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01/15/2009 Archived Entry: "Carlos Molina Headlines at the Emerald Queen Casino"
Carlos Molina Headlines at the Emerald Queen Casino
By Ricardo Ibarra
Photo by Mike Blair
The 70th installment of the “Battle at the Boat” boxing series, presented by Brian Halquist Productions and The Emerald Queen Casino of Tacoma, Washington, kicked off a new year of boxing in the Pacific Northwest this past Saturday, January 10th. In the main event of a six bout fight card, resurging Jr. Middleweight prospect Carlos Molina of Chicago, Illinois stepped in on short notice to take on Columbia’s Jailer Berrio, easily claiming a lop-sided ten round unanimous decision.
Molina (14-4-1 5KOs 150 ½ lbs.) turned in a work-man like performance, maintaining a steady pace of pressure throughout the bout. Working behind his jab, Molina kept his opponent on the defensive for most of the fight, consistently finding his target with one-twos and left hooks.
While Berrio (11-5 7KOs 151 ½ lbs.) found some success in rounds four and five with counter right hands and hooks to the body, his work rate was not enough to keep up with that of his opponent. Molina pulled away with the unanimous verdict by scores of 99-90, 99-90, and 100-89.
The semi-main event featured cruiserweight prospect Eric Fields’ first step towards regaining some of the luster lost since suffering his first defeat. Last year, Fields burst onto the boxing scene with a first round destruction of former world title holder Kelvin Davis, leading many to laud him as one of the hottest prospects in the game. Unfortunately, Fields had his rise stalled three months later when he was stopped in the tenth round by Ola Afolabi in a shocking upset.
This time out Fields (12-1 10KOs 200 ½ lbs.) had little trouble in dispatching Sonora, Mexico’s Francisco Mireles (8-2 1KO 222 lbs.) inside of two rounds with a punishing body attack. After a slow paced first round, Fields stepped up his attack in the second, dropping his opponent twice with hard hooks to the mid-section, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 2:34.
In an entertaining six round match-up, Escondido, California’s Dashon Johnson (4-2 1KO 149 ½ lbs.) edged out a hard fought majority decision over Boise, Idaho’s Jorge Barajas (5-2 2KOs 150 lbs.). Johnson took a tactical approach through the first three rounds, working behind his jab with quick combinations and moving in and out of the pocket. While his opponent pressed the fight early, Johnson’s hand speed and quick lateral movement allowed him to avoid most of his opponent’s offense.
Barajas, though, remained undeterred and continued to press, finding some success in the fourth round with some well placed body shots. A barrage of hooks to the mid-section slowed Johnson’s movement, forcing him to stand and trade. The two exchanged some heavy punches in the fourth and fifth rounds, with Barajas seemingly having the edge.
Johnson pressed the fight with urgency in the sixth round, engaging in some fierce exchanges with Barajas. A big right hand wobbled Barajas towards the end of the round, pushing him back to the ropes where Johnson unloaded until the final bell. Two judges scored the fight 58-56 for Johnson, while the third saw it a draw at 57-57.
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Bowie Tupou (16-0 12Kos 273 lbs.) had to overcome some early adversity to claim a six round decision victory over journeyman Cisse Salif (23-13-2 21KOs 270 lbs.). Early on in the bout the taller Salif used his long reach and lateral movement to keep Tupou out of range and unable to land as frequently as he would have liked. A pair of hard straight rights had Tupou in some trouble at the end of the first.
As the bout wore on, though, Tupou was able to close the distance and find his range, landing frequently with hard hooks in close. The final tallies read 59-54, 58-55, and 57-56, all for Tupou.
In a closely contested four round light heavyweight match-up, MMA veteran Eddy Ellis (0-0-2 171 ½ lbs.) and Ty MacDougall (0-0-1 171 lbs.) battled to a majority draw. Ellis appeared to have the edge early in the bout as he effectively worked behind his jab with three punch combos and counter shots in close. MacDougall came on late in the fight, finding his rhythm with precise one-twos and hard left hooks on the inside. The official judges scored the bout 40-36 MacDougall, 39-37 Ellis, and 38-38.
A four round heavyweight match-up opened the show. Spokane’s Freddie Miller (1-0 244 ½ lbs.) used his jab and lateral movement to take a unanimous decision over Portland’s Fabiano Scherner (0-1 273 lbs.) with scores of 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36.
The Emerald Queen Casino and Brian Halquist Productions plan on making this year a busy one for fight fans. February 21st the casino will feature a Cagesport MMA event with the next boxing event scheduled for April 11th. Get your tickets at the casino box office or through Ticketmaster.
