he does.

Other Beltway Boxers in attendance last night included former three-time world champion Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, Corey "Black Ice" Cummings, Tyrell Samuel, Adam "Boom Boom" Bloom, Tony "Mo Better" Jeter and Mike Dietrich.

Also in attendance was top-ranked female amateur Franchon Crews, just back from her gold medal-winning performance in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I plan to interview her for the blog in the next few days as she prepares for the National Female Golden Gloves on July 9.