By Mike Indri (Photo by Rich Schneidenbach)
Most fans know that Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest middleweight fighters of all time, lost in his pro debut. This past Thursday night, Hopkins didn’t fare much better in his premiere outing as a promoter and the President of Golden Boy Promotions East.
The was the young company’s first in a series of fight cards that are to take place at the Borgata, Atlantic City’s preeminent hotel and casino. The card was a six bout event, three of the fights televised were live on HBO Latino. To become a succesful promoter, Hopkins showed that he needs to put forth much of the same effort, savvy and determination that made him the sport’s longest reigning undisputed middleweight champion if he envisions achieving enourmous success in the business of boxing.
The evening’s first three bouts, all non-televised, which consisted of a draw and two mismatched quick TKO’s netted the ticket buying fans a total of eight rounds of boxing during the two and a half hours from the event’s proposed 7:30 start to the beginning of the HBO Latino televised action at 10PM.
During that time Philip McCants (now 4-1-1 with 3 KO’s) opened the show and needed only 24 seconds to dispose of John "Hollywood" Huskey, who dropped to 1-4. McCants was landing several stiff left hands when referee Wayne Hedgebeth jumped in to stop the bout. While Huskey vehemently argued against what he felt was a premature stoppage, the Tulsa, OK. native, while not appearing hurt, wasn’t responding or fighting back, which didn’t help his cause.
In another scheduled four round bout, light heavyweights Alfred Kinsey (4-2-1, 4 KO’s) and Max Alexander (3-0-1) battled to a majority draw. While Alexander appeared to be the better skilled fighter at this stage, Kinsey truly earned the draw by outworking and out hustling his opponent.
The night’s third bout pitted Mathew Macklin, traveling all the way from Birmingham, England, against Leo Laudat from Atlanta. Again referee Wayne Hedgebeth was forced to stop the bout, yet this time no one, with the exception of Laudat, whose record fell to 7-9 (7KO’s), objected.
Macklin, now 14-1 with 10 KO’s, had dominated this one-sided bout from the onset and was punishing his foe when Hedgebeth mercifully stopped the bout at 1:44 of the third round.
Once the television camera’s red light turned on, Philadelpia’s highly touted Jr. welterweight Rock Allen, making his pro debut when he entered the ring. Allen, who finished with a mind boggling amateur record of 165-18, has already been labeled a "can’t miss" prospect and didn’t take long to garner his first professional knockout victory in 2 minutes and 27 seconds to be exact!
While Damon Antoine, from Akron, Ohio, did all he could to play "spoiler" and never backed down, Allen’s power and talent became overwhelmingly apparent. He hurt Antoine, now 2-6-1, to the body with both hands, Allen had his foe in deep trouble as referee Brian O’Melia smartly called a halt to the contest.
The co-feature should have been called the "Larry Mosley coming out party". Mosley, now 14-1 with 5 KO’s, was a truly talented amateur destined for greatness. Mosley, appropriately nicknamed "Prime Time", somehow has shifted his professional career into neutral and has yet to reach his potential.
Finally stepping up against a formidable opponent in Alexis Division (now 16-2, 12 KO’s), Mosley displayed fast hands, superb defensive skills and a granite chin. Taking the hard hitting Division’s best shots, Mosley countered and hurt the Dominican fighter, dropping him in round three, before finishing him off at 1:29 of the fourth round. An exciting fight where Mosley had to dig deep, the Los Angeles welterweight showed he has what it takes to get to the next level and is ready for "prime time".
In the "Borgata fight night" main event, Demetrius Hopkins (20-0-1, 7 KO’s) made Uncle Bernard, and the many Philly boxing fans who made the short trip, very proud and happy. Against a tough and determined Paul Delgado, now 14-6-1 with only 2 KO’s, Hopkins took control early and showed the promise that Golden Boy Promotions is banking on.
Countering well and landing textbook combinations, Hopkins stunned Delgado in round two and sent the Norcross, GA. native to the canvas twice. The resilient Delgado, obviously hurt, weathered the storm and managed to forge on. Delgado, whose only defense is his offense, was no match for the quicker and genetically gifted Hopkins who peppered Delgado constantly for the next six rounds until Hopkins unloaded a monster left hook which crushed Delgado down to the canvas.
Valiantly beating the count, which in itself says everything about Paul Delgado and his heart & soul, Delgado was in no way able to continue and despondently staggered back to his corner as the fight was waved off, with Demetrius Hopkins scoring the technical knockout victory at 1:15 of round eight.
The Borgata fight crowd, which was close to capacity by night’s end, left on a good note. While the Golden Boy Promotions fight card could not be described as "bad", it wasn’t the type of event that you would expect from a company striving to establish an excellent reputation for delivering quality fights.
If GBP truly is committed to developing and promoting it’s fighters - highlight the fighters, instead of the promoters, on the fight card posters and advertisements. Looking forward to the next event in the Golden Boy Promotions "Fight night at the Borgata" series, as the Borgata hotel and casino proved to be a perfect boxing venue.
