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06/12/2004 Archived Entry: "Sandman stays busy, stops Camlin"
Sandman stays busy, stops Camlin
By J. D. Vena
MASHANTUCKET PEQUOT TRIBAL NATION - When you fight the fight of the year, as Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton had earlier this year in his rematch with Omar Sheika, it’s discouraging when the lucrative fights don’t come your way. Last night at Foxwoods Casino, Pemberton did what most fighters should do when they’re waiting for a well deserved payday or title shot - he fought. Unfortunately, it was clear that Pemberton’s opponent, “Ramblin” Rick Camlin had no intentions of fighting Scott Pemberton. Camlin survived all he could until finally succumbing after 8 rounds.
The southpaw Camlin, 168, of Cedar Rapids, IA, kept turning away from all of Pemberton’s punches and tied him up any time he could. It was very rare to see Camlin throw punches at his opponent. In fact, most of what was being projected from Camlin was his mouthpiece, which seemed to fall out of his mouth whenever he sensed danger. After 8 rounds, referee Gary Rosado, who had penalized Camlin for spitting his mouthpiece out deliberately for the third time, halted the bout. It was clear to many of the fans, who booed Camlin’s performance throughout, that he flew all the way to Connecticut to collect a paycheck.
Pemberton was a little more forgiving. After all, he wasn’t booed and most of all, didn’t lose.
“I give him a lot of credit for showing up on short notice,“ said Pemberton. Camlin replaced Pemberton’s original opponent, James Crawford, who withdrew last week due to injury. “It was a very awkward fight. I haven’t fought as many southpaws. He was so awkward. I didn’t train as much as I would have liked but could have went 12 rounds.”
The loss dropped Camlin’s ledger to 33-4 with 10 KO’s. Pemberton now, 28-3-1 with 23 KO’s, will have to continue to wait for his chance for a payday.
In one of the most exciting women’s bouts in recent memory and the best fight of the night, Jane “The Fleetwood Assassin” Couch of Fleetwood, England won a close and spirited 10 round decision over Jaime “The Hurricane” Clampitt of Narragansett, RI to claim Clampitt‘s IWBA and NABA jr. welterweight titles. Clampitt, a native of Calgary, Canada was emotional just days before the fight upon learning of the death of her trainer, Tiny Ricci. Be that as it may, Clampitt and her opponent fought like focused professionals for the entire fight.
The rounds went back and forth with most difficult to score. In fact, it could have been scored one sided for either fighter. Couch, 140, was throwing crisp and straight punches, while Clampitt, 139, was throwing every punch but the couch at the Fleetwood Assassin. Clampitt worked the body regularly but with little effect as the well-conditioned Couch kept punching away. Couch just wouldn’t let Clampitt rest. There were literally no lulls in the action and I’m dying to know how many punches CompuBox would have counted..
But the only thing that counted were the judges scorecards, all of which favored Couch (96-94 twice and 96-95). The CBZ thought that Couch gave up he last round to Clampitt, which evened it up at 95-95 on our unofficial card. In that round, Couch spent the remaining minute and half raising her hand in victory as if she knew she had won it. Most at ringside, particularly in press row thought that Clampitt had won that round, although all three judges awarded it to Couch. Afterwards, ring announcer Joey Burchfield asked the audience if they’d like to see a rematch. The crowd sounded as though they did as did the two combatants.
“I definitely won the first 6 rounds,“ said Couch now 24-6 with 8 KO‘s. “She’s a strong girl and I’d give her a rematch.”
The tough Clampitt fell to now 13-3 with 5 KO’s.
Providence power-puncher, Joey “The KO Kid” Spina, scored another devastating KO over William “The Storm” Bailey of Norfolk, VA but not before suffering a nasty cut along the nose. In their first bout two years ago, Spina, 178, stopped Bailey with one left hook. Tonight, Bailey pulled himself off the canvas three times, twice in the first round, from thunderous left hooks before being finished off at 2:27 of the second round. Spina improved to 12-0 with 9 KO’s while Bailey fell to 3-6-1 with 2 KO’s.
Former amateur national stand-out, Matt Godfrey, 201, of Providence made fairly quick work of Fitzroy Henry, 201, of Bronx, NY. Early into the first round, Godfrey, a natural southpaw, switched to the conventional stance and began landing lead rights and left hooks. A few right hand leads into the first frame, Godfrey dropped the tall (6’4) and rubbery Henry for an 8 count and referee Joe Cusano halted the bout at 2:27 sensing that Henry's trip to unconsciousness was inevitable. Godfrey is now 2-0 and scored the first KO of his pro career.
The win was a lot different from Godfrey's first bout. In his debut last month, he was dropped by his opponent and had to rally to win three of the four rounds to avoid the upset.
“I slipped up in that fight,” said Godfrey. “I wanted to work more on switching to the right handed stance and throw more rights. I felt comfortable in this stance and probably could have ended it a little quicker but he kept bending and tying up. I want to stay busy. I’d like to have two more fights before I go off and see my buddy Jason Estrada win the gold medal in Athens."
Shannon “Trouble” Miller, 176, of Columbus, MS lived up to his moniker when he gave Brooklyn’s Richard “The Alien” Grant all that and more, boxing him to a 6-round majority draw. In the opening bout of the night, Grant, 176, was troubled on a few occasions with Miller’s hard right hands and workrate while Grant lay on the ropes. The judges had it 57-57 twice and 59-55 for Grant, who is now 16-10 with 2 KO’s. Miller is now 19-29-8 with 15 KO’s.
In the swing bout, unbeaten Elvin Ayala, 162, New Haven, CT kept his unbeaten record in tact when he out-pointed rugged Jacob Rodriguez, 162 of Philadelphia. Ayala, whose nose was bloodied in the second round won by three scores of 60-54 as he improved to 5-0 with 1 KO. Rodriguez is now 5-7 with 4 KO’s.
Promoter - Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & SportsMatchmaker - Ted PanagiotisNetwork - CN8 - The Comcast NetworkRing Announcer - Joey Burchfield
