July 20, 2012

CES "Built to Last" Results from Twin River - Biosse & Godfrey win

Biosse pounds the body, wins again in Rhode Island
LINCOLN, RI - In front of another good crowd at the Twin River Convention Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island - Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment and Sports (CES) put on an eight fight professional boxing card last night entitled "Built to Last." Featuring several local fighters on the undercard, the main event featured none other than Mr. Providence himself, Vladine Biosse.

With only one exception, the fights all went generally as expected and Biosse kept up his end of the bargain by pounding out a sternum smashing win over Canada's Michael Walchuck. In the co-main, cruiserweight Matt Godfrey made a successful debut at heavyweight, scoring a TKO win over Jesse Oltmanns.

Vladine Biosse TKO5 Michael Walchuck (super middleweights) - Mr. Providence retained his namesake and his title of USA New England super middleweight champion with a hard fought win over Ontario native Michael Walchuck. The fight was stopped in the corner after the fifth round. A very typical Biosse performance. Lots of high energy punching with little effect. In the 5th however, Biosse stepped it up a notch - settled down on his punches to the body and that was enough to convince Walchuck to call it a night.

"My coaches told me you have more in the tank and you're not giving it all out, you need to pick it up a little bit in the 5th and you can get him out of there. I caught him with the hook and I landed the up-jab to the sternum and after that punch, you could see that he was done. It was just a matter of either him giving up or me taking him down, so that punch really made it clear."  

Biosse improves to 14-1-1 w/ 7KOs while Walchuck goes home to Canada 9-6.

Matt Godfrey TKO5 Jesse Oltmanns (heavyweights) - This was Godfrey's first fight at heavyweight and it showed around the midsection. The former NABF cruiserweight champion scored a knockdown in the 2nd from a nice right hand and then outboxed and out-punched the very limited Oltmanns the rest of the way. Godfrey brought on the referee stoppage at the start of the 5th round in this co-main event with a sweeping left hook, right hand combination to the head of his weary and very slow opponent. Time - 0:10 of the 5th. Providence's Godfrey improves to 21-3 w/ 11KOs. Oltmanns falls to 10-4

Keith Kozlin W6 Reynaldo Rodriguez (super middleweights) - Grueling brutal fight with Kozlin winning every round on the KO Digest scorecard. Rodriguez was hurt badly in the first before steadying himself. Gutsy to a fault, Rodriguez was then absolutely abused throughout the rest of the fight. Left hooks and uppercuts landed with sickening regularity for Kozlin and after six rounds, Rodriguez's face was beginning to look like Cotto against Margarito. Standing ovation from a very satisfied crowd. Scores: 60-54/60-54/58-56 ~ Rhode Island native Kozlin goes to 7-3-1 w/ 4KOs while fellow Rhode Islander Rodriguez goes to 6-5-1.

Last minute instructions for Thomas Falowo
Thomas Falowo TKO4 Rahman Yusubov (middleweights) - Good comeback win for Falowo as he bounces back from his first professional loss last May with a nice win over the durable Rahman Yusubov. Falowo really hit a stride in the 2nd and 3rd - finding a home for his left hook and landing smooth combinations while walking his man down. By the 4th round, Falowo was having his way with Yusubov and the referee stopped the fight in the corner after the completion of four rounds. Falowo improves to 7-1 w/ 5KOs while Yusebov slips to 8-9. Said the winner afterwards, "I felt good tonight. Yusubov was a tough dude, he can take a shot. I thought I won the last fight, I really needed this win mentally. But I just love to fight, this is what I do, regardless. I felt that overall, I had a pretty good performance."   

Kevin Cobbs W4 Donte Wiggins (super middleweights) - A grudge match that was marred in the beginning by the nervous energy both fighters brought to the ring, perhaps having to do with their pre-fight online trash talk. When Cobbs boxed, he controlled the fight, when he was lured into brawling things got messy. In the 3rd, Cobbs found the range and in the 4th a right hand sent Wiggins crashing to the canvas. Both fighters embraced after the fight in a display of mutual respect. Scores were 39-36 for Cobbs on all three judge's cards.

Dennis Ogboo TKO4 Benny Constantino (middleweights) - Slow sloppy fight with far more misses than hits. In the 4th, crowd favorite Constantino suddenly took a knee, said something to the referee when he got to his feet and the fight was immediately waved off. Benny had a slight mouse under his left eye the whole night and may have re-injured his orbital bone in this fight. Time: 1:04 ~ Ogboo, from Lexington, KY, goes to 7-5 w/6 KO while Benny falls to 7-2 w/ 4 KOs.

Zack Ramsey TKO4 Damon Antoine (lightweights) - Second professional win for the flashy Zack Ramsey. Damon was down a total of three times in the fight, Ramsey finishes him with a flurry in the 4th highlighted by a cruel left hook - referee steps in to save Damon at 2:17. Like watching a cat toy with a mouse before killing it. Good win for Springfield, MA's Ramsey but still too much showboating, holding both hands low etc. Ramsey goes to 2-0 w/ 2 KO's while Damon falls to 10-39. Yes, that's right. 39 losses.

Scary scene in the ring!

Louis Cruz KO1 Jansy Rivera (welterweights) - In the evening opener, a left hook from NY native Louis Cruz dropped Rivera in the first - a perfectly flush right hand finished him a bit later in the round. Absolutely BRUTAL knockout. Rivera was unconscious before he hit the canvas. Professional debuts for both fighters. Rivera was out cold for several minutes and taken off on a stretcher. 

Images & Words by Jeffrey Freeman