OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

Saturday May 16, 20009
by BigTime Tim Kudgis

When I sat down in my seat last night at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City I did not know what to expect. At first glance it appeared the matchmakers of Joe DeGuaria’s Star Boxing promotion did a great job, but even if the matching looks great you never know how it might play out.

The first undercard fight was Bruce “Atlantic City Express” Seldon against Gabe “Big G” Brown. “Big G” lived up to his name weighing in an atrocious 359 pounds…but hey, he was a last minute opponent for Seldon after his original opponent was drafted into the main event. The first few rounds were at a slow pace, but Brown was really no match for Bruce Seldon as he controlled the action. Finally at the 25-second mark of the 5th round Seldon pummeled Brown with multiple unanswered punches until Referee Earl Morton called an end to the action.

BigTime Timmy’s Fight Grade: (B) Due to the circumstance and short notice this fight was made on.
Fight Result: Seldon via TKO in Round 5

The next fight on the Card was the Co-Feature, top lightweight prospect Jorge Luis Teron against his first conqueror Aldo Valtierra in a rematch. This was a good action packed fight controlled mostly by Teron, but Valtierra fought hard and took a few rounds by pressuring and taking away his height advantage. Though Teron proved he was ready for the next step, you can take nothing away Valtierra, he showed warrior spirit and had no quit in him.

BigTime Timmy’s Fight Grade: (A) These two warriors put on one hell of a show.
BigTime Timmy’s Scorecard: 98-92 Teron
Fight Result: Jorge Luis Teron via UD
Judge’s Scorecards: 96-94, 97-93, & 99-91

The Main Event battle between Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson and “Dangerous” Devin Vargas was set to answer a lot of questions on the future of America’s Heavyweight prospects. The first 2 rounds were very impressive for Vargas. He kept smothering Johnson with multiple punches which was effective in keeping Johnson from getting off. The 3rd round started the same way, but also served as a reminder that a few hard punches can change the pace of any fight. A barrage at the end of round 3 by Johnson caused Vargas to take a knee just before the round ended. In the 4th Vargas showed signs that he may have suffered an injury to his ear in the previous round, but he soldiered on (like real heavyweights should do) and continued to apply pressure as the two warriors fought back and forth in what looked to be a close round. The 5th round was filled punches with bad intentions from Johnson as he dropped Vargas again .The 6th and final round showed Johnson on the offensive again, hitting Vargas with punch after punch until Vargas’ corner threw the towel in, stopping the fight at the 2:25 mark of the 6th round.

BigTime Timmy’s Fight Grade (A+) this is what HW fights should be like!
Fight Result: Johnson via TKO in the 6th Round

Also on the card was John Lennox in his second pro fight, and he made it a memorable one against Robert Brown. The first 3 rounds were very close with Brown taking 2 of the 3. Then in the 4th and final round Lennox came out like a man possessed, pounding away on Brown until Brown finally went down. Brown got back up though, and showed some heart by forcing the fight to judges cards..

BigTime Timmy’s Fight Grade: (A) Great match up for both fighters!
Fight Result: John Lennox via SD
Judges Scorecards: 39-36 Lennox, 38-37 Brown, & 38-37 Lennox

The final fight on the card pitted Chuck Mussachio in his biggest test yet, against former world champ Carl Daniels. Mussachio with the hometown crowd behind him won every round decisively, which is something that has this reporter feeling maybe Carl Daniels should hang up the gloves once and for all.

BigTime Timmy’s Fight Grade (B-)
Fight Result: Mussachio via UD
Judge’s Scorecards: 60-54 for a 3 judges

BigTime Timmy’s Overall Card Grade: (A) everyone from the matchmakers to the combatants made this one of the most interesting cards of the year!

Check out “BigTime Timmy Tells It Like It Is” this Monday for my assessment of Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson, and my thoughts on his future in the HW Division.