By Larry Tornambe at Ringside
Atlantic City, August 4th-The newest kid in Atlantic City threw its hat into the ring with the East’s newest fight promoter. The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City hired Golden Boy Promotions East to put together a fight card and fill the 2,000-seat event center. The event went well on August 4th with a full house, HBO Latino televising three of the evening’s six bouts and a knockout win for Demetrius Hopkins over Paul Delgado.
Hopkins (140 lbs) controlled the slow start against Delgado (14-5-1; 139 lbs) in front of many hometown supporters. Hopkins, a nephew of Bernard Hopkins the Golden Boy East Promoter, is a Philly fighter who wanted to show his local fans his skills in person. Hopkins showed sharp punching skills and elusive defense throughout his bout with the ever-charging Delgado. Some will tell you that Delgado defeated Paulie Malignaggi in 2002, but he really was not a threat to unseat Demetrius from the mantle of the undefeated. In the 2nd round Delgado ran into a punch for a knockdown and when Hopkins landed a solid combination for a second knockdown in that round it was just a matter of time. Hopkins would say, “I knew I was hurting him. It felt good landing all my body punches” while being energized by his homies in the seats.
Delgado stayed busy and aggressive, but Hopkins was too sharp with his punches, accurate countering and footwork. Demetrius was able to avoid many punches by slipping and stepping to the side for counters. They all came together well for the Philly fighter who walloped Delgado with a left hook in the 8th round. The searing punch laid Delgado on his side and earned Hopkins (20-0-1; 7KOs) a technical knock out at 1:15 of the 8th in a scheduled 10 rounder. Hopkins stated he is “ready to step up. Somebody like “Chop Chop Corley I think would be a good step up. He certainly improved his skills for this fight and got the adulation of all the fans in attendance.
The co-feature bout between Larry Mosely and Alexis Division turned into an interesting display of skills as well. Scheduled for 10-rounds the welterweights started to grab their advantage early. Mosely came out of the first round as the quicker and more aggressive boxer, in my eyes. As the bout progressed Mosely proved he was the faster fighter and was not getting hit by the powerful Division (16-2; 12 KOs). Division began to wilt and Mosely, 148 lbs, worked the body and head in search of an early ending. The finish arrived at 1:29 of the 4th round as Mosely (14-1;5KOs) shoeshined from the body to two very clean and hard punches to the head.
The two bouts were very educational if a new person to the sport wants to learn some of the nuances of the game. Watching Mosely get off first and work the body to the point of knowing when to finish the flurry to the head will show that the sport isn’t just about people hitting each other. Understanding how Hopkins can throw punches and duck under counter-punches and his ability to duck under lead punches from his foe and land a better combo himself his priceless. Also observe Hopkins smart footwork, it keeps him close to his opponent while keeping him at angles to punch, but away from a straight-on attack that his opponent may launch.
Damon Antoine came out swinging against Rock Allen in a schedule for 4 Jr. Welterweight battle. Allen, an American Olympian from Philadelphia, was making his pro debut and Antoine won a fight three weeks ago. Antoine was trying to welcome Allen to the pro ranks in his own way, but Allen landed a few body shots followed by three head punches and the ref jumped in to stop the tussle at 2:27 of the 1st. I believe Allen was going to win the bout because he was already spinning the momentum his way, but to Antoine’s credit, the bout was stopped too early. Allen won his pro debut while Antoine is now a swinging 2-6-1.
The tall-for-167-pounds Max Alexander let the shorter Alfred Kinsey get inside for the 1st two rounds of a scheduled 4-round light heavyweight bout. Alexander has room to gain weight as he fights at light heavyweight, but he need to punch to keep his foes (who might be a bit heavier) on the end of his jab. Kinsey (4-2-1) stayed aggressive but the job started working for Alexander in the second half of the fight. The bout ended in a draw, Kinsey won the first two and Alexander grabbed the 3rd and 4th. Alexander won his rounds with cleaner and harder punches while Kinsey was aggressive and attacked well early. Max (3-0-1) would best served by keeping foes on the outside, but learning to spin guys who are able to get inside.
Matthew Macklin (14-1) showed an impressive foundation in a scheduled 6-round Jr. middleweight bout with Leo Laudat (7-9; 7KOs). Macklin, from the Ricky Hatton stable, moved his head exceptionally well and punched off that slip (also add him to the educational segment of the show). Macklin worked a slipped jab into a left uppercut to the jaw all night long. The Englishman’s defense and the ability to attack off that earned him a TKO at 1:44 of the 3rd round against Laudat. Macklin could be one to watch if he is able to make additional appearances on this side of the pond.
Phillip McCants must have been illegally parked because he opened the night by pounding on John Husky for the whole 24-second duration of the bout. The ref stopped the bout without Husky going down or seemingly in danger, but he was getting whacked, a lot. McCants is now 4-1-1 with 3 KOs and Husky is 1-4, which may have been in the ref’s subconscious as he decided to wave it off.
The Borgata has been open since July 2003. This was their first shot at boxing and they did well with the event and handling the 2000 fans. Seems to me the place should be happy and want boxing to return and I see some areas for additional seating.