The ESPN FNF May 12 offering, paired young and willing lightweights Edner "Cherry Bomb" Cherry and Monty Meza-Clay, in a busy affair that would finally close at 23 seconds of stanza 11.

The styles matched perfectly - the much taller at 5’8 Cherry peppering the shorter by six inches Clay, who never stopped firing away in his quest to slow the quicker handed "local" by way of Nassau in the Bahamas.

The Rankin, Penna fireplug had a few moments as in a good round three when he was able to go full throttle for the entire 3-minutes - but other than a swarming stanza six, it was Cherry with the better choreography.

The Cherry stretch drive began in candle eight as he potshot a clearly predictable Meza-Clay - and then in nine, when he briefly alternated working from both the port and starboard sides.

Number eleven it's Cherry quickly on the attack - the sudden and surprising onslaught a barrage of power punches that sends Meza-Clay stumbling backward with no answers - referee Brian Garry then quickly calls a halt at 23 seconds of the stanza.

Post Scripts: Edner Cherry ~ is now at 20-4-2, 9 KO’s - still a bambino at 23, but has shown the intangibles that have already stamped him credible main bout status at the small club venues. Handles adversity well - including earlier "loss" resulting from a late round point deduction when trespassing on enemy territory.
Needs no more than minor honing of the outside skills - and maybe them inside power combinations. Unlike the favored ones, this Cherry kid has clearly earned "prospect" tag - with contender label likely waiting down the proverbial pike.

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Show opened with middleweights Billy Lyell and Clarence Taylor in a scheduled 8-round affair - both pretty much underneath material. Taylor at age 34 enters wearing "hand picked" label with resumé 10-8-2, 5 KO’s and quickly displays the pros-cons of a near .500 batting average that only glitters in a baseball average.

Opponent Lyell still young at 21, could use the DOB to update the limited skills - he wins this one more by virtue of busier work ethic - but the aggressive two fisted mode is not going to cut it once facing serious opposition.

Scoring went unanimous Lyell 78-74, 78-74, 80-72 - my unofficial had it Lyell 78-74 in points and 6-2 under round by round method.

Post Scripts: Lyell (12-2, 2 KO) ~ Crowd pleaser, but more arm puncher than power puncher - needs a six months sabbatical from the ring for crash course on the outside game.
                          Taylor (10-9- 2, 5 KO’s) ~ Best I have at this point in time, the guy is working for a living.

Closing Comments: Referees ~ Dennis Debron works the prelim - don’t care a bleep if I got the spelling right - think any negative and you got this fish to the letter. Throw him back into the drink, not worthy of cooking.
                                                             Brian Garry ~ maybe owns a share or two of the A La Carte Event Pavilion - no problems with the Meza-Clay stoppage, it was all Cherry over ten candles at something like 8-2 in rounds. Although, it could possibly help, if Garry the entertainer was stripped of the live wire he wears.    

GEL-

Questions? Comments? Email George Elsasser