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12/05/2003 Archived Entry: "Colossus Demolishes Rhode"
Colossus Demolishes Rhode
By J.D. Vena in balcony
Boston, MA - As expected, it didn't take long for Irish giant, Kevin McBride to dispatch near hapless Marcus Rhode of St Joseph, MO. The Clones Colossus used his powerful, thudding body shots to pound Rhode to the canvas twice until Rhode's corner threw a towel at referee Paul Casey to stop the one sided main event last night at the Roxy.
McBride, 260, of Dorchester, MA dropped Rhode in the second round with a left-right combination and needed one more round to convince Rhode, 270, that he was in the ring with a better behemoth. After flooring Rhode with a series of body shots along the ropes, McBride continued to work on his stationary target until Casey called a halt at 1:04 of the round. McBride, who should be facing a live body in the near future, improved his overall mark to 31-4 with 26 knockouts while Rhode is now 29-22-1 with 25 stops.
In an exciting and relatively competitive co-feature, Ian "The Cobra" Gardner, 155, from Toronto slapped and scrapped his way to an 8-round unanimous decision win over a game Joshua "Poison" Oyango of Kenya. The win improved Gardner to an impressive 15-1 with 6 KO's. The Cobra absorbed some of Poison's powerful shots, ones that knocked out 10 of his 11 victims, but Gardner, weathered the rough moments with his superb conditioning and better skill to win most of the rounds. Oyango, 156, had never lost to an opponent with a defeat on his mark until meeting Gardner, who won by scores of 77-75 and 78-74 twice. Oyango fell to 11-7.
In a thrilling 4-round rematch, Mike Beverly or Dorchester defeated Taunton rival, Harold Rodriguez for the second time. Beverly, 235, was forced to fight off the ropes and use his jab, which didn't have the same effect as it had in their first encounter. As was the case the first time around, Rodriguez was docked a point for rabbit punching while the two grappled in the clinches. The penalty this time was a costly one, as Rodriguez won one card by a score of 39-36 but was outvoted by tallies of 40-35 and 38-37. Beverly is now 3-0 with 1 KO, while Rodriguez is now 4-6 with 1 KO.
When a fighter is suspended in any state, it's up to the discretion of another state to uphold that suspension if a fighter tries to box in their state. The Texas State Boxing Commission suspended Syracuse journeyman Will Kemp because, they felt he carried too many losses (14 wins in only 45 fights) after he suffered a defeat to Texan T.J. Wilson on their soil earlier this year.
As it is not too uncommon for a commission, the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission ignored the suspension and allowed Kemp to face Dorchester's Jim Clancy. Though the 40-year old Kemp lost a 4-round decision, he at least floored Clancy and nearly pulled off the upset. Last night, Kemp was scheduled to be the opponent for Randolph's Billy "The Kid" Mofford. This time, the Mass Commish decided to uphold Texas' suspension and Kemp, who hadn't been stopped since 1995 was removed as Mofford's opponent. Normally, your writer wouldn't have a problem with that hypocrisy. But I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy with what happened.
Instead of scrapping Mofford's fight altogether, promoter Rich Cappiello summoned 47-year old Dan Veskovic of Orange, MA. Veskovic in case you didn't know turned pro in 1977 and lost his first two fights. He retired in '78, only to make a comeback last year. He was stopped in one round, and then won his first fight over a debuting fighter. Since then, he TKO'd by Clancy and was somehow approved to fight Mofford in a 4-rounder, instead of the much more reliable Kemp.
Mofford, 210, predictably stopped the overmatched Veskovic, 218 at :48 of the 2nd round. The stoppage win for Mofford was his 2nd in 10 fights as he improved to 7-1-2. Will someone please tell me how a 47-year old fighter with a 1-5 record, who was given less than a day's notice to fight, was a more suitable opponent than Kemp?
In other bouts, Mike Bernal, 143 of Hyde Park, MA picked up his first win with an easy 4-round decision (39-37 and 40-35 twice) over Haverhill's Alex Infante. Bernal is now 1-1, while Infante falls to 3-2. Jose Ortega, 143, of Lowell also collected his first victory by winning a 4-round decision over Irish immigrant, Marty Moore, 137, of Dorchester. Ortega is 1-1 and Moore is now 4-14 with 2 KO's.
Last night's show will be broadcast next Sunday at 3:00 P.M. on Fox SportsNet New England.
Promoter - Rich CappielloAttendance - 656
