Bethlehem, PA- The undercard for tonight’s heavyweight headliner between Tomasz Adamek and Vyacheslov Glazkov was rich with local talent. If the strategy was to fill the Sands Casino Events Center to capacity, it worked. The capacity crowd was abuzz throughout the non-televised portion of the Main Events Promoted “Crossroads” card; as they were treated to three entertaining bouts.
Non-televised fight results:
Welterweights: Nathaniel Rivas (3-0, 1 KO) defeats Terrell James (1-2-1) via TKO RD 3.
In round one, the undefeated Rivas survived an early onslaught by James, then turned the tables by landing a series of clean right hands that had a hurt James hanging off of the top rope as the bell sounded. In the second, Rivas outworked a gutsy James and landed flush blows to the body. The ref finally stopped the fight at 2:37 into the third, while the 21-year-old Rivas landed at will against a defenseless James.
Junior Welterweights: Brandon Williams (3-0-1) and Jerome Rodriguez (6-0-3, 2 KOs) fought to a Draw.
In round one Williams used his jab to set up combinations which kept Rodriguez on the defensive for the majority of the frame. To the crowds delight, both southpaws had their moments in an action packed round three. After an uneventful round four, Williams used his leverage to pound away at the taller Rodriguez’s body and bullied him against the ropes for much of round five. The Crowd was on its feet at the start of the sixth, as the two undefeated boxers brawled in the center of the ring. But as the round came to a close, Rodriguez pressed and Williams kept at bay as if he had the fight won. In a touching moment, Rodriguez’s young daughter entered the ring after the fight and walked over to Williams’s corner to congratulate him. When the decision was read the judges were split and scored it 59-55 for Williams, 58-57 for Rodriguez and 57-57 a draw.
Lightweights: Karl Dargan (15-0, 7 KOs) defeated Chazz McDowell (6-5-1, 1 KO) by unanimous decision.
From the start, Dargan stalked the shorter McDowell and peppered him with his jab. By the third, it became apparent that the 28-year-old Philadelphian was just getting his rounds in, as he landed flush hooks to the soft belly of McDowell with no fear of retaliation. The crowd began to boo in round five after McDowell went into survival mode and Dargan didn’t seem eager to finish him off. The sixth was highlighted by McDowell intentionally spitting his mouth piece out and the seventh was just as uneventful. When it was all said and done, Dargan remained unbeaten as all three judges scored the bout 80-72.
Welterweights: Kermit Cintron (35-5-2, 28 KOs) defeats Ronald Cruz (20-3, 15 KOs) via unanimous decision.
At the opening bell the crowd cheered loudly for the local favorite Cruz, who seemed ready to launch out of his corner. In round one Cintron calmly boxed Cruz from the outside, using his jab and left hook to get the better of the Bethlehem native. Cruz had success in round two as he landed flush power shots to the head of the former 147-pound champ. Round three was a battle of will versus skill, as Cruz pressed Cintron, who countered and used his legs to stay on the outside. At the end of the round an accidental head-butt opened a cut on the outside of Cruz’s right eye. By the sixth, although Cruz had his moments, it appeared as if Cintron gained control of the fight. In the seventh, Cruz came out firing on all cylinders and fought with a sense of urgency after a cut opened up on the top of his head. Cintron sensed that Cruz was fading and jumped on him at the start of the eighth, while Cruz tried to keep him at bay with a continuous lunging lead right. Cruz’s aggression began to get the better of Cintron in the ninth and the crowd responded with a “Ronald” chant. There were a series of solid exchanges by both fighters in the tenth and it ended with Cruz waving Cintron in. All three judges agreed and scored the bout 86-84 for Cintron.
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