FIGHT REVIEWS
REVIEWS OF FIGHTS 1-10 FROM EVENT 118 HELD ON 07/06/09
Fight 1: SAYAKA HOSHIZONO UD RAQUEL “The Rattler” CASILLAS
Description: (8 Rounds) Opening the show on tonight’s card are two fighters from different countries with completely different styles. Ms Casillas boxed aggressively in both rounds one and two, while the Japanese stylist kept her defense tight and worked her game plan against the ever-pressing New Englander. That plan was to circle and jab from a distance while looking for an opening for telling right hand power shots. By sheer volume of punches, the Rattler pulled ahead in the scoring in rounds one and two; but by the opening of round three, Sayaka had both her jab and combinations working double time. Visible damage on Raquel’s face from those stinging left jabs appeared as early as round three. By the sixth stanza, the Rattler’s punches were fewer and less powerful than earlier in the match. Sayaka picked up the tempo of her attack from the sixth to eighth rounds; while the return fire from Raquel decreased. Give Raquel high grades for determination and toughness – she took some of the best shots her Oriental foe could throw without suffering a knockdown; however even before the final results were announced there was little uncertainty about the eventual winner. Sayaka worked her game plan to perfection in achieving a well-deserved victory. The non-stop action was an ideal opening bout for the coming matches of female fisticuffs.
Fight 2: ANGELA “Windy City Wonder” ROBERSON UD PRIYA “Punchess” RANI
Description: (8 Rounds) Preceding the match between Priya Rani and Angela Roberson I predicted a hard fought victory for the Tiger girl from Mumbai, India. Right from the opening bell the two combatants got busy with a fist-flinging donnybrook that had the fans on their feet cheering the warriors on. It was very difficult to determine a winner in the opening three rounds as the action went back and forth without a clear-cut leader. Priya seemed to have a slight edge in hand speed during the outside exchanges, but her steady volleys failed to discourage the determined American damsel. Angela worked her way inside the jabbing stick of Punchess and bludgeoned the body of the Indian lass with some rib thumping hooks and uppercuts. Angela was determined to make this a physical inside beat down with her pressing body attack. Her green-fisted bombs to the belly eventually took away Priya’s mobility and zapped her strength. In round seven, Ms Roberson shifted her assault from the body to the head of the tiring Tiger Girl. Rani dropped to the deck from a left-hook, right cross combination that snapped her head painfully back and forth and sent her spinning drunkenly downward for an eight-second rest. Despite her determined efforts to end the fight with a knockout, Ms Roberson was unable to deliver the knockout drop in the remaining minutes of this hard-hitting slugfest. It was a painful loss for the boxer from India who will have sore ribs from this evening’s rumble with Angela Roberson for several days hereafter.
Fight 3: ASHLEY MOYER UD ALEXANDRA “Bone Crusher” HALMICH
Description: (8 Rounds) Featured in the next fight blonde versus blonde. Representing the Italian team was Alexandra Halmich a German national. She opposed the American Ashley Moyer. “AM” the blonde from New Mexico was still fuming over her previous loss to Kya Pounder at Event-117; “Bone Crusher” defeated Rosy Pilatus at that same venue. After a cautious opening round, Ms Moyer found an expressway for her right hand directly to Alexandra’s chin. Shocked more than hurt, Ms Halmich sat staring upward at the referee counting over her. Ashley failed to follow up on this flash knockdown in rounds one and two, but managed to drop the German boxer later in round four with a punch that stunned Bone Crusher. She struggled upward at the referee’s count of “Eight”. From that point onward, Ashley never allowed her struggling rival an opportunity to recover. At different times thereafter the American avenger shook the European pugilist with thundering left hooks and straight right hands to keep her backing up and defensive. Near the end of round seven, Alexandra took another trip to the canvas but the referee declared that descent a slip. His decision
wasn’t popular with the fans who let him know they disagreed. Despite their catcalls and clapping the decision he made stood. All things ended favorably however when the blonde from New Mexico was declared the winner. After three exciting fights, the audience was ready for the forthcoming battles awaiting them.
Fight 4: JAIME “The Killer” COMARA UD KYA “The Punisher” POUNDER
Description: (8 Rounds) The Killer instituted a sound boxing principle starting with the opening bell in round one – “establish respect early”. Using her rapier-like left jab to establish the proper punching range, Jaime worked everything off that punishing opening punch. It was a lesson that made an impression upon Kya who showed little of the effective aggression she had employed against her previous opponent Ashley Moyer. Her best shot for victory was to wage an inside war using her heavy body shots to wear down and soften up the Killer. Whenever the Punisher attempted to work on the inside, she was waylaid with a fusillade of stinging jabs and rapid-fire combinations. By the middle of the fight, Ms Pounder’s right eye was partially closed from the repeated peppering from the accurate punches of her adversary while her counters were inaccurate and typically blocked or evaded by the fleet-footed blonde killer. Neither fighter managed to knock her rival to the floor during the eight busy rounds of milling, but the crowd never lacked for good competitive action from start to finish. Although the balloting by the judges was closer than my personal scoring, it was no surprise when Jaime was declare the unanimous decision winner over a bruised but game Kya Pounder.
Fight 5: MANUELA “La Romana” ROSINI UD DENA DE LA CRUZ
Description: (8 Rounds) In this international match-up between Manuela Rosini from Rome, Italy and the American Freedom Fighter Dena de la Cruz, the outcome hinged on who possessed the most power. That became crystal clear after the first exchange between the combatants in the opening frame. La Romana looked more physically powerful. She has recorded nine-knockouts in the course of her 24-wins, while the more experienced Dena claims only two knockouts in her 25-victories. Manuela was quick to employ that power advantage much to the frustration of the determined Ms Cruz. By using her quickness of hand and feet, Dena kept the scoring relatively close through the first five-rounds as I saw it. Starting round six with a picture perfect overhand right power shot Manuela put Dena back on her heels, disoriented and open to the brutal assault that followed. The ringside image of Manuela captures how intensely menacing she looked as she aggressively attack Denav in round six. Somehow the American survived through the sixth stanza without getting floored, but from that point on her road became increasingly more steep and rocky. In round seven, “La Romana” decked her brunette rival twice for eight-counts. Continuing her attack vicious assault Ms Rosini scored another heavy-fisted knockdown at the mid-point of round eight. When asked by the referee if she could continue, Ms Cruz answered, “I’m not going to quit. Get out of my way!”. Pride and superior conditioning allowed the Georgia damsel to stay on her feet and deflect the intended finishers that Manuela threw with abandon for the remainder of the final round. Ms Rosini’s power and technical skills captured
an impressive victory in this fight. Further, it validated her potential for continued ascent in the DWBL rankings.
Fight 6: OLGA “Tsarina” KUCZINSKOVA UD REBEKAH “The Wrecker” HERMANN
Description: (8 Rounds) The next featured contested pitted a blonde from Russia facing off against the Wrecker who was born in Germany but now trains and fights out of the Professional Boxers International (PBI) gym in America. Since neither woman has recorded a knockout in her respective career, the fans anticipated a fight lasting the full eight rounds. Getting off to the faster start in rounds one through four, I had Tsarina holding a three-round to one advantage on my unofficial scoring card. Her attack arsenal and delivery were impressive. Olga worked both to the head and body with solid hits if not particular damaging ones. She effectively changed the pace of her assault to confuse the defensive attempts of her American rival. Rebekah opened rounds five and six more aggressively than in any previous session in the match. Her offensive surge appeared to throw off Olga’s punching rhythm and accuracy. With only two rounds remaining, it seemed that the momentum of this fight had dramatically switched in Ms Hermann’s favor. I had the fight even at three rounds apiece after six busy sessions. Accidents occur in the course of professional boxing matches that cause the momentum to change. That happened early in round seven; an accidental collision of heads left Rebekah with a bleeding cut over her right eye. The tide of battle shifted, Olga assumed the role of aggressor while her New England foe attempted to protect her injured eye. Once in the last round, the referee stopped the action to have the ringside doctor inspect the laceration. Bleeding but unbowed, the Wrecker went the distance against her Russian assailant. All three ringside judges agreed with identical scoring that Olga Kuczinskova was the winner. Both fighters were given a congratulatory ovation when the final decision was announced.
Fight 7: FIONA HO UD PAOLA CARRARO
Description: (8 Rounds) Boxing is not a sport for the timid or undisciplined. Our next two fighters are lower ranked contenders working hard to start their ascent in this very competitive boxing league. Fiona and Paola are both pugnacious fighters who never back down from the challenge of combat. That was evident from the opening bell when they sped across the ring determined to dominate and over come their adversary. The American in the black and white tried to intimidate her Italian rival with a display of unrelenting aggressiveness throughout both rounds one and two. Ms Carraro answered her assailant’s challenge giving tit-for-tat in this battle of wills. Little emphasis was displayed on defense by either combatant as they tore into one another with a vengeance that energized the crowd and immediately involved them in the action. The pace for rounds one and two made it hard to pick a winner, but I gave a personal edge to the red-haired lass from Georgia. In the opening exchange of round three, Paola brought out a roundhouse right cross that blasted Fiona’s head painfully sideward leaving her struggling to maintain her balance. The Italian Girl wasn’t about to let her woozy victim off the hook however and she stepped up her attack with such a variety of punches Fiona was pounded to the floor. Shaking her head in disgust the spunky boxer rose at the count of “six” fighting mad and ready to gain revenge. Carraro’s inexperience led her to neglect her defense as she came storming forward to belabor her foe. Wham! A freight train right hand from Fiona exploded powerfully against her nose with the added impact from her own forward momentum. Following with a salvo of lefts and rights Fiona bowled her attacker to the mat. Paola took the full eight-count to regroup before returning to the fray. From the fourth round on, the battle ebbed and flowed with each woman attacking or counter attacking in turn. There were no further knockdowns as the twosome continued their war of attrition until the final bell sounded. It was a most entertaining and competitive match that made the outcome a mystery until the official scoring was announced. Two judges picked Ms Ho the winner, the third favored Paola. Ms Ho celebrated her triumph with the jubilation of a conquering world champion. Paola gained a lot of fans and valuable ring experience while displaying the kind of “fighter’s heart” that merits great respect.
Fight 8: CHIHIRO NAIKI UD JENNY B “Dreamcatcher” SWEET
Description: (8 Rounds) After a string of losses, the Dreamcatcher may have figured she’d chalk up a win against the Japanese teenager, Chihiro Naiki. Why not? Jenny B held two victories over this Asian cutie from their prior encounters at Event-106 and 109. It took her just three rounds to learn that on this night she was fighting a different Chihiro than the one she defeated previously. When the Dreamcatcher attempted to box Naiki backward into a corner or against the ropes, she failed and often ended up in the disadvantaged position rather than her elusive foe. Her punch connection percentage was substantially less than Chihiro’s. After being out-maneuvered for three rounds, Ms Sweet switched to an alternate battle strategy – working her attack from jabbing range she looked for openings to advance with hard combinations. It took Chihiro a round to adapt to her rival’s new strategy, but by the fifth round, it was the teen from Sapporo, Japan who was out-scoring the American fighter with quicker jabs and more effective combinations. Near the end of round seven Chihiro was in danger of going down from a left-hook, right cross combination; but she stayed upright until the round ended. After the break Jenny B came out aggressively attempting to catch lightning in a bottle and gain a knockdown that had slipped away in the previous rounds. Her go-for-broke attack played into the hands of her rival. Chihiro dodged the incoming punches while retaliating with hurtful counters of her own. It was one of the best stanzas of the match for the Brilliant Polaris boxer who captured a convincing victory with her strong finish. Ms Naiki was as gracious in victory as she had been in her previous two losses. This was the fourth loss in a row for the disappointed Dreamcatcher.
Fight 9: AKASMA “Beautiful” KORCAN UD ELSA “Knocker” Down
Description: (8 Rounds) In this battle between a blonde Akasma and brunette Elsa each was coming off a loss in her last fight. As soon as they got within punching range the fighter called “Beautiful” opened fire with stunning double jabs to the head of the Freedom Fighter. As though by mutual agreement the pair waged a war of jabs from bell to bell in round one. It was a tactic better suited to the blonde from Turkey who had a slight advantage in both reach and speed of hand. Elsa worked hard to get inside the pumping stick of Ms Korcan in round two and three, but she was generally unsuccessful in her efforts. Akasma either kept the Knocker on the end of the jab, or tied her up in a clinch when she got inside. Once the crafty blonde established control with her jab she mixed in a volley of hooks, and straight right hands to her repertoire. Green gloves splattered against the face of the Atlanta boxer causing swelling around both of her eyes and blood from her nose. Good corner work on these injuries kept Elsa in the fight. Frustrated by the pesky jabs and assorted combinations, Elsa begin to throw round house punches that were badly telegraphed and typically ineffective. Although the Knocker did not get knocked down throughout the eight-rounds of battering, she was never able to mount an effective counter-attack against her busy adversary. Beautiful Ms. Korcan appeared satisfied to belabor her flustered rival for the full eight-rounds leaving little question about the eventual winner of this one-sided rumble.
Fight 10: MANJU DURGA UD NICKY “The Lady Punch” ROSE
Description: (8 Rounds) Always the optimist, manager Beat predicted an upset victory for his boxer Nicky Rose against the higher ranked Tiger Girl before this match. In rounds one and two it appeared that “Lady Punch” might be too strong for her Indian rival. She was constantly pressing forward behind a fusillade of punches not all that powerful, but scoring blows to the body and head. After an apparently even round three, Ms Durga accelerated her punching output with a concentration on crossing blows that landed with consistency and telling affect. Nicky resorted to a more defensive style of boxing in an attempt to stem the flow of incoming strikes. When Nicky protected her head, she allowed the New Delhi lass scoring opportunities to her ribs and body. Manju used this up and down attack rhythm to punish and weaken Nicky as the fight continued into the later rounds. When Ms Rose dropped to the floor in round seven the referee rightly called it a knockdown, while the fans and corner of Ms Rose argued it was a slip. When Nicky arose at the count of six, she was swamped with a monsoon of pink missiles that threatened to send her down again. Lurching forward, Rose was able to secure a tight clinch that allowed her recovery time to finish the round on her feet. Coming out for the final period, Manju attacked like a feline tiger. She bombarded the exhausted Swiss Girl with hammering jabs, hooks and crosses that sent her sprawling to the canvas for the second time in this match. Struggling mightily, Nicky managed to beat the count out by one-second. For the remainder of the round the Lady Punch moved away from the in-rushing Tiger Girl to last the eight-round distance. Things definitely hadn’t gone as predicted for Lady Punch who provided a game challenge to a determined Manju Durga the ultimate winner.