Zero'd into the pugilistic traveling carnival ESPN2 serves up on hot summer Tuesdays ... this offering came our way from tank town of Niles, Ohio ... down the road a piece from good old bustling Youngstown, where some good ones once called home.
Main event featured Clarence "Bones" Adams, back from an 8-month hiatus, facing one Manuel Sepeda of 15-6-2 with no more than five scalps to his credit ... on paper, a good choice for Bones baby.
And why not a gimme I thought, guy has earned it ... a career 41-6-3 and 19 stoppages doing biz with nothing more than small arms weapons ... and over the years facing the likes of a Paulie Ayala, Orlando Canizales, Kevin Kelly and others.
Wanted seeing what, if anything, Adams has left on this return from a three-fite losing streak ... and what I saw was very little ... Bones was never known for speed and quickness ... and is now an old age 28.
Ok, styles makes fights ... they also make for lousy fights ... and what we get is two feather fisted featherweights going the identical counter-puncher route ... and then after two rounds of one for you and one for me it happens.
Round three ... the respective heads clash - we're talking hard enough to be the envy of long ago lightweight champ Paddy DeMarco of "B'klyn Billygoat" fame - and the red fluid isn't leaking, it's flat-out gushing like a busted water main.
Adams suffers nasty cut above left eye at the hairline ... only threat is its running into the orbit ... Sepeda incurs a nastier slice to the left eyelid ... and on that note we get an immediate coffee break ... enter local quack who orders the corner stools brought in and has gladiators take a seat while he grabs his 15 minutes of infamy.
Bout gets the green light for one more stanza ... and after a round four standoff, they go to the scorecards ... enters the books as majority draw with two judges seeing it at 38-38 and other guy scores for Adams by 39-37.
My take for Adams and Sepeda goes this way: Adams should now adjust the thinking cap ... go the ol' 3-time loser route while enjoying a life sentence retirement. Will always have that WBA Super Bantam strap to look back on. Sepeda? At age 30 looks good enough in the skills department to return to the prelim level ... maybe get a day job and be available for moonlighting at prelim level.
Post Scripts:
Local gentry wild about Kelly ... as in Kelly Pavlik an undefeated rookie middleweight that went to 18 wins and 17 stops ... takes out Rico Cason ( 16-7, 4KO's) ... left-hook body shot in second candle. Trust me, this kid is not what the resume suggests ... first legit test should burst the proverbial bubble.
Final note: Out of town referees going from bad to worse ... prelim third man in the ring lunatic Jimmy Villers ... forget not having a clue what to look for ... guy was a non-stop shouting fool ... took the "fight ya way out" orders to a whole new level. Prelim middles Romero Johnson and Jose Spearman went a distance pitch & catch battle of attrition and Villers would pounce on them instant they came together.
Semper fi,
GEL
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