Terror Squad, Lean Back—Rosado Stops Davis

The Mouthpiece
Terror Squad, Lean Back—Rosado Stops Davis
By: George Hanson Jr., Esq.

Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011
Venue: Bally’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Promoter: Peltz Boxing Promotions
Matchmaker: J. Russell Peltz
Coverage: www.gofightlive.com
Ring Announcer: Joe Antonacci
Referees: Allan Huggins, Lindsey Page & Samuel Viruet
Photos: www.christoneyphotography.com

There is a symbiotic relationship between boxing and music, similar to that of a bumble bees and flower. The bumble bee needs the flower to survive and vice versa. Maybe that is why music is blaring in boxing gyms as fighters practice the art of the sweet science. The marriage between the two disciplines is never more evident as during the ring walk from the dressing room into the ring. The songs selected are part of their teams as the fighters get into mental zones—ready for combat. Music and boxing have always had an unparalleled love affair. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the great Motown record label,

which produced notable megastars like Diane Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and the Jackson 5, was started by a professional boxer—featherweight Berry Gordy Jr. (12 wins – 3 losses – 2 draws – 8 kos) who revolutionized the music industry.

I pulled up my pants, grabbed my ringside seat queuing up Lean Back, the 2004 hit by Hip-Hop artist Fat Joe and his Terror Squad record label from the “recorder” in my head as the evening unveiled itself. Produced by Scott Storch, the track features Fat Joe and female rapper Remy Ma who rivals the big man’s gritty, grimy, braggadocios flow by riding the rhythm like jockey extraordinaire Calvin Burrell on Mine That Bird at the Kentucky Derby. Fat Joe formed Terror Squad in 1992 after meeting rapper Big Pun who signed in 1994. Unfortunately, the gregarious Big Pun passed in 2000, four years before Joe would reach the heights of musical success with his second album True Story going platinum and the hit single Lean Back reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2005.

Like Fat Joe, promoter J. Russell Peltz’s journey has been as equally interesting and monumental. Peltz has been at the top of the boxing charts for a long time beginning with “Bad” Bennie Briscoe, the policeman of the middleweight division, in 1969 at The Legendary Blue Horizon in North Philadelphia. In recent years he moved to The Arena in South Philadelphia and tonight he was taking over Bally’s with his own Terror Squad which consisted of “King” Gabriel Rosado, Jamal “Da Truth” Davis, Ronald Cruz and Bryant “Bye-Bye” Jennings. However, unlike Fat Joe who commissioned the services of producer Storch, Peltz doesn’t need anyone to “lay down his tracks” because not only is he the promoter, but he is also the matchmaker. He easily could borrow a line from the big man’s hit tune:

I did it all I put the pieces to the puzzle
This long, I knew me and my people’s was gon’ bubble.

Tonight, he did put the pieces to the puzzle and everyone who sojourned, including several fighters from the City of Brotherly Love, knew the show was “gon’ bubble.” We were not disappointed because the main event featuring “King” Gabriel Rosado (15 wins – 5 losses – 0 draws – 8 kos) and Jamaal “Da Truth” Davis (12 wins – 7 losses – 0 draws – 6 kos) for the interim NABA junior-middleweight championship was simply marvelous outdistancing anything

shown on the networks in the past six months. If you are a boxing manager and you have unanswered question about your fighter’s manhood and courage you avoid both Davis and Rosado. Fearless and obviously plucked from a distant time when fighters took on all-comers, these two care very little about who they face— just put your name on a contract.

There is an old adage that familiarity breeds contempt. Rosado and Davis have honed their skills in the tough Philadelphia gyms and know each other quite well. In this case familiarity bred respect and produced a tactical, entertaining chess match in the squared circle that not only saw the fighters trying to outduel each other, but also the trainers—Sharron Baker in Davis’s corner and Billy Briscoe, the man behind Rosado’s game-plan matching wits.

The fight can be summarized as follows: Davis jumped out to an early lead by capturing the first two rounds with some nifty boxing, using lateral movement a stiff jab and going downstairs to the body of the trailing Rosado who attempted to track him down with a probing range-finder of a jab. Many of the rounds were close with Rosado in hot pursuit. However, he was able to get Davis’ attention with some blistering right hands that were absorbed quite well. Davis played the role of the matador as Rosado came forward at times dropping his hands to bait the fleet-footed fighter into a slugfest. Similar to the opening

rounds, Davis took rounds seven and eight by boxing from a distance avoiding a war of attrition. At some point you have to stand and fight and both fighters traded big shots in rounds nine and ten with Rosado appearing to do more damage with his straight right. Conditioning was not going to be a factor in this fistic affair as both men had plenty of fuel in their tank for a 15-rounder. Early in the twelfth and final round, Rosado landed a blistering uppercut followed by a straight right that drove his opponent to the ropes. Seizing the moment he never hesitated and jumped on Davis like a fat man on a hamburger at a buffet following through with a combination that forced referee Huggins to call a halt at 1:01.

If you are a boxing aficionado and you haven’t seen Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s junior-welterweight Ronald Cruz (10 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 7 kos) find out the next time he is fighting and buy a ringside ticket. Cruz was impressive, stopping Dillet Frederick (7 wins – 3 losses – 3 draws – 4 kos) of Fort Myers, Florida by way of Nassau Bahamas at 2:00 of Round 3 in a scheduled eight-rounder. It is not that Cruz stopped Frederick, who is an excellent boxer, it is how he was able to do it—almost like a diabolical scientist in a lab. The great triple division champion Alexis Arguello was a master at constantly “touching” his opponents with punches to the head and body. These punches weren’t hard and did not have much power and here lies the mastery of what was unfolding —he was making you comfortable, getting you to fight at his pace while at the same time setting you up for a knockout. It’s like sitting in a closed garage relaxing in your car with the engine running. Before you realize what is happening you are overtaken by carbon monoxide—cancel Christmas. When his nemesis was comfortable being peppered with light punches, Arguello would turn up his punch volume, only difference is that he would be throwing knockout blows. It would be too late for the unsuspecting opponent who invariably would end up on the canvas.

Cruz, extremely poised for only ten fights, has mastered this technique. I was mesmerized as I watched him stay close to Frederick “touching” him to the body, driving an occasional shot to the kidneys. Cruz’s technique was not simply flawless it was rich in artistic refulgence. Thus after two rounds, Frederick, who works in youth ministry, was lulled into a false sense of security—almost like this was a paid sparring session as if he and Cruz were there to exchange friendly fire. In Round 3, switching to the southpaw stance, Cruz turned up the heat on his unsuspecting adversary landing a thunderous straight left

followed by an uppercut and right hook that sent the Bahamian to the canvas. Rising before referee Viruet could reach the count of eight, Frederick staggered again to the canvas reminiscent of heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick who was imploded by a Mike Tyson left hook only to rise and fall twice. Oftentimes, people would joke that Berbick fell three times from one punch. Viruet had no choice but to end the fight and declare Cruz the winner by technical knockout at 2:00.

Junior-welterweight Julio “Angel” DeJesus (4 wins – 2 losses – 1 draw – 3 kos) from Millville, New Jersey and Hector Collado (0 wins – 2 losses – 1 draw) from Union City, New Jersey fought for four rounds like two death row inmates destined for the electric chair, with a presidential pardon guaranteed to the victor. Forget the artistic beauty of two boxers engaged in a tactical match of gamesmanship and defensive wizardry played out in the ring, this was an unadulterated slugfest. They came out throwing bombs in the opening round with DeJesus finally sending Collado to the canvas with a straight right and a left hook. Collado rose immediately with the bell ringing to end the round.

Never dissuaded Collado roared back and had DeJesus out on his feet in Round 2 you just sensed that the end was near as Referee Page paid close attention. A wounded fighter is a dangerous foe because as soon as Collado was moving in for the kill, DeJesus connected with a blistering right hand that deposited the advancing fighter to the canvas for the second time. Landing on his back the fallen pugilist rolled immediately to a standing position showing that his chin was rock solid. The fire fight continued in Round 3 with Collado making another trip to the canvas compliments of another right hand. He would survive. At the conclusion of the bout, both combatants stood toe-to-toe as thought President Obama was on the phone waiting to speak to the winner. The result of the action-packed war was DeJesus won a unanimous decision by scores of 39-34 twice and 39-35.

Other Results: Featherweight Tommy Garcia (2 wins – 3 losses – 0 draws –1 ko) from Hartford, Connecticut who works in a warehouse back in his hometown proved the old adage that records don’t beat you, fighters do in stopping Philadelphian Paul Fernandez (5 wins – 3 losses – 2 draws – 3 kos) at 49 seconds of Round 3 of their scheduled four-round bout. I sensed that Fernandez was in trouble from the opening bell because Garcia showed boxing skills far advanced for someone with only five fights, not to mention a less than .500 record. Garcia, who studies the great Sugar Ray Robinson, was

detailed in his description of Robinson’s repertoire during our conversation in the dressing room. Robinson would have been proud of the half-hook/uppercut that connected with Fernandez’s chin, followed by the combination that slumped him into the ropes forcing Referee Page to call a halt.

Philadelphia heavyweight prospect Bryant “Bye-Bye” Jennings (5 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 3 kos) captured a unanimous six-round decision by scores of 60-54 twice and 59-55 over Chicago’s Theron “The Windy City Sniper” Johnson (5 wins – 3 losses – 0 draws – 1 ko). Jennings who sports size 14 fists came close throughout the bout in landing his vicious uppercut that sent John Bolden into orbit and dreamland back at The Legendary Blue Horizon in April of last year. However, Johnson was evasive and knew how to not allow Jennings to plant his back leg and deliver his explosive power.

Sporting a mini-afro and looking like a facial-double of former light-heavyweight champion John Conteh, undefeated junior-lightweight Tyrone Luckey (2 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 2 kos) of Middletown, New Jersey calmly boxed, picking his shots, landing a well-placed left hook and combination on tough southpaw Gustavo Dailey (4 wins – 10 losses – 0 draws – 1 ko) of Philadelphia, forcing Referee Viruet to waive off the action at 1:20 of the fourth and final round..
Dontre King (3 wins – 8 losses – 2 draws – 1 ko) of Cambridge, Maryland befuddled, out-landed and out-boxed DeCarlo Perez (2 wins – 0 losses – 1 draw – 1 ko) of Atlantic City, New Jersey in their scheduled four-round junior-welterweight bout. The awkward King struck from every perceivable angle making his unorthodox style his strength. He should have been awarded a unanimous decision. However, I forgot that we were in Perez’s hometown. I should not have been surprised when the Atlantic City native walked away with an undeserved majority decision by scores of 39-37 twice, the dissenting judge had it 38-38, a draw.

It was another sensational night of the sweet science in Atlantic City. You got the sense that all the professional fighters, trainers and managers from Philadelphia and New Jersey were in the building including IBF cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham fresh off his title defense, a unanimous 12-round decision over Enad Licina fourteen days ago in Germany. Accompanying the champ at ringside were his wife/manager Livvy Cunningham and their adorable daughter Kennedy. Also enjoying the action were Osnel “Prince” Charles, Yusuf Mack, Teon “The Technician” Kennedy, Rashad “It’s All Business” Brown, Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson, Julian Williams, William “The Gladiator” Gibbs, Rasheem “The Untouchable” Brown, Kelvin “Special K” Kelly, Demetrius Hopkins, Prince Badi Ajamu, Shumpert Caldwell, Julie Briscoe, Brother Nazim Richardson, Percy “Buster” Custus, Charles Ramey, Rodney Rice, Aaron Ford, Jerome “Silky” Jackson, Jimmy Williams, Doc Nowicki, Jimmy Deoria, and Stephen “Breadman” Edwards,.

It’s ironic that as I was leaving the casino, I exchanged pleasantries with “King” Gabriel Rosado who had his pants pulled up with the championship belt adorning his waist as the sheer weight of it forced him to lean back as he walked down the hall. Maybe he heard Fat Joe and the Terror Squad in his head.

Continue to support the sweet science, and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!

ghanson3@hotmail.com



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