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Vendetti vs. Williams Twitter Recap

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By Alex Pierpaoli

Final bout of the night, Stevie Jane Coleman, 149lbs, of Columbia, CT, 0-1 versus Christina Barry, 147lbs, of Manitoba, Canada, 1-7 #CESBoxing #boxing
Stevie Jane Coleman has a lot of fans here to support her!

Bout 6, Carlos Perez, 140lbs, of New Haven, CT, 1-0 versus Tyriek Gainey, 134lbs, of Paterson, NJ, who will be making his pro debut. #CESBoxing #boxing
Both fighters have tired here in the third and there’s a lot more clutching and grappling. Perez looks to be in control going into the 4th and final round.

Main Event time!! @JimmyQSWilliams versus Greg Vendetti, 10 rounds, junior mddles #CESBoxing #WilliamsVendetti #boxing
Good first round from Jimmy Williams. He’s busier, jabbing, pressing. Vendetti scored more than once with a chopping overhand right Williams is going to have to watch out for. 1-0 Williams
Good second round for Williams. Vendetti smothering his own punches a bit by charging in a bit too close to leave himself punching room. 2-0 Williams
Big exchange to start the third. Vendetti is all hooks and Williams all straight shots. Pace slows a bit by middle of the third.
Both fighters scored with big shots in the third but Vendetti landed heavier & kept Williams moving, sometimes boxing, sometimes in retreat. 2-1 Williams
Williams back in control in round number 4. Vendetti landed a leaping left hook in the final minute but not enough to undo the basic boxing Williams did throughout the round.
Round five was close, Vendetti able to close the gap and force Williams to grab to keep away from his chopping lefts. 3-2 Williams
Huge round six for Greg Vendetti, he gets the better of a heated exchange, pelting Williams with lefts and rights along the ropes. Bloodying the nose of Williams. 3-3 even now on my card with Vendetti surging
Round seven was a close one, Judges may be seeing Williams’ movement as retreat rather than strategy. Vendetti certainly a lot more dangerous now in the back half of this fight.
@JimmyQSWilliams seems hesitant to throw that long-range, slashing right uppercut that was landing well for him early. Probably wise as Vendetti is sharper now.
Vendetti physically stronger than Williams but he’s bedeviled by @JimmyQSWilliams’ movement & one-two. He cannot hold any ground. Last round coming up.
@JimmyQSWilliams probably lost that final round by obliging Vendetti when he wants to slug his way through the final 40 seconds. The crowd sure loved it! He said there’d be fireworks! #CESBoxing #boxing
The scorecards are 97-93 for Vendetti, 96-94 for Williams, and an absolutely ludicrous card of 99-91 for the Unanimous Decision winner Greg Vendetti
The 99-91 scorecard in favor of Greg Vendetti is certainly not the most criminally egregious this #boxing addict has ever seen but it’s incredibly bad #shit

Up now, Nathan Martinez, 126lbs, of New Britain, CT, 6-1 (2) versus Francisco Dominguez, 126 1/2 lbs, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 7-11-1 (1) #CESBoxing #boxing #williamsvendetti
Three rounds into Martinez vs. Dominguez and it’s New Britain’s Nathan Martinez in control. Landing heavier in that 3rd round.
Martinez seems able to beat Dominguez to the punch at will. After such a long layoff, his last bout was in Dec of 2019, he may be looking to get these rounds in. Round 5 of 6, now.
Nathan Martinez picks up a lopsided Unanimous Decision victory over Francisco Dominguez #CESBoxing #WilliamsVendetti

Up now, Bout 3, Chordale Booker, 159lbs of Stamford, CT, 16-0 (7) versus Silverio Ortiz, 157lbs, of Yucatan, Mexico, 37-27 (18) #CESBOXING
Stamford, CT’s undefeated middleweight, Chordale Booker has Silverio Ortiz of Yucatan, MX, in retreat here in bout number 3 in Hartford, CT. Early results here
Lots of grappling, crowding, and muscling from Ortiz. Booker having a lot of difficulty landing more than one shot at a time & it’s frustrating him, badly. Ref. Schiavone warns both for rough stuff.
Schiavone has seen enough and takes a point from Ortiz for rabbit-punching in round 3.
Chordale Booker having trouble looking good here and here’s clearly frustrated. Ortiz has lost his last five fights by decision. That’s what he does. He’s not going to go quietly here. Ugly? so what.
Final round here and Silverio Ortiz is used to this. He’s still crowding Booker, cuffing at him with looping shots. Not effective but he’s still on his feet, still fighting.
That’s going to be a win for Chordale Booker, likely a very lopsided UD, but it’s very difficult to look good against an opponent like Ortiz. Booker last fought in November of 2020 so there’s some rust here too
“I know he was going to use veteran tactics…survival tactics,” Booker tells the assembled. Says he wants the winner of tonight’s main event. #CESBoxing #boxing

Bout 2 about to get underway, Hartford, CT’s Angel Gonzalez, 116lbs, of Hartford, CT, 5-0 (3) versus Juan Gabriel Medina, 117lbs of La Ramona, Dominican Republic, 12-7 (11), 6 rounds, #CESBoxing
Medina switching back & forth from orthodox to southpaw on Gonzalez. Has gotten him to back off a bit here in round 3. #WilliamsVendetti #CESBoxing
Gonzalez boxing better in the third, moving in and out on Medina, landing a lot cleaner now. 2-1 Gonzalez after 3, we’re going 6 #CESBoxing
Ref. Johnny Callas halts the action to replace the mouthpiece of Medina
Medina fighting from the orthodox stance now. Both fighters swinging for power now. They clinch, Callas separates them.
Round four was close. Medina looked to touch gloves at the end of the round but Gonzalez refused.
Medina retires on his stool before the fifth. Doctor Michael Schwartz was up on the apron talking with the corner. Unclear as to what caused the stoppage but it’s a TKO win for Angel Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is now 6-0 (4) and Medina falls to 12-8 (11) #CESBoxing

Greg Vendetti beats Jimmy Williams by Split Decision; Results from Hartford, CT

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By Alex Pierpaoli

Greg “The Villian” Vendetti defeated Jimmy “Quiet Storm” Williams by 10 round split decision at the Hartford Convention Center tonight. The official judges saw the bout 96-94 and 97-93 a piece, with a lopsided 99-91 from Judge Glenn Feldman* swinging things in favor of the Stoneham, MA, native. Vendetti versus Williams was the Main Event of a seven bout card that heralded the return of professional boxing to Hartford for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making the first defense of the WBC US Silver strap he won from Yuri Foreman in June, Jimmy Williams went right to work, circling Vendetti, jabbing at him and reddening his nose in the first round. Vendetti started slower, chopping at Williams with hooking shots from both sides. Williams seemed to control the action until midway through round three when they exchanged shots and Vendetti clearly did more damage. Williams did well when circling and firing out a jab or slashing the pressuring Vendetti with overhand rights and long right uppercuts. In round six, Vendetti came up big with power-shots, especially right hands to the jaw of Williams that seemed to hurt him. Williams got back to boxing in the seventh but Vendetti continued to walk him down, landing the heavier shots more often as the rounds wore on. In the tenth, with just a minute to go, both fighters slugged away, thrilling the prizefighting starved crowd of Hartfordites.

When the decision is announced it’s a puzzling one as two of the officials seemed to score what actually happened while the third, who gave Williams just a single round, was clearly an outlier. Whatever. There’s certainly been worse decisions.

With the victory, Greg Vendetti improved to 23-4-1 (12) and becomes the new WBC USNBC Silver titlist. Jimmy Williams, now 35 years old, dropped to 18-6-2 (6).

Bout 7, Stevie Jane Coleman, 149lbs, of Columbia, CT, battled Christina Barry, 147lbs, of Manitoba, Canada, through 4 in the final bout of the night. Coleman outworked her larger opponent throughout, delighting a large group of fans who stuck around to support her. After four the officials see it 40-36 x 3 all in favor of Stevie Jane Coleman, now 1-1. Christina Barry dropped to 1-8.

Bout 6, Carlos Perez, 140lbs, of New Haven, CT, 1-0 versus Tyriek Gainey, 134lbs, of Paterson, NJ, who will be making his pro debut. All three judges saw the bout the same at 40-36 in favor of Carlos Perez, now 2-0. Gainey backs his way into the pro-ranks, now 0-1.

Bout 4, Nathan Martinez, 126lbs, of New Britain, CT, hammered away at 6-1 (2) Francisco Dominguez, 126 1/2 lbs, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, for six rounds but was unable to put him down. Maintaining consistent pressure throughout, Martinez kept Dominguez on the defensive, punishing him with repeated left hooks to the body. Returning to the ring for the first time since December of twenty-nineteen, Martinez put in a grinding effort that thrilled his enthusiastic fans.

When the scorecards were read the decision was unanimous in favor of Martinez, all 3 judges seeing it 60-54. In victory, Martinez raises his record to 7-1 (2) while Dominguez returns to Mexico at 7-12-1 (1).

Bout 3, Chordale Booker, 159lbs of Stamford, CT, 16-0 (7) versus Silverio Ortiz, 157lbs, of Yucatan, Mexico, 37-27 (18). After a sloppy and somewhat tedious start, Ortiz started punching with both hands to Booker’s body in the fifth and both fighters rumbled at close quarters. Booker got the better of the exchanges in the fifth and benefited from a point deduction ffrom Ortiz for rabbit-punching in the fourth. Booker was able to sting Ortiz at the start of the sixth, to the delight of his fans, but by round’s end Ortiz’s survival tactics of clutching and muscling got both fighters a stern warning to knock it off from Ref. Danny Schiavone. In the seventh round Ortiz lands a hard low blow that hurts Booker and he opens up with power shots when the bout continues but the bell sounds. Booker was able to counter the cuffing, mugging attack of Ortiz in the eighth and when the decision is announced it’s all Chordale Booker. All three judges scored it 80-70 for Booker, now 17-0 (7), and Ortiz falls to 37-28 (18). Afterwards, in the in-ring post-fight interview, Booker says he watched video of Ortiz and expected him to try to survive, and he hopes to fight the winner of tonight’s main event.

Bout 2, Angel Gonzalez, 116lbs, of Hartford, CT, battled Juan Gabriel Medina, 117lbs of La Ramona, Dominican Republic, in a scheduled 6 rounder. Gonzalez was the busier fighter in a cautious first round. With a minute gone in the second Medina got Gonzalez’ attention with a right to the jaw. Medina switched back and forth from orthodox to southpaw in the second, giving Gonzalez lots of different angles. Both fighters land bigger shots in the fourth and Medina retires on his stool before the start of round number five.

Angel Gonzalez improves to 6-0 with 4 wins inside the distance and Juan Gabriel Medina falls to 12-8 (11).

Bout 1, Ramon Caraballo, 146lbs, of New Britain, CT, made his pro debut versus Samuel Lajoie-Dery, 146lbs, of Montreal, Canada, 1-0 (1). Caraballo was swarmed with straight punches from Lajoie-Derry in the first and appeared stunned after a hard right hand. In round two both fighters opened up with both hands and the southpaw, Caraballo, scored a knockdown with a right hook. By the end of the second it was Lajoie-Derry landing heavily again with Caraballo on the defensive. In the third, Caraballo roared out of his corner and scored another knockdown. Again, Caraballo seemed to gas-out in the final minute of the round and Lajoie-Derry surged back, keeping an arm-weary Caraballo on the defensive when the bell sounded. The fourth and final round was non-stop punching with the edge to Lajoie-Derry.

When the scorecards are read the unanimous decision went to Ramon Caraballo, by scores of 38-36 x 2 and 38-37. Caraballo enters the ranks as a prizefighter, now 1-0 while Lajoie-Derry, despite an incredible amount of punches thrown, drops to 1-1 (1).

*Note: an earlier version of this story misidentified the judge who scored the fight 99-91 in favor of Vendetti as Ken Ezzo. That was incorrect. Glenn Feldman scored it 99-91. Apologies to Ken Ezzo.

Weigh-In results for tonight’s bouts in Hartford, CT

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Main Event: Jimmy Williams, 152 1/2 lbs, of New Haven, CT, 18-5-12 (6) versus 

Greg Vendetti, 153 lbs, of Stoneham, MA, 22-4-1 (12)

Nathan Martinez, 126lbs, of New Britain, CT, 6-1 (2) versus 

Francisco Dominguez, 126 1/2 lbs, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 7-11-1 (1) 

Chordale Booker, 159lbs of Stamford, CT, 16-0 (7) versus 

Silverio Ortiz, 157lbs, of Yucatan, Mexico, 37-27 (18) 

Angel Gonzalez, 116lbs, of Hartford, CT, 5-0 (3) versus 

Juan Gabriel Medina, 117lbs of La Ramona, Dominican Republic, 12-7 (11)

Ramon Caraballo, 146lbs, of New Britain, CT, makes his pro debut versus 

Samuel Lajoie-Dery, 146lbs, of Montreal, Canada, 1-0 (1)

Stevie Jane Coleman, 149lbs, of Columbia, CT, 0-1 versus 

Christina Barry, 147lbs, of Manitoba, Canada, 1-7

Carlos Perez, 140lbs, of New Haven, CT, 1-0 versus 

Tyriek Gainey, 134lbs, of Paterson, NJ, who will be making his pro debut.

Jimmy Williams says to “expect fireworks.”

Tickets range in price from $47 to $157 and are available through Showclix

Jimmy Williams to face Greg Vendetti at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on Friday Night

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by Alex Pierpaoli

Fresh from the biggest win of his creer, a Majority Decision over Yuri Foreman, West Haven’s Jimmy Williams returns to CT to face Greg Vendetti in the 8 round main event of a CES Boxing card this Friday night. Williams-Vendetti is the headline attraction of a scheduled 8 bout card featuring regional talent, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Rhode Island based Classic Entertainment & Sports (CES Boxing).

Jimmy Williams, now 18-5-12 (6), last saw action on June 19th, when he beat former 154 pound titlist Yuri Foreman after their first scheduled bout was cancelled by COVID19 on the day of the fight.

“They tried a lot of veteran moves,” Williams smiled, recounting the last minute postponement and subsequent explanation of their first scheduled bout on March 6th of this year. Williams felt Foreman’s team expected to see him show up looking like a guy who suffered back-to-back losses–Williams was stopped, brutally, by Brandun Lee on October 7th, 2020, and then he dropped a close unanimous decision to Esteban Villalba just under two months later on December 5th. But at the weigh-in for the first scheduled bout with Yuri Foreman, Jimmy looked great. The next day postponement due to testing positive for COVID-19 also gave Team Foreman two more months to prepare once the bout was rescheduled.

When they met on June 19th, Williams had history in mind. A native of Plainfield New Jersey, Williams got his boxing start in Joe Greer’s Boxing Academy and it was there where he sparred Andrew “Six-Heads” Lewis, Kendall Holt, Frankie Toledo and one, Yuri Foreman.

“Yuri was always a beautiful boxer,” Williams said. “He came to support our whole team [Joe Greer’s Boxing Academy] on an amateur show where I boxed.” Williams didn’t know if Foreman remembered him when that bell to start round one rang, but Jimmy remembered Yuri. “I sparred him when I had about 3 amateur fights, at 13 or 14 years old.”

Williams celebrated his 35th birthday on the 16th of this month, and along with his partner Christina, has twin 4 year old boys, Austin and Logan. “They both wanna spar me,” he laughs. “They never get tired!” Both sons watched the recent Jermell Charlo versus Brian Castano fight with him but it’s Austin who’s more interested in the Sweet Science. “Austin watches Ali-Frazier and Logan loves monster trucks.”

After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down professional sports, Showtime Boxing returned to the Mohegan Sun Arena and broadcast numerous fight cards from a crowd-less “Bubble.” There, Williams faced undefeated knockout artist Brandun Lee, almost one year ago.

“It was weird,” Williams said. “It was like you were at a funeral. You could hear the cameras.” Williams also described training during the pandemic has been tricky at times. “You have to watch out who you spar with and who you’re in the gym with.”

“We sparred 46 rounds for this fight,” Williams said. The weight limit for the fight is 154 pounds and Williams sees no trouble in making it. “I walk around at 62 or 63 and kinda eat what I want.” Williams remembers struggling to get under the welterweight limit. “I don’t know how I did it,” he smiles, shaking his head.

Now working with head trainer Dave McDonagh and co-trainer Benny Little, Williams trains out of Danbury’s Champs Boxing Club. He’s also learned that getting away from his family hardens him before a fight and ensures he gets the right amount of sleep which is not always possible in a house with two four year old boys. As difficult as it is for his family, moving in with his trainer for the final two weeks of camp has paid off. “For the Yuri fight I got away. For this fight I got away. In order to see the best version of yourself you’ve gotta sacrifice.”

In Greg Vendetti, his opponent Friday night, Williams expects to see the best version of The Villain possible. “I’ve never met him,” Williams said. “I like what he brings to the table. He fought Lara. He beat Khiary Gray. I was ringside for that. He comes forward, I ain’t gotta look for him. There’s gonna be fireworks.”

His opponent, Friday, Greg Vendetti, of Wakefield, MA, is 22-4-1 (12), and last fought almost thirteen months ago versus Erislandy Lara, one of the top five junior middleweights in the world, according to the TBRB.org. 

Tickets range in price from $47 to $157 and are available through Showclix

Seven other fights scheduled on the 8-bout card include:

feather (126lbs) Nathan Martinez, of New Britain, CT,  6-1 (2), fights 6 rounds versus Francisco Dominguez, 7-11-1 (1) of Ciudad Juarez, Chiuahua, MX 7-11-1

bantam (118lbs) Angel Gonzalez, 5-0 (3), of Hartford, CT via Longwood, FL, fights 6 rounds versus Juan Gabriel Medina, 12-7 (11), of the Dominican Republic

female welter (147lbs) Stevie Jane Coleman, 0-1, of Columbia, CT fights 4×2 minute rounds versus Christina Barry, 1-7, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA.

heavy (201+lbs) Timothy Hatfield, of Providence, RI, debuts in a 4 rounder versus Kaleb Slaughter, 1-2-1, of Cincinnati, OH

Pending Approval

super light (140lbs) Carlos Ojeda Perez, 1-0 fights 4 rounds versus TBA

welter (147lbs) Ramon Caraballo debuts in a 4 rounder versus Samuel Lajoie-Dery 1-0

middle (160lbs) Chordale Booker, 16-0 (7) of Stamford, CT, fights 8 rounds versus Silverio Ortiz, 37-27 (18), of Merida, Yucatan, MX