Fight To Educate Boxing Results from NH‏ - Andrade wins by TKO

Boo Boo drops and stops the Hurricane

MANCHESTER, NH - The 11th Annual Fight to Educate charity boxing card was held tonight in front of a good crowd at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. Presented this year by Absolute Broadcasting, "Fight to Educate" raises money for local charities and people in need. This year, proceeds from the event will go to the SEE Science Center, The Bobby Stephens Fund for Education, and New Horizons for New Hampshire.

This year's card featured a mix of amateur and professional boxing highlighted by junior middleweight prospect Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade in the main event for the third consecutive year. 

The evening featured a black tie dinner at tables set around a boxing ring, a boxing memorabilia auction, and a chance for fans to meet with boxing stars James "Buster" Douglas, Irish Micky Ward, Dana Rosenblatt, and John Ruiz - all of whom were in attendance to raise money and mingle with fight fans. More than any other celebrity fighter in attendance, Buster Douglas drew the most attention and there was no shortage of fans eager to meet him and recant stories of Douglas' stunning 1990 upset win over Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship of the world.

In the professional main event, Demetrius Andrade (18-0 w/ 13KO's from Providence, RI) knocked out Alexis "Hurricane" Hlores (16-5-2 w/ 12KO's from Mount Clemens, MI) in the second round of a very uncompetitive main event. Andrade used his jab and combination punching in the first round and closed the show in the second round, scoring two knockdowns, the first coming from a straight left to the face and the final knockdown coming from a whistling right hook to the chin. Hlores bravely beat the count but rose on unsteady legs and the fight was stopped by the referee. Time of the TKO was 2:59. 

Said the victorious Andrade, "I showed it, power and speed. I looked good, and sealed the deal. I want Serhiy Dzinziruk next. He lost to only the best, Sergio Martinez and I only want to fight the best. His name would be a good name on my resume."

Chris Gilbert stays undefeated

In the professional co-feature, Chris Gilbert (5-0 w/ 4KO's from Windsor, VT) stopped Antonio Fernandez (2-8-1 from Quincy, MA) in the forth round of a very one-sided welterweight fight. The rail thin Fernandez was knocked down in the first round by a powerful left hook and spent the rest of the fight in retreat mode, being stalked by the highly aggressive Gilbert. Fernandez used a flicking jab but just couldn't keep Gilbert off of him. In the fourth, Gilbert exploded with a right uppercut and Fernandez crashed to the canvas. Though he beat the count, he was ruled unfit to continue by the referee. Time of the TKO was 2:50.

On the undercard, several local amateur boxers entertained the crowd and got them warmed up for the pros. Results are as follows: 

Tevin Aleau (Providence, RI) beat Brandon Berry (West Forks, ME) by three round decision in a give and take super welterweight bout. Berry was knocked down in the second round but recovered quickly and came back with a strong body attack in the third round.

Nico Clow (Clearemont, NH) defeated  Ricky Ford (Claremont, NH) by three round decision in a closely contested light heavyweight bout. Joel Biship (Bingham, ME) won a three round decision over John Rosa (Lawrence, MA) in a hard hitting light heavyweight match. Zack Morel (New Hampton, NH) beat Phil Kyser by three round decision (Searsport, ME) in a spirited light welterweight contest. Rory Stapleton (Lancaster, NH) defeated Keenan Manzi (Keene, NH) by three round decision in a fast paced light welterweight bout.   

Wyatt Stearns (Searsport, ME) won a three round decision over Angel Tricoche (Haverhill, MA) in a light flyweight bout. Both young fighters went toe to toe from start to finish in a very entertaining opening match.

Images & Words by Jeffrey Freeman