Soto-Karass, Bruseles Prevail in Atlantic City

By Jake Donovan

It was a good night for notable sparring partners at the Tropicana in Atlantic City on Friday night, as Jesus Soto-Karass and Henry Bruseles both posted decision wins on Telefutura.

Both bouts were hard fought battles, though Soto-Karass was more pronounced in his victory over New York-based welterweight Chris “The Mechanic” Smith in the evening’s main event. Bruseles’ victory was a far more laborious effort, struggling to a split decision over faded junior welterweight gatekeeper Ben Tackie in the televised co-feature.

Soto-Karass, who serves as Antonio Margarito’s main sparring partner, looked to set the table one night before his stable mate rematches Kermit Cintron down the strip on HBO. It wouldn’t happen right away, nor did he do himself any favors by coming out bone dry at fight’s start.

The Mexican looked sluggish in a slow-paced first round and seemed bothered by Smith’s aggression, before finding his groove in round two. Soto-Karass was able to touch Smith with body shots, occasionally landing right hands upstairs. Smith attempted to get his jab going, but was forced to play defense for most of the round as Soto-Karass gave the New Yorker few counter opportunities.

There was far more give and take in the third round, particularly in the opening minute with both fighters trading at center ring. Soto-Karass continued to target the body, only Smith seemed unfazed as he kept charging forward throughout the round. A Soto-Karass uppercut appeared to jumpstart a rally midway through the round, but Smith rallied in the final minute, nailing his foe with combinations upstairs, though perhaps not enough to win the round.

Smith looked to carry the momentum into the fourth round, taking the fight to Soto-Karass in the early going. Soto-Karass played it smart, staying on the outside and forcing Smith to come in and catch him with counter rights. He may have been too patient for his own good, as Smith remained the busier fighter in a toss-up round.

Much of round five was spent at close quarters, with plenty of exchanges on the inside. As was the case in the fourth, Smith started and ended strong, with Soto-Karass’ best work coming in the middle of the round, along with a straight right in the final thirty seconds that snapped back Smith’s head.

Soto-Karass seemed to hit his stride in the sixth, justifying his reputation as a frenetic puncher. Smith remained unfazed, still coming forward and making Soto-Karass work throughout the round.

Smith found a way to neutralize Soto-Karass’ work rate in the seventh and eighth, keeping the fight in a phone booth and going punch for punch with an opponent eight years his junior. Soto-Karass held back just enough in the seventh to preserve himself for a fast-paced eighth round, snapping back Smith’s head with right hands on two separate occasions.

The final two rounds were all Soto-Karass, who effectively mixed boxing and brawling while fighting from the outside. Smith was unable to keep up, with his best moments limited to chopping right hands in counter opportunities that were few and far between. Soto-Karass unloaded in the final minute of the fight, with Smith forced to absorb until finally initiating an exchange in center ring during the last ten seconds.

It was a unanimous verdict in the end, with scores of 98-92 and 96-94 (2x) all in favor of Soto-Karass, who improves to 20-3-3 (14KO) with the win. He is now 9-0-2 in his last eleven bouts dating back to 2005, including his present four-fight win streak.

Smith, who seemed genuinely stunned when the final verdict was announced, loses for the fifth time in his last seven bouts. His record falls to 21-5-1 (13KO).

In the ten round welterweight co-feature, Henry Bruseles eked out a split decision over Ben Tackie. There were plenty of momentum shifts, yet very little action offered in their slow-paced ten rounder. Tackie came forward throughout the fight, but most of his movement was spent following Bruseles around the ring.

With close friend and star of tomorrow night’s HBO telecast Miguel Cotto at ringside to lend support and assist with the commentary, Bruseles was getting the better of the exchanges in the first three rounds. Tackie tried to make it an inside fight, but Bruseles kept the Ghanaian at his desired distance, blocking most of the incoming and finding a home for his straight right hand in return.

It was a different story in the middle round. Tackie was able to effectively impose his will on the Puerto Rican, scoring on several occasions to the body and with his right uppercut. Bruseles struggled to find his rhythm, at times lost when pressed to trade on the inside.

With the fight virtually even through six, determining a victor came down to how the last four rounds would be scored, no easy task for any of the three judges. Neither fighter managed to impose their will on the other, at least for any sustained period of time. Bruseles kept his desired distance, forcing Tackie to miss then countering with a flurry of body shots or a straight right hand. Tackie’s best moments came when the bout was fought on the inside, where he was able to plant his feet and land at his own pace.

The disparity in scores at fight’s end was indicative of the difficulty in scoring such a fight. Judge Shafeeq Rashada thought Tackie did enough to win, scoring it 96-94 in favor of the Ghanaian. Judge Ronald McNair had the same score for Bruseles. Hilton Whitaker’s score of 98-92 for Bruseles seemed a tad wide, but gets a pass given the nature of the bout.

There were no knockdowns in the bout, nor was either fighter rocked at any given moment.

Bruseles makes it six straight with the win, improving to 27-3-1 (15KO). Tackie’s career is heading in the opposite direction, having suffered his fourth straight loss – all by decision – in dipping to 29-10-1 (17KO).

Both bouts were presented by Top Rank, Inc.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Please Jake can be reached for comments at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .