Boxing News : Sean Stowell : Reyes Makes Quick Work of Brown

Reyes Makes Quick Work of Brown
By Sean Stowell November 23, 2003)

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ANAHEIM, Calif., Nov. 22 - It didn't take Rolando Reyes any time at all to dispose of John Brown Saturday night at the Arrowhead Pond. In less than 15 seconds it was all over thanks to a right hand uppercut.

The lightweight Brown came at Reyes with wide punches and his head exposed. Seizing the opportunity, Reyes landed two hard rights that sent Brown to the canvas. When he sat up, his upper body was on the outside apron of the ring while his legs were inside. When he stood up, he was outside the ring and referee Jack Reiss told Brown to get back in the ring.

Still wobbly from the rights, Brown attempted to get back into the ring but tripped over the ropes on his way in and fell to the canvas at which time Reiss called a halt to the action.

Brown, now 23-11, with 11 KOs, has had a series of mishaps as of late. In August he was scheduled to fight Hector Camacho Jr., but disappeared from training and nobody really knows why. The Atlantic City native said his loss to Reyes, his fourth in a row, was a result of poor officiating.

"This was ridiculous," he said. "I was standing up saying OLet¹s fight."

"Reyes has nothing. He was slapping his punches and I slipped and went down."

Reyes, 20-2-2 with 13 KOs, of Oxnard, Calif., obviously disagrees with Brown's take on things.

"I was surprised it ended so quick," Reyes said of his victory. "I hit him with the uppercut which is my favorite punch. He was wide open and I got him with good, clean punches."

When asked if Reiss was premature in his stoppage, Reyes felt it was the right decision.

"I hit him and his legs weren't there," he said. "When he tried to come back through the ropes, his legs were really wobbly."

Super lightweight prospect Dmitriy Salita of Brooklyn improved to 16-0 with 11 KOs when he stopped Richard Conchas at 1:56 of the fourth round. The early rounds were a feeling-out process, with both fighters throwing jabs and moving.

In the third, Salita became frustrated with what he deemed as dirty tactics by Conchas and landed a punch low. Referee Ray Carona delayed in attending to Conchas so Salita moved in and landed a hard uppercut to the Aurora, Colorado fighter as he took a knee. Carona deducted a point from Salita.

In the fourth, Salita went to work hammering Conchas with both hands trapping him the corner, before Carona had seen enough.

"That guy was dirty," Salita said of Conchas. "I got upset and had to take him out."

With the loss, Conchas falls to 4-3 with 2 KOs.

In other action:

Super Lightweight Jesse Feliciano pulled a minor upset stopping Raul Franco at 2:12 of the seventh. Franco looked to be in control of the action for most of the bout, but got caught by a right hook that dropped him midway through the round. Feliciano pounced on Franco and landed a series of unanswered punches that prompted referee Reiss to call a halt to the action.

Feliciano, of Las Vegas, improves to 12-1-1 with 7 KOs, while Franco, of Anaheim falls to 22-5 with 15 KOs. Middleweight Jose Luis Zertuche of Mexico City goes to 12-1-1 with 9 KOs with his six round unanimous decision victory over Carl Cockerham of Las Vegas who drops to 12-9-2 with 4 KOs.

Mini flyweight Javier Lagos of Mexico City upped his record to 15-8-2 with 4 KOs as he scored a majority decision victory over Liborio Romero, of Tijuana, who dips to 10-4 with 7 KOs.

Before the main event World Boxing Organization light heavyweight champion Julio Gonzalez was presented with the title he won last month in Germany over Dariusz Michalczewski. Gonzalez made his professional debut at the Pond in 1997 and has never lost a fight at the venue.