By Alex Pierpaoli
Russia’s Ali Ismailov remained undefeated last night, scoring a close unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Charles Foster in the 10 round main event of a ShoBox light heavyweight triple-header at Turning Stone Casino on the eve of the International Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. Ismailov and Foster banged, shoved and grappled their way to the final bell in front of a crowd of boxing cultists in the area for the annual pilgrimage to just up the rode in Canastota. The crowd was absolutely peppered with Sweet Science Hall-of-Famers from both inside the ring and out, like Roberto Duran, Riddick Bowe, promoter Russel Peltz, broadcaster Al Bernstein, ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr and many, many more.
In the two supporting televised bouts, Colombia’s Juan Carrillo defeated Richard Vansiclen of Seattle, WA by majority decision and Australian Clay Waterman turned back the challenge of Kenmon Evans of Florida by unanimous decision.
Read on, below, for detailed round-by-round coverage of the entire eight bout card.
The ShoBox Main Event pits Charles Foster, 172 1/4lbs, of New Haven, CT against Ali Izmailov, 174lbs, of Russia via Detroit, Michigan and the man in charge is Referee Charlie Fitch. Izmailov crowding Foster from the start. Izmailov very aggressive and taking Foster’s jab away by getting inside so quickly. Foster fires a long uppercut to Izmailov’s body that lands flush. Izmailov lands a right hook of his own to Foster’s body at the end of the first. There’s a mouse under the right eye of the southpaw Foster from the left hook of Izmailov. Foster using the right jab more as a measuring stick to keep Izzmailov back than he is using it as a punch. Izmailov getting around it with left hooks to the ribs of Foster. Foster shoots the straight left in with some success in the second and third. He’s standing in the corner after round three, hard to know what to read into that, if anything. Foster gaining lots of confidence in the fourth after landing several combinations and he’s dropping his hands and urging Izmailov to come forward. Izmailov comes out more aggressively in the fifth. Izmailov lands a straight right that puts Foster down in the final seconds of the round. Foster, wisely, takes the mandatory 8 count and rises, Ref. Fitch let’s it continue and the bell sounds. Izmailov landing heavier now and seems suddenly meaner, knowing he can hurt Foster. Ref. Charlie Fitch goes to the corner of Foster and warns him for pressing down on the back of the neck of Izmailov. Seemed like he took a good close look at Foster too, checking on his condition. Foster continues to loop his arm around the neck of Izmailov and trainer John David Jackson complains to the ref about it an before the bell he tells his charge, when he does that to you dig at him to the belly underneath. When they clinch in round number 8 Izmailov throws Foster to the canvas and gets a stern warning for it from Fitch. Izmailov goes to touch gloves before they return to boxing and Foster refuses to do so. By the end of the round Foster has connected with a couple solid rights. Foster doing a lot of grabbing in the ninth. Final round, lots of grappling at the start and both fighters are warned by Fitch to clean it up. Ref. Charlie Fitch is going to be sore tomorrow from pulling these guys apart all night. We’re going to the scorecards.
The decision is unanimous in favor of Ali Izmailov by scores of 95-94, 96-93 x 2. With the win, Ali Izmailov goes to 11-0 (7) while Charles Foster loses his first bout, now 22-1 (12).
Bout 7, in the scheduled 10 round, ShoBox co-feature, Richard Vansiclen, 172 1/2lbs, of Seattle, WA, battles Juan Carrillo, 174lbs, of Barranquilla, Columbia, and the man in charge is Referee Benji Esteves. This is an all southpaw contest and Carrillo has brought a lot of swagger into this ring. He’s more aggressive and there’s a hands-low arrogance to the way he’s coming forward and pressing the action. Vansiclen able to snake in a right hand in the final minute of the second and he “fires back” in the attitude department when Carrillo misses wide and Vansiclen looks left and right as if to say “what are you shooting at?” Carrillo puts Vansiclen down with a counter right hook early in round three. Vansiclen lowers his head, comes forward and belts Carrillo with two hard body shots. Vansiclen looks to have recovered but Carrillo lands a straight left that freezes Vansiclen in his tracks. Carrillo got the extra point in that third for the knockdown but Vansiclen definitely rebounded well and even landed a thumping left of his own in the final minute. Carrillo landing uppercuts now and that may have changed things. Wow! Under fire and stunned, Vansiclen connects with a big shot of his own and scores a knockdown. Carrillo gesturing in his corner as if it was nothing. Carrillo walks around with his chin in the air and in that 4th he paid for it. Carrillo came back strong in round number five. His uppercut, when he throws it, gets Vansiclen to open up to take more shots. Still a lot of bounce in the legs of Vansiclen but Carrillo is lumping him up to the head. Carrillo landing lots of heavy shots but Vansiclen is still trying. Carrillo unable to land a heavy flurry to get Vansiclen in trouble but he’s been blasting him with bombs all night. Save for the knockdown round, it’s unlikely Vansiclen has gotten the best of a whole three minutes. Last round coming up and it would be good for Carrillo if he could close the show with a stoppage here. And for Vansiclen, preventing Carrillo from doing that would be at least a moral victory. Vansiclen goes the distance and holds his hands up at the final bell, not because he could possibly think he won, but because he’s still standing.
The officials see it, 94-94, 95-93 x 2 in favor of Juan Carrillo which shows why this observer is NOT a judge because that didn’t look like a close fight to me at all.
With the win Juan Carrillo is now 11-0 (8) while Richard Vansiclen loses his first fight, now 13-1-1 (6).
Bout 6, in the scheduled 8 round ShoBox opener, Clay Waterman, 173 1/2 lbs, of Logan City, Queensland, Australia, goes up against Kenmon Evans, 173 1/2lbs, of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, the man in charge is Referee Mark Nelson. Evans, taller and longer, gets things started in round one with a busy jab from the hip. Evans landed a solid right behind the jab in the final seconds of the first while Waterman had to several for a couple landed body shots in the first. Waterman trying to work his way inside in round two, jabbing to the body and weaving back and forth on his way in. Evans looks to be in control through two. Both fighters are listed at five eleven but Waterman looks to be at least 3 inches shorter than Evans. Waterman boring his way in and cracking Evans in round three. Waterman able to beat Evans to the punch with his own jab on occasion, and he’s connecting with heavier blows in the fifth. Not a lot of really clean punches, save for jabs, landing for either fighter here. Waterman has to get the edge in power but it’s been Evans’ jab that’s been more consistent. Waterman cracks Evans with several big left hooks as he reels back along the ropes in round number 6. Waterman may be wearing Evans down. Two rounds to go in this bout. Waterman gets lots of cheers for a lunging left hook that causes Evans to shake his head, as if to say no, no, that didn’t hurt. Waterman goes to the body again to start the final frame and it’s another very hard left hook to the belly that Evans just absorbs well. Evans doing more clinching here in the final two rounds and Waterman doesn’t care for it and sloughs him to the canvas in a neutral corner. Both these guys are tired but Evans looks to be the one who has wilted quite a bit. There’s the bell to end the eighth and we will go to the scorecards.
The officials see it 77-75 and 78-74 x 2 all in favor of Clay Waterman. Kenmon Evans falls to 10-1-1 (3) while Clay Waterman wins his ShoBox debut, now 11-0 (8).
Bout 5, in a welterweight 8 rounder, Paulo Cesar Galdino, 142lbs, of Sao Paolo, Brazil goes up against Marvelous Mykquan Williams, 141lbs, of East Hartford, CT. Williams landed heavily in round number one, reddening the face of Galdino and snapping his head back with hard uppercuts. Galdino landed a right of his own but Williams seemed unfazed. Galdino sneaks in a hard right hand in the second round that surprised Williams. Williams throwing and landing lots of punches but Galdino fought a much better round two. Galdino doing some clever feinting to start round three. Williams looks to be swelling a bit around that right eye from the lefts the southpaw Galdino keeps sending in. Big round three for Galdino who looks like a different fighter now than he did in round one. Williams was scheduled to face Ryan Blue Chip Martin an orthodox fighter and now he’s facing a late substitute southpaw with less than a week’s notice. Galdino able to get off 3 to 5 straight punches in bursts against Williams who is covering up behind a high guard and blocking some but many are getting in. Williams reddened around both eyes and Galdino drives Williams back into a corner and blasts him. Marvelous Myke is going to have to dig deep here because it’s likely he’s fallen behind in rounds. Going into round six and it’s Galindo who is in control here, could be up 3 rounds to 2, maybe 4-1. The first was Williams biggest round and it looked like this might not be a long fight, since then it’s been mostly Galindo. In the sixth, Williams connects with a big right that sends Galindo back but he’s too tired to follow up, seconds later Galindo lands with a hard right hook of his own. Looks to be an abrasion on the forehead of Williams. Williams landed heavier in the seventh but these rounds are close and it’s Galindo pressing the action. Williams landed in spots in the final round but Galindo has him retreating again before the final bell. It’s not a true measure of a who won a fight but comparing the faces of these two fighters it’s Mykquan Williams who is all lumped up and Galdino who looks a bit red-faced after 8 tough rounds. This observer saw that for the late sub, Galindo, 5-3 albeit there’s lots of distractions here in press row and trying to write down what’s happening. The officials see it 77-75, and 76-76 x 2. Galindo stands on the ropes in the neutral corner to a rousing applause. That probably gives a sense of who this crowd thought won this fight. The ring announcer did not say who the 77-75 card had winning.
With the draw Marvelous Myquan Williams goes to 19-0-2 (8) while late substitute Paulo Cesar Galindo can fly home to Sao Paulo, Brazil with head held high, now 12-7-2 (8).
Bout 4, in a scheduled six rounder, Jonathan De Pina, 138 1/2lbs, of Boston, MA, goes up against Bryce Mills, 138 3/4lbs, of Liverpool, NY. Huge cheering section here for Mills and De Pina’s hometown of Boston got some fierce boos. Beautiful double left hook to the body and the head from Mills has De Pina on the run. Both fighters look to be in excellent shape but it’s Mills who took control in the second half or the opening round, landing heavy shots to the ribs of De Pina. Mills very aggressive but De Pina held his own in the second, stopped circling away and countered Mills with several straight rights of his own. Mills likely ahead, though, two rounds to none, in this observer’s opinion. De Pina has a helluva chin because Mills is landing lots of clean hard shots with little visible effect in round three. De Pina doing too much waiting to counter and his corner is scolding him for it. “Don’t wait!” His trainer keeps shouting. Unlikely De Pina has won a round yet but Mills is breathing heavily around his mouthpiece, throwing lots of punches and pressing the action. De Pina is cut around the right eye, possibly from the left hooks Mills keeps landing on that spot. De Pina countered Mills several times in that fourth round but it’s more the energy Mills has expended that saw him slow a bit. Ref Mark Nelson calls time a few seconds into the fifth so Mills corner can replace his mouthpiece. This crowd really cheering wildly for Mills who may have hurt De Pina and had him on the run in the fifth. But De Pina appears to be looking to land a single hard counter and that strategy hasn’t paid off at all thus far. He even switched to southpaw and kept his hands at his sides hoping to coax Mills into walking into something but to no avail. Blood dripping from the mouth of De Pina in the sixth, Mills still pressing and De Pina ties him up in a headlock and is booed heartily by this crowd. And there’s the bell to end this one. Tremendous effort from Mills who fought this whole fight in fourth gear. It will be interesting to hear these scorecards as it didn’t look like De Pina was able to win a single round. The officials had 59-55 and 60-54 x 2 all in favor of Bryce Mills.
Mills goes to 12-1 (4) while De Pina returns to Boston at 12-2 (5).
Bout 3, Maceij Sulecki, 169 lbs, of Warsaw, Poland, battled Angel Hernandez, 168.5lbs, of Gary, Indiana in a scheduled 8-rounder that ends seconds into the second round when Sulecki takes Hernandez out with a bomb. Ref. Benji Esteves reaches the count of ten at :16 of round two. Sulecki controlled the opening round and Hernandez looked hurt several times and did lots of clutching and mugging to make it through the first three minutes.
In victory Sulecki raises his record to 31-2 (12) while Hernandez falls to 19-22-1 (14).
Bout 2, Walter Burns, 214 1/2lbs, of Detroit, MI, stopped Moses Johnson, 252lbs, of Huntington, NY, at 1:57 of the opening round.
Burns raises his record to 7-0 (5) and Johnson leaves with his first loss, now 9-1-2 (7).
In the first fight of the night, debuting heavyweights, Fabio Rodriguez, 223 3/4lbs, of the Bronx, NY and Robert Hernandez, 247 3/4lbs, of Rochester, NY, rumbled through a four rounder that saw Rodriguez come away with a unanimous decision victory by three scores of 39-37.
Rodriguez enters the pro ranks at 1-0 and Hernandez backs in at 0-1.
Fist Things First 