FULL REPORT: Hart Wins Hard Fought Decision In Philly

1. JR. Jowett reporting from ringside: Philadelphia boxing is all but dead…but there’s still the great J. Russell Peltz. Much of the reason is the young stars leaving town…witness Danny Garcia. But on 3/18/16, Peltz packed the 2300 Arena for the return of Jesse Hart, who has developed a recognized presence as an amateur but appeared here only once as a pro.The heart of Philly fight fans is still beating, and they responded with a raucous, fanatic crowd. Early comers had their appetites whetted with a showing of Jesse’s dad, “Cyclone”, in a classic battle with legendary Bennie Briscoe.

The tall, rangy Hart, 167, 20-0 (16), appeared in a Mutt ‘n’ Jeff pairing with compact Dashon Johnson, 166 ¾, Escondido, CA, 19-19-4 (6). All that the noisy crowd expected, after heartlessly booing the visitor’s introduction, was a quick and flashy demolition. But with Peltz matchmaking, you don’t get off that easy. Indeed, Jesse shelled him at length in round one, but Dashon was still there. In round two, Jesse took to sticking and moving behind a long jab. Johnson still trudged stolidly forward, unable to find the range. Finding himself still there all the way into the third, the underdog seemed to gain confidence. Although stocky, Johnson is not an accomplished infighter. Rather, he just tried to get close enough to throw haymakers. These looped over Jesse’s shoulders and behind his head, making for some physically awkward moments but no threat to the hero. Meanwhile, Jesse paid him back and maintained control with jolting uppercuts inside.

Action degenerated into mauling in the fourth, but Hart salvaged the round and brought up his fans with a closing rally. Able to score well at short range despite long arms, Jesse got on a roll and punished Johnson to the bell. But after that rugged round, action reached its nadir in the fifth. Ringsiders were beginning to rethink the contest, as it looked like the underdog was too tough to be taken out but too limited both physically and in skills to offer a serious challenge. Little did anyone suspect that they were about to witness another Peltz classic!

Hart continued to hack away through round six, but as it came to a close, all heck broke loose and the contest would never be the same. Johnson herded Hart against the ropes and blasted him twice with crude, booming overhand rights. Unable to pull back far enough, Jesse was tagged, slid along the strands in a semi-limp condition, and was tagged again as the bell rang. Referee Ernie Sharif quickly pulled Johnson off, but Jesse was reeling and went down on his back from the effects of the blows. Not an official knockdown, because it came after the bell, but the fight had changed and the arena was now on high alert.

Johnson came out vigorously for the seventh and had Hart immediately hurt! But Jesse went into the trenches and battled back head-on, retaking the initiative with sharper punching as the two battled to a standstill while the crowd went crazy. The eighth was a grueling round, with Hart getting the better of the exchanges with uppercuts. The crowd, now in a total froth, chanted “Hard work!” and answered “Work hard!” throughout the session. It seemingly paid off as Hart got on another roll to the bell and had Dashon in trouble. Ref Sharif deserved credit for resisting the urge to become the determining factor and stopping it, both here and later. Both were spent but still trying in round nine, as gained momentum for a photo finish.

In the final session, Hart seemed to be just boxing his way to the finish as he poked out the jab, with left eye cut, while the desperate Johnson was trying to end it by making his body a missile. But with the fight nearly over, the warrior came out in Hart as he landed a series off counters on the wildly attacking Johnson, sending him back and then nailing him with a left uppercut that had him in trouble. But rather than retreating into a defensive posture, Dashon lashed back with all he had, landing a booming overhand right that sent Jesse reeling back and to the floor! The round was nearly over, and Hart seemed to be studying Sharif’s count, arising just in time to hear the welcome final bell. Although an outstandingly game effort by the underdog, there was no doubt that Hart had won. Julie Elizabeth Lederman seemed to have the best score at 97-92, while Dave Braslow had 98-91 and Lindsey Page demurred at 95-94, all for Hart. Famed trainer Freddie Jenkins once observed, “When you fight for Russell, if you can’t fight, you find out real fast!” Did Hart find out? The jury’s out on that, but it was a heck of an evening!

The show was a promotion of Peltz Boxing, BAM boxing, Joe Hand Prom’ns and Top Rank. A sizable contingent of the local fight community turned out, most notably “Kitten” Hayward and Jesse’s dad “Cyclone”, who worked his son’s corner. Cyclone observed that Jesse needs about seven more fights before taking on top competition.

The undercard on a steamy night proved a bit less than the typical gilt-edged Peltz offering. But the dramatic main event more than made up and fans as always got more than their share of excitement. The walkout six produced a dreadful decision…not in terms of the winner but in the scoring. Unbeaten prospect Mike Reed, 140 ¾, Waldorf, MD, went routinely to18-0 but was held at 10 KOs by Samuel Amoako, 139 ¾, Balto., 17-9 (14). Amoako made no discernible attempt to win, ran for his life while the solid, stalking Reed hammered away and hurt him repeatedly to the body. In the final round, Amoako poked out a few token punches. And for this performance, judges Allen Rubenstein, Lynne Carter, and Braslow gifted him with 54 points! For what? What are these judges taught in commission seminars? The correct score should have been 60-50.

A generally bad contest was an all-Garcia six between Ismael, 153 ¾, Vineland, 10-0-1 (4), and Carlos, 154 ¼, Aguado, PR, 10-15-1 (8). These guys spent the whole evening looking at each other and waiting for someone to do something. By the fifth, one ringside wag suggested that ring announcer Steve Mittman should render the decision as “…and the loser is…” Neither deserved to be called a winner. As it was, Ismael managed to occasionally spot some commitment by the lefty Carlos and respond with a counterpunch. This led Carter and Braslow to declare Ismael Garcia the winner 58-56, while Rubenstein had Carlos by the same score. The decision was fair, such as the contest was.

One sensational bout, which also dodged a bad decision by a split verdict, was a four between Gledwin Ortiz, 146 ½, Bronx, 3-1 (3), and Greg Jackson, 145 ¾, Phila., 6-2-1 (2). The first two rounds were trench warfare, with the sturdy Ortiz getting the better of clobber shots to the body. By late in the second, Jackson was seeking a way out and switched southpaw. He tried this starting the third and nearly got knocked out, with a left hook rocking him. Gledwin went all out for the KO while Greg fought back desperately and the arena went wild. Jackson slowly turned the action and then capped it with a left from southpaw stance that crumbled Ortiz along the ropes. Both fighters were so spent that the rest of the round fizzled. But they were back in a wild battle with the fight on the line in the final round. No science, just all-out mea n punching, with Jackson clearly getting the better despite a closing surge by Gledwin. Thankfully, Page and Carter had it for Greg, 38-37, while Rubenstein blew it at the same score, other way.

Another good contest was the opening four between debutees Isaiah Wise, 157, and Kareem Gladney, 154, both Phila. The tall Gladney used slicker skills to outbox the muscular Wise into the third. But Isaiah’s dogged pressure and body attack were finally wearing down Gladney’s movement. In the final round, he was all over Kareem, got him on the ropes, and leveled him with a right. Career over, 1:42. Blair Talmadge refereed.

Another debutee impressed, LaShawn Rodriguez, 157, Shirley, LI, against Jose Cortes, 156, W. Palm Beach, FL, 1-1, scheduled four. One slick move by Rodriguez in round two made the whole contest. He slipped aside a right and lashed back with a left hook to bury Cortes in a 1:54 KO.

Popular Scott Kelleher, 139 ¼, Phila. (Northeast), 4-0 (2), took just 59 seconds to get rid of hapless Josue Rivera, 140, Phila., 2-7 (2), in a scheduled four, and the brevity didn’t bother Kelleher’s fans a bit! Scott immediately doubled Rivera over with left hooks to the body, then pounded his head with rights to send him down. When a glancing left hook quickly sent the scurrying Rivera to his knees again, ref Shawn Clark waved it over.

Another popular Philly fighter, Victor Vasquez, is on the other end of his career and didn’t fare well in a six with dangerous veteran opponent Ramesis Gil of San Juan. Gil came in 135 ¼, and went 10-13-5 (6) with a TKO at 2:01 of the second over Vasquez, 135 ½, 19-11-1 (9). Gil came out firing on all pistons and was just too strong for the battled-wearied favorite. Victor was routed in a wild and woolly contest, getting hurt by a left hook and pounded down under a hail, and then dropped again, more from the general fury than a clean punch. Surviving round one barely, Vasquez quickly got spun sideways and went limp by a right, and Talmadge stopped it over angry booing from the disappointed fans.

In a listless six, Jerome Conquest, 132, Phila., 5-1 (1), won an all-southpaw pairing from aged Jules Blackwell, 132 ¼, Phoenixville, 8-5-2 (3). Blackwell boxed behind the jab, which Conquest was generally able to slip, but had trouble finding Jules. Later in the bout, Jerome was able to work him on the ropes enough to pick up the unanimous decision.