Banner Promotions Fight Card, Televised on Tape Delay
By Larry Tornambe, Ringside
Dover, Delaware- Art Pellulo’s Banner Promotions entertained the capacity crowd at Dover Down’s Rollins Center on Friday night. The card will be televised on Comcast channel CN8 in the United States from Maine to Maryland on Saturday the 29th at 7pm. The show was broadcast live to South Africa as the main event featured Soweto, South Africa’s Takalani Ndlovu vs. Fabio Oliva.
The main bout was contested over 12 rounds for a minor Super Bantamweight championship but that didn’t deter the very professional boxing style of Ndlovu in his title defense. Ndlovu (25-3; 16KO’s) methodically broke Oliva (25-4; 12KO’s) and stopped the challenger in the 3rd round with a left hook to the body. Oliva could not rise before the 10 count and Ndlovu remains champ and earned many new fans.
Cruiserweights Richard Stewart and William Bailey were involved in a good tussle beginning with Stewart’s jab leading the way from the start. Bailey figured out how to get past it back Stewart (184 lbs) to the ropes.
Stewart changed to a body attack and Bailey (185 lbs) became a beaten man. Stewart, who was featured in the Wilmington News Journal sports page thrilled the hometown fans with a two-knockdown 4th round. The body shots put Bailey to his knees and ended the bout at 1:48 of the 4th. Stewart gets his 6th KO in his 8 wins against 1 loss.
Welterweight Tony Caldwell seemed surprised at the start of his 6 rounder against Davit Gogichaisvili. Caldwell pulled his game plan together with constant pressure throughout the remainder. Gogichaisvili was on a roller coaster for the whole bout. Good start, then he was pressured to the ropes and looked ready to fold. However he punched back until he got his 2nd wind in the latter half of the fight. This allowed him to slam home some well timed combos to the smothering Caldwell. The majority decision went to Caldwell, who improves to 9-1-3; 5KO’s). Gogichaisvili is now 6-11 but handled the continuous pressure well and should be allowed to grab wins if he wants to outwork his foes.
Jay Sweetman showed he was out of the ring for over 4 years when he showed a flabby 220 lbs when facing the chiseled 223 pounds of Mark "Oak Tree" Brown. Brown thumped Sweetman with a right, rendering Sweetman helpless on the ropes in the 3rd round. The flurry dropped Sweetman and referee Wayne Hedgepeth did the right thing by calling an end at :50 of the 3rd round for Brown’s 2nd KO win in his undefeated 6-0 career.
Kaseem Wilson and Martin Wright fought to a 4-round Welterweight "all-southpaw" draw. And Latif Mundy grabbed a unanimous decision against Josh Snyder in both of their pro debuts. Russell Peltz and Nick Tiberi were the matchmakers.
Dover Downs does not have the next date set yet, but are looking at August.
