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GIBSON'S ELITE PROMOTIONS SCORES ANOTHER SUCCESS WITH 'LATINO FURY' By Elisa Harrison, ringside |
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GIBSON'S ELITE PROMOTIONS SCORES ANOTHER SUCCESS WITH 'LATINO FURY' By Elisa Harrison, ringside |
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The opener -a six rounder between Freddy Soto, 135 lbs. and Felix Lora, 135-1/4 lbs.- certainly set the tone for the rest of the evening. Soto hails from the Bronx, New York, Lora is a native of the Dominican Republic now training with former kickboxing champion Eufrasio 'Franco' Gonzalez in Miami. This was an action packed fight; Soto the heavier puncher and Lora the aggressor throughout the bout. In the final round Felix Lora lost his mouthpiece, and in what had to be a Kodak moment, bent down, picked it up himself and attempted to put it back in his mouth. He even seemed upset at referee Jorge Alonso when the arbiter escorted him to his corner to get the piece washed and re-inserted. Talk about a guy eager to fight! At the end of six, the judges decided to call it a majority draw. It was not a popular decision, with the local fans pulling for Soto while others -yours truly included- felt Felix Lora had earned the decision. (My very unofficial scorecard had Lora winning 4 out of 6 rounds). Lora's record now 1-1-1, 0 KOs, Soto's 5-1-1, 3 KOs. Next up cruiserweights James Gonzalez (making his pro debut at age 36), and Robert Mosley (age 39) going a distance of 4 rounds. It was over 2:11 into the opening stanza, Mosley scoring the TKO in convincing fashion. He improves his record to 2-5, 1 KO. The least said about this one, the better... Popular Puerto Rican youngster Jose Roman (137-1/2 lbs.) was up next, with many, many fans in attendance wearing tee shirts bearing his likeness. His opponent was Henry Mitchell, (142-1/2 lbs.) fresh off a unanimous decision win only one week ago in Las Vegas. The bout scheduled to go the distance of four rounds. Of interest... Jose Roman and Felix Lora fought the fight of the night here this past January. Lora went down in the first round, Roman in the second; and in the end Lora scored a majority decision win. Back to Roman vs Mitchell... This was a great fight, and I must confess that while Roman showed convincing power and good technique, Mitchell -in only his third pro fight- displayed tremendous hand speed, a solid chin and all around boxing skills; I liked his forward aggressive style and the blinding hand speed. Roman would score heavily, and Mitchell would somehow weather the storm, often coming back with some thunder of his own, sending Roman on his bike. It was a very, very entertaining fight, and the decision was announced as majority decision win for Henry Mitchell. Bullshit! said the crowd, loudly too, and guess what happened? The announcer was informed that he had been given the wrong result, and Roman became the winner by way of a majority decision. Roman pushes his record to 3-1-1, 1 KO, while Mitchell drops to 1-2. Another local favorite, Damian 'Devo' Frias, coming back from an eleven month lay off due to broken hand was up next in a four rounder in the jr. welterweight division against Raymond Betancourt. The rust showed, Frias was unable to out-hustle Betancourt who scored a unanimous decision 40-36 all. The main event followed, and to the cheers of the crowd Puerto Rican Edwin Algarin stepped to the plate to meet Houston Texas Derrick 'The Dragon' Moon, a six rounder in the jr. welterweight division. Both men weighed in at 143 lbs., but that's where the similarities began and ended. Algarin entered the ring in star-like style, his outfit similar to the style Mitchell and Camacho have now made famous or should I say infamous? He wore different color socks to boot, and sun glasses. His opponent didn't even wear socks and his trunks seemed very weather-worn. Algarin several inches taller, with an obvious reach advantage. Moon's record reflected he had never scored a KO in 5 fights, while Algarin's résumé reflected 5 stoppages in 8 fights. A cake walk for Algarin you say? Not hardly! Moon came to fight, and although his skills need developing, and he was up against all odds, 'The Dragon' exposed Algorin's flaws in a major way. Often leaping to reach Edwin's head, and in a counterpunching style that seemed to confound his opponent, Derrick Moon took all Edwin Algarin had to offer and responded in kind, coming close to scoring at least a knockdown within the closing seconds of the fifth round, when he connected with a very sharp uppercut. There was controversy here as well... Algarin barely threw one punch midway through the opening round, and when he got tagged by the leaping Moon he opted to grab repeatedly; referee Armando Garcia warned him several times, and eventually took a point from him. Algarin was on point in rounds 2, 3 and 4; then it was Moon's turn to shine. After a strong showing in the fifth, Derrick decided to make a statement in the closing stanza. Moon dropped his hands and stuck his head out urging his opponent to tee off him, which Algarin did convincingly. 'The Dragon' took it and came back with a barrage of his own, prompting Algarin to hold and bend down several times, which cost him another point deduction by referee Garcia. This very entertaining fight was now in the judges' hands... It took a long time for the results to be tallied, the announcer finally calling it a split decision win for Derrick Moon... The crowd wasn't happy; Algarin's connections swarmed the Commission's table, insisting a mistake must have been made... The fighters were held in the ring, and after several minutes Moon was allowed to step down, while Algarin continued to pace the mat, perhaps hoping for a reversal of the decision. A very animated session continued between Edwin's people and the commissioners in attendance, but in the end, the decision stood, and rightly so. Fights are won in the ring, by the two men wearing the gloves, and in this case, Algarin had every advantage going in. He simply didn't bite the bullet; Moon was there for the taking, in front of him every second of every round. Let's not blame referee Garcia for Algarin's lack of determination; hopefully he will learn from this outing and buckle down and earn the win next time out. That's what Derrick Moon did, the hard way. He earned it! In the house, top rated jr. middleweight Kassim 'The Dream' Ouma who told us in no uncertain terms he wants Winky! Brand new IBF super middleweight champion Glen 'The Gentleman' Johnson took center stage to the cheers of the crowd. Johnson told us Calzaghe has been talking a lot of stuff, and he is going to England to take care of Joe. We are rooting for you champ, best of luck to you as well as Ouma in your future endeavors!
04-3-2004
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