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07/01/2008 Archived Entry: "Carlos Molina Wins in Tacoma"
Carlos Molina Wins in Tacoma
By Ricardo Ibarra
Photos by Mike Blair
Molina (left) and Armstrong trade hooks
A packed crowd filled the Emerald Queen Casino’s I-5 showroom in Tacoma, Washington this past Saturday, June 28th for the 66th installment of Brian Halquist Productions’ Battle at the Boat. In the main event, Vancouver, Washington’s Cedrick Armstrong (7-2 2KOs 152 lbs.) took on Chicago, Illinois’ Carlos Molina (11-4-1 4KOs 152 lbs.) in a ten round bout. For Armstrong the bout marked a step up in two ways. Not only was the bout the first scheduled ten rounder of his career, but he was also taking on a fighter with more experience against quality opposition. In the end the experience of Molina played a major role as he displayed some solid boxing acumen in scoring a unanimous ten round decision over the local favorite
From the outset of the bout Molina employed a measured approach, using his jab to control the distance and occasionally stepping in with crisp left hooks and right hands. Armstrong began to press forward in the second round, throwing wild, winging punches to Molina’s head and body. Molina found more openings as his opponent pressed the fight, capitalizing on Armstrong’s tendency to drop his hands after punching in combinations. He continuously caught Armstrong with hard left hook counter-shots to the head. While Armstrong did manage to make the first half of the fight close, landing on occasion with hard hooks to the head and body, Molina remained effective with three and four punch combinations on the inside, carrying the first five rounds.
Molina (right) lands the left hook to the side of Armstrong
In the sixth round Armstrong pressed his opponent with relentless urgency. A hard hook to the body seemed to buckle Molina’s knees. Armstrong immediately opened up, snapping his opponent’s head back with thudding uppercuts. Molina fired back gamely, trading with his opponent and giving the crowd some exciting spurts of back and forth action. The momentum continued in Armstrong’s favor in the seventh round as he continued to work well on the inside. Coming into the final moments of the round, though, a hard straight right-left hook combination landed flush on the chin of Armstrong, seemingly putting him in some trouble at the close of the round.
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Ellis (left) presses against Corn
Molina regained control of the fight in the eighth round, working behind his jab and avoiding his opponent’s looping punches. He remained in control for the remainder of the bout, controlling the fight at range and outworking his opponent in the pocket. The judges scored the fight 98-92, 98-92, 99-91, all for Molina.
In the co-main event, one of Tacoma, Washington’s favorites returned to the ring after a three year long lay-off. At thirty-eight, “The Emerald City Assassin” Kenny Ellis (35-6-3 24KOs 173 ½ lbs.) put on a dominant performance against journeyman Jonathan Corn (47-19-2 26 KOs 173 lbs.), scoring a fourth round TKO. After a tentative start early in the first round, Ellis began to open up, swarming his opponent with a barrage of hard hooks to the head. Corn was simply to slow and easy to hit for the quicker Ellis. By the fourth round Corn was an open target and Ellis was taking full advantage, landing hard hooks and uppercuts to the chin. A jarring left hook sent Corn down for a mandatory eight-count. Corn would beat the count, but, his corner would step in and stop the mismatch, giving Ellis the TKO at :38 seconds of the fourth round. Ellis looked dominant in the fight, but that was mostly due to the accommodating opponent. Time will tell if he is still able to perform at the same level against an opponent that can fight back. Whether he can or not, fight fans in Tacoma still seem to be receptive to this once talented fighter.
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Metts (right) opens up
Oakland, California’s Daniel Castillo (2-3-1 1KO 143 lbs.) scored a four round majority decision over Portland, Oregon’ Benn Metts (1-1 1KO 140 lbs.). Metts took an early lead in the bout, controlling the first round by keeping his distance and working behind a snapping jab. In the second round Castillo pressed forward, pushing Metts up against the ropes and firing off hard hooks to the head. Castillo was able to make this tactic work throughout the remainder of the bout as Metts, rather than get on the outside and box as he had done in the first round, was baited into brawling on the inside. Castillo managed to out work Metts and land the higher rate of effective blows in most exchanges. Final judges’ scores read 39-37, 39-37, 38-38.
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At right, Johnson lands a right hand
Welterweight Dashon Johnson (2-2-1 1KO 149 lbs.) of Escondido, California, scored a dominant second round stoppage of Renton, Washington’s Ivan Korotkov (3-4-1 3KOs 146 ½ lbs.). Johnson dropped Korotkov with the first punch he landed, a solid jab to the forehead. Unfortunately, the referee elected to rule it a slip. Johnson immediately pressed his opponent, snapping his long jab and following up with right hands. A hard right pushed Korotkov back to the ropes. Sensing his opponent was hurt, Johnson opened up, carelessly leaving himself open and catching a counter left hook to the chin. Johnson wisely brought the fight back out to the center of ring where he went back to work, firing off sharp one-twos. A hard right hand dropped Korotkov at the end of the round. The Russian Native made it up, but seemed to walk back to his corner in a daze. In the second round Johnson pounced, landing repeatedly with hard right hands. As Korotkov was taking punishing blows, one of his corner-men stepped onto the ring apron, stopping the bout before their fighter sustained any further damage. The end came at :38 seconds of the fourth.
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Morrow (right) presses Umarov
Canadian Audrey Morrow (1-0 1KO 166 ½ lbs.) opened the evening’s fight card with a first round stoppage of Renton, Washington’s Rafael Umarov (1-1 161 ½ lbs.). With only eight amateur bouts to his credit, Morrow was surprisingly comfortable in his pro debut. From the start of the bout Morrow seemed content to let his opponent come to him and look for a counter punch. He found the opening with a hard right. Umarov continued to press and was quickly dropped to the canvass, courtesy of a sharp right hand to the chin. After the mandatory eight-count, Morrow pressed with wild, yet effective combinations. A left hook sent Umarov down once again. The two fighters engaged, trading punches along the ropes. A jarring overhand right sent Umarov crashing to the canvass, almost sending him completely out of the ring. The referee allowed the action to resume momentarily, but, Morrow swarmed, landing with repeated rights, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Morrow scores his first win as a pro at 2:48 of the first round.
A scheduled four round welterweight bout between Guillermo Delgadillo and Ralph Frecott was scrapped at the last minute due to medical problems with one of the fighters.
The Emerald Queen Casino will host two fight sports events in August. Boxing on August 2nd and an MMA cage fighting event on August 3oth. Tickets are on sale for both events now.
