By Larry Tornambe, at ringside
Dover, Delaware - The rematch between Jr. Middleweights, Rodney Jones and Raul Frank occurred in the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino Rollins Center on Friday. Several of the Banner Promotions bouts will be broadcast on the CN8 Comcast channel Saturday at 7pm. They fought to a draw in October; otherwise Jones has won his past 12 fights to earn a #4 IBF Jr. Middleweight ranking. Frank is #5 IBF and is 4-0-1 in his last five bouts.
Jones, nicknamed “Smooth” is anything but in the early going but he did land the only clearly clean punch of the opening heat. The shorter Frank was straying low with his right hand against southpaw Jones in the 2nd round before pulling himself together. Frank was losing momentum in the 3rd and 4th rounds by holding way too much. The lanky Jones was unable to get any punching room while Frank clutched. Jones began to see some light in the 6th heat, but his punches lacked real spark. Raul, 154 lbs, was infrequent with his offerings but they were the harder punches leading into the final stretch. As both boxers faced the championship rounds, Frank was outworking Jones (154 lbs) and scoring with straight rights.
Frank’s left eye was getting puffy and Jones was cut along the right eye from a butt in the 11th. Jones fought like the more motivated boxer during the final two rounds, scoring with the hardest punches of the fight: straight lefts from his southpaw stance. The final count was 116-112, 117-112, 118-110 all for the new #1IBF Jr. Middleweight contender, Rodney Jones. Jones, 37-3-1, becomes the lead fighter for his former sparring partner’s IBF belt.
The main event bout was preceded by two majority decisions. An all-Wilmington (Delaware) bout was the main support bout for the card, between former gym mates, Larry Marks and Clarence Taylor. Marks was heading toward welterweight title shots, when middleweight, Clarence Taylor was just beginning his boxing career. Marks was unsuccessful in one world title shot and two regional title bouts and has moved in the 160 lbs division. Taylor has learned on the job and had won half of his bouts and has sparred with Marks for most of his career.
Taylor recently changed gyms and called out Marks, who was none too excited about fighting his pal. Marks understood the business angle of Taylor’s decision and agreed to fight. Marks sometimes fights with an unmotivated spirit but he was inspired to make Taylor miss and counter. Marks dominated Taylor in the 6th and had Clarence (also known as “Sonny Bono”) staggered. Taylor shook the cobwebs off in the 7th while Marks (28-7; 16KO’s) took the round off, except for some dancing and showboating. The scheduled 8-round middleweight contest ended with both fighters flurrying. Some saw Taylor landing more punches, while others saw Marks causing missed punches and landing the better, harder punches. The judges turned in tallies of 76-76, 77-75 and 77-75 for Marks by majority decision.
Taylor accounted well for himself against a much more experienced foe, but falls to 9-8-2.
Richard Stewart and Glen Turner found themselves in a close cruiserweight battle over 6-rounds. Stewart put pressure on Turner throughout the bout, but Turner certainly did not wilt or shy away. The bout was very competitive throughout and ended with Turner sticking Stewart (186 lbs) with a right uppercut. Stewart was scuffed up, while Turner looked fresh at the end, and the scores reflected the intertwined action: 57-57, 58-56 and 59-55 for Richard Stewart (7-1; 5KO’s). Turner is now 7-3-2 and “is upset and hoping for a rematch.”
Sherman Williams defeated Dennis McKinney in a 4-round heavyweight bout
Mark “Oak Tree” Brown remained undefeated at 5-0 after beating Franklin Edmundson over 4 heavyweight rounds.
Omar Pittman and James North were scheduled for 6 Super Middleweight rounds. The sloppy bout ended at 1: 24 of the 5th when North stepped back from the 8-count after a second knockdown. Pittman is 10-3; 6KO’s with the win.
Banner Promotions returns to Dover Downs on April 21st.
