[Lincoln, Rhode Island – Ringside by Pattee Mak – July 17, 2015]
Not a good night for “Mr. Providence” Vladine Biosse of nearby Providence, Rhode Island vs. hard-hitting Chris Chatman of Jersey City, New Jersey . Round 1 Referee Joey Lapino gives Biosse the count, I couldn’t see 100% from my angle but it appeared Biosse stepped on the foot of Chatman causing him to fall. Unfortunately if the ref calls it, the judges need to judge accordingly. Chatman controlled most of the fight. It was back n’ forth action. Chatman at times kept working the jab, while the fighters tried to keep the fight in the center of the ring. Chatman continually fainted on the punches. Vladine just didn’t seem his usual fighting self in the ring. He’s usually a bit more busier. The judges scored the bout 96-93; 95-94; 97-92 in favor of Chatman. Chatman increases to 13-5-1 and Biosse decreases to 15-7-2.
Welterweights: Nick “Nice” DeLomba of Cranston, R.I. vs. southpaw Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez, Jr. of Union City, NJ. Round 1, what a fantastic round for Rodriguez, Rodriguez landed a left on DeLomba, DeLomba staggers and referee Johnny Callas gives him the count. Rodriguez continues the action and lands more lefts on DeLomba. DeLomba is getting tested now. Round 2. Cut underneath the eye of DeLomba. Round 3. Back and forth action. Both landing great shots. Round 4 Rodriguez has a cut under his right eye. DeLomba likes banging off the ropes. Round 5 DeLomba perfectly lands a right on Rodriguez and follows up with a barrage of punches. Referee Johnny Callas jumps in and stops the fight. 1:24 of round 5. DeLomba wins by TKO and increases to 8-0 and Rodriguez decreases to 12-3. This was by far the best fight of the night.
Light Heavyweights: Thomas Gifford from Hot Springs, Ark vs. Edwin Espinal of local Providence, RI. Espinal brought his fan club with him. During round 2, Espinal lands an overhand right at and drops Gifford to the canvas. Referee Joey Lapino calls a halt to the fight at 1:33 of the round. Espinal increases to 7-0, 5 Kos and Gifford decreases to 2-3-1, 1 Ko.
Heavyweights: Jean Pierre Augustin of Lawrence, Mass vs. Solomon Maye of New Haven, Conn. Rematch!! Some thought Maye was victorious the last time these both fought on April 3, 2015 but the scorecards read a majority draw. Round 1 Maye is looking for the knockout. Round 3 Maye lands a great left hook on Augustin. Maye moving slowly in the ring waiting to land. I thought the 1st fight was more exciting. Judges scored the bout 39-37; 39-37 and 40-36 all for Augustin. There were no knockdowns, some holding, nothing too exciting. You can also catch Augustin in the upcoming Vinny Paz movie “Bleed for This”.
Super Lightweights: Julio Perez making his pro debut out of Framingham, Mass vs. Rafael Francis of Boston, Mass. During the opening round there was too much holding going on. Perez just out boxed Francis. Judges scored the bout 39-37; 39-37 and 40-36 all for Perez.
Middleweights: Up and coming Khiary Gray-Pitts of Worcester, Mass vs. Antonio “Lino Chaves” Fernandes of Brockton, Mass. This is what I like to see. Get in and get out of the ring. During round 1 Gray-Pitts lands a right to Fernandez, Fernandez get the count, right before the end of round 1 at 2:58 Gray-Pitts goes to the body and Fernandez didn’t get saved by the bell. Gray-Pitts keeps his perfect record of 8-0, 6 Ko’s and wins by TKO. Fernandez who is always ready to fight goes the other way 5-22-2.
Welterweights: Scott “Smooth” Sullivan of New Bedford, Mass vs. Angel Valdez of nearby Providence, R.I. Valdez came out from the opening bell being the aggressor of the two. Sullivan’s face is looking more like a tomato. Round 2 Valdez got caught with an upper cut and Sullivan followed through with additional punches. Valdez gets the count. Valdez is just eating too many punches. Round 3 Valdez has a cut on the left eye. I can hear “Sucra” Ray Oliveira giving Sullivan great commands from the corner. All three judges scored the fight 39-36 in favor of Sullivan by unanimous decision.
Lightweights: Jacob Solis of Lawrence, Mass vs. Matt Doherty of Salem, Mass. Both fighters developed cuts near the right eye. Referee Johnny Callas in round 3 takes away a point from Solis for holding. Continuous back and forth action. During round 4 there was more excessive holding. Judges scored the bout 38-37; 38-37 and 40-35 all in favor of Doherty by unanimous decision.
Welterweight “Jabbin” Joe Wilson, Jr. of Hartford, Conn was scheduled to fight on this card but due to an eye injury Wilson was not allowed to fight. Doctor’s orders are doctor’s orders.
Venue: Twin River, Lincoln, Rhode Island
Promoter: CES Boxing/Jimmy Burchfield
Event: Rhode to Redemption
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
