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06/26/2004 Archived Entry: "Gardner Picks Perez Apart over 10"
Gardner Picks Perez Apart over 10
By J.D. Vena at ringside
BOSTON, MA – In an uneventful affair which saw slapping and occasional big punches, Ian “The Cobra” Gardner, of Brockton, Ma via Toronto, won a 10-round unanimous decision over Patrick “La Salsa” Perez of Indianapolis, to cap a night of eventful surprises at the Roxy last night.
The Cobra, 159, fought more like a mongoose and threw most of his punches while circling around the ring. Occasionally, Gardner pinned himself on the ropes intentionally in an attempt to land telegraphed uppercuts. This strategy cost him some moments as he absorbed a few heavy right hands for keeping his hands down, but not enough to keep him from dominating Perez.
Perez, 160, lost his mouthpiece a few times after getting hit by a series of these uppercuts, but he always seemed to fight his way out of trouble. In the end, all three judges favored Gardner, 97-93 twice and 100-92. The win for Gardner raised his record to 16-1 with 7 KO’s, but it was in no way a sign that he is a future contender in an otherwise shallow middleweight division.
At first it was perceived that Gardner had been unlucky in having two big TV opportunities fall apart in January and May, but after last night it appeared to be more of a blessing. Gardner was slated to face two promising CT boxers in Julio De La Cruz and unbeaten “Bad” Chad Dawson but the bouts were KO’d by blood tests. One could only imagine the sharp, straight punches of De La Cruz and Dawson finding more effective success had they been in the ring with Gardner.
Meanwhile, Perez, now 25-5 with 14 KO’s would now seem like a likely foe for the eventual comebacks of De La Cruz and Dawson.
In what shocked and silenced the standing room only audience at the Roxy, Gary Drayton, 146 ˝, of Philadelphia, PA destroyed local favorite Eddie “The Fighting Irish” Bishop of Stoughton, MA, with three devastating knockdowns, the last of which kept him stretched on the canvas for several minutes.
A minute into the second round, Drayton landed a hard left hand to the temple that dumped Bishop into the ropes in a neutral corner. Bishop appeared to be out on his feet when he arose but showed his fans why he is called the “The Fighting Irish.” Rather than try to survive, Bishop in his clouded senses, elected to fight his way out of trouble, but couldn’t land any of the bombs he was throwing. Instead, he was dropped again in the same position as the first knockdown. With only a minute remaining in the round, the stumbling Bishop and Drayton kept trading until another combination from the determined Drayton left Bishop in a heap, face-first. Referee Mike Ryan immediately enforced the state’s three-knockdown rule at 2:36 of the round, but would have ended the fight if it were the first, as no count was necessary.
Fortunately, Bishop was sitting on a stool minutes later and the first gesture he wanted to show was his sportsmanship. He motioned his conqueror to come toward him so that he could congratulate Drayton, now a deceiving 4-6 with 4 KO’s. According to www.BoxRec.com, Drayton has only lost to one fighter that wasn’t undefeated (10-4). The brave Bishop is now 7-1-1 with 3 KO’s.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the night was the destructive debut of one 18-year old amateur stand-out, Nick Morganelli, of Whitman, MA. Entering the ring with a chorus of cheers, “Nasty” Nicky, lived up to his moniker with an explosive, crowd pleasing performance that suggested more of the same in what should be a bright future.
Morganelli, a Massachussett’s version of a “Baby Faced Assassin” stopped “Terrible” Terry Watson of Philadelphia, when referee Bob Benoit saved the defenseless Watson from inevitable punishment at 2:13 of the second round. After feeling out Watson for the first minute of their career, Morganelli, 138, launched a thunderous and perfectly timed right hand just as Watson was coming in with his own, but Morganelli’s well-placed shot landed soundly, dropping Watson on his knees. Watson, 140, made a valiant effort to keep fighting but was dropped in the same fashion with less then 30 seconds left in the round.
Watson again regained his feet and was pounded to the body until the end of the frame. The second round saw Morganelli finding his murderously intended shots to the head and body until Benoit waved it over. Watson’s corner was up on the ring apron waving it over just as Benoit made the logical decision.
Morganelli, a 3-time Jr. Olympic champion, has made bit of a comeback in life as his trainer, Jimmy Gifford of South Boston explains.
“Nick has been in drug rehab more than most 50-year old addicts, but over the past four months has been sober and going to church,” said Gifford. “He’s really cleaned himself up and got himself into shape. We’re all happy to see him smiling all the time and he’s very focused on his pro career right now.”
After last night’s encounter, I’d hate to see him when he’s mad.
Taunton’s Hector “The Pit Bull” Sanjurjo won his first fight in three years when he out-pointed Eric Starr of Shelby, NC over 6 rounds. Weighing the lightest he’s been in seven years (173), Sanjurjo is now determined to fulfill his lofty expectations, having been the first to stop top super middleweight contender, Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton of New Bedford, MA.
Though his chiseled appearance suggested he looked the part, he was still taking too many punches. Sanjurjo dropped Starr in the second round but seemed to show signs of fatigue after the first four rounds. Sanjurjo was awarded all 6 rounds by the three officials (60-53) and admitted that he could be in better shape.
“I was a little winded because I could have done more roadwork,” said Hector, now 13-8-5 with 7 KO’s. “I just took this fight to fight. I want to get down to super middleweight again and fight Pemberton, but I will fight anybody. If Joe Spina (12-0/ 9 KO’s) wants to fight me, I’ll knock him out. But I’m not looking for just anybody because I will fight any one out there.”
Starr is now 12-15-2 with 3 KO’s.
In the opening bout, Roy “House of” Payne, 202, shook off some of the ring rust (2 rounds in 15 months) in winning a ho-hum, but convincing decision over trial horse Willie Lee Kemp, 229, of Syracuse, NY. Payne now 17-12-4 with 6 KO’s, won by three scores of 60-54 and hopes to get back into the ring as soon possible so that he sharpens his skills and prepares himself for the best in New England. Afterwards, Payne immediately called out Massachusetts cruiserweight champion, Billy Mofford of Randolph.
Last night’s bouts will be broadcast via tape delay of Fox SportsNet New England on Sunday July 4th, at 3:00 PM.
Promoter – Cappiello Promotions
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Hey,
I enjoyed the report. Good stuff!I would be curious to see Hector Sanjurjo sometime.
Cheers,
Juan C. Ayllon
Posted by Juan C Ayllon @ 06/27/2004 02:49 PM EST
