By Mike Indri

Retired Boxers Foundation

 

FRANKLIN SQUARE, NY - The "Standing Room Only" crowd, in excess of 1,100, crammed their way into the Plattduetsche Park Restaurant - turned boxing arena - last night in support of young, talented Irish middleweight hopeful James Moore.

Moore, a native of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, now fights out of Queens, NY and has amassed a huge following. 

From the fight’s opening bell they were treated to a variable highlight film of devastating body shots and head punches, all at the expense of Moore’s opponent, the usually durable Edson Aguirre of Mexico City, Mexico, who had only been stopped in two of his previous eighteen professional fights.

As Moore began digging his hard two-fisted body attack, Aguirre resorted to the only defense he could fathom; pulling his blue and white trunks as far up as possible on his already damaged torso!  With the crowd now bathed in a virtual sea of green, white and orange, and chanting "Ole-Ole-Ole", the former captain of the Irish national amateur team drilled a blistering right hand to the temple which drove Aguirre to his knees, midway thru round two. 

Letting out a big smile, as if knowing it was only a matter of time, the Irishman watched from the neutral corner as the badly hurt Aguirre struggled to get to his feet. 

Driving the battered Aguirre into his own corner, Moore landed three more brutal right hands as the bell sounded.  Round three would be the end for the willing and game Aguirre, whose record fell to 12-6-1 (2 KO’s).  Sensing the end was near, Moore fired off several big right hands to the body and head, which rattled the Mexican fighter.  Aguirre tried to make a fight of it, but was overwhelmed by Moore’s power.  At the 1:40 mark, a picture perfect right hand to the chin sent Aquiire sprawling to the canvas, where he was unable to move, let alone try to beat the count.

A jubilant James Moore, now 10-0, recorded his eight knockout win in commanding fashion and sent all the clan home early, and deliriously happy, on a very frosty night.  

The night’s co-feature saw Paterson’s Henry Crawford shine in his first six round test again Carlos Aballe, a late replacement from Miami, Florida.  The nasty northeastern weather wasn’t the only thing that treated Aballe harshly during his stay in NY. 

Crawford, a highly regarded prospect promoted by New Jersey’s Main Events Promotions set the tone early and made it a long and painful night for the Cuban born fighter. 

Peppering Aballe with a stiff and hard jab, Crawford bloodied his opponent’s nose in the opening stanza and never let up on his relentless offensive assault.  Enjoying obvious advantages in both speed and power, Crawford had broken down the tough, yet limited, Aballe midway through the bout and the only thing keeping him up was his commendable heart.  Already on unsteady legs, another Crawford barrage in round four sent Aballe careening into the ropes, which resulted in the fight’s first knockdown. 

With Aballe out on his feet early in round five, Crawford crushed a monster left hook which connected squarely, as referee Tony Chiarantano appeared to be breaking up the clinching fighters and Aballe (now 5-5, with 3 KO’s) was done for the night.  Attempting to get to his feet, Aballe who had absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment, was obviously affected by the cumulative damage of Crawford’s onslaught and wobbled back down to the deck where referee Chiarantano wisely stopped the one-sided contest at 1:06 of the fifth round. 

With his sterling performance Crawford, who improved to 14-0-1 (6 KO’s), is scheduled for his first nationally televised opportunity as part of an ESPN2 "Wednesday Night Fights" show on April 25th.

On Promoter Bob Duffy’s Ring Promotions undercard……….

Local favorite Luis Sanchez surprised many with his four round majority decision over previously unbeaten welterweight Daniel Sostre.  Sanchez, fighting out of nearby Ozone Park, improved to 3-1-1 (1 KO), and controlled the fight with his aggressive style.  The Puerto Rican born Sostre, who fell to 2-1, apparently did enough to earn a draw from one of the judges, while the other two saw the hard working Sanchez as the worthy victor.

In a hard fought four round middleweight battle, popular Atlantic City native Patrick Majewski came off the deck early in round one to earn a unanimous decision win over feisty Esteban Cordova from Jamestown, NY.  Majewski, now 3-0 (2 KO’s), returned the favor and dropped Esteban to the canvas late in the action-packed first round and landed the more significant punches throughout the very entertaining fight.

The night’s opening bout saw Rochester’s Dwayne Hall garner a unanimous decision win in a four round welterweight match against Wesley Richards, from Corona, NY.  Hall improved to 2-1, while Richards fell to 4-2-1.

In the evening’s "Fight of the Night", gutsy Carlos Macias gained the respect of the sell-out crowd, and even more importantly, the respect of the judges, as he never stopped battling and hammered out a hard-earned split decision over equally gutsy Luis Rodriguez, in a four round Jr. Lightweight slugfest.

Getting beaten to the punch early and bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth, Macias, fighting out of Ridgewood, NY,  never wavered and did his best impression of Ricky Hatton, with his going all out for the entire three minutes of each round.  If he could only move his head, even just a little, he may be able to slip a punch a two; which may make for a little less excitement but a lot more safety.  Macias stay undefeated in his young career, 2-0.  The tough luck Rodriguez, traveling from Humacao, Puerto Rico, levels off at 1-1-1.

A great night of competitive action from promoter Bob Duffy and his Ring Promotions.  With all the complaints in boxing of mismatches and unorganized smaller club shows, it was nice to see a show that did the sport of boxing proud.  Duffy, a retired NYPD detective and former director of boxing for the New York State Athletic Commission should be commended for his commitment to principal and for his respect and treatment of the fighters and our sport, and it’s business.