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01/17/2009 Archived Entry: "Omar Henry Delivers a 'Rock Solid' Knockout on Thursday Night Fights"
Omar Henry Delivers a 'Rock Solid' Knockout on Thursday Night Fights
By Karl Hegman
Promoter Cameron Parks' Rock Solid Boxing opened its Winter season of Thursday Night fights in Houston before a packed audience of Bayou City fight fans at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Reliant, and while it may have been cold and windy outside, the ring action inside was hot and intense.
Jr. Middleweight prospect Omar Henry (2-0, 2 KO's) electrified the fans in attendance with a one minute stoppage over import Justin Davis (1-6, 1 KO) to kick of the evening's full slate of violence, and left no doubt to the crowd that he will be a destructive force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
Henry sprang from his corner at the opening bell and fired a salvo of jabs, right hands, and follow up hooks to the head and body which immediately had the intimidated Davis backing up to the ropes and looking to cover up from the quick strike offense.
Henry came forward and slid to his left, blitzing his quarry and sealed the frightened Davis in his own corner, and then cut loose with a blistering offensive replete with a barrage of hooks and uppercuts, notably a vicious left hook to the pit of the stomach that folded his foe in half like a plastic mattress with the air being let out of it, sending Davis face down to the canvas where he told the referee he had had enough.
Managed by Jay Johns and trained by the legendary Ronnie Shields, the personable young Henry is a former Texas State Golden Gloves Champion who balances a full time college schedule along with the brutal training and sacrifice that is the lifestyle of the professional pugilist, and has his sights set on capturing a World Championship down the hard road to glory, ala his boxing Idol, the great Miguel Cotto.
The young punisher is next slated to be in action on the undercard of the big Top Rank promoted Super Flyweight Championship match between Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce at The Pond in Anaheim on February 7th, and feels "Blessed to be on such a great card" and is looking forward to putting his considerable fistic skills on display before the terrific and knowledgeable boxing fans of the West Coast.
Exciting featherweight Crystal "Choo Choo" Delgado improved her unbeaten ledger to (8-0, 1 KO) with a thrilling six round unanimous decision over Michelle Nielson (8-4-1, 2 KO's) that had the fans standing on their feet and cheering throughout in a no-holds brawl in the best fight of the night in a donneybrook that would have made Bobby Chacon proud.
Nielson started off fast, peppering Delgado with right hands and occasional hooks that had the 18 year old nonplussed and off-kilter, but towards the end of the round Delgado began to find her range to the body, but the first frame was all Nielson's.
Delgado became more aggressive in the second as Nielsen kept firing away and there were several heavy exchanges amongst the pair, but Delgado's superior strength and conditioning were becoming more evident by the moment as she continued to hammer underneath and impose her strength upon the older fighter.
The fur flew as both fighters showed very good ring skills as they turned one another while jockeying for position in the inside heated battle, and Delgado continued her march into Nielson's firepower throughout the first half of the third round, and then punched her into the far ropes and onto the floor with a sizzling straight left hand.
Nielson beat the count and came back with some good shots of her own, but it was now evident that she had neither the punch nor the strength to keep Delgado off of her for very long.
Nielson had her moments when she would spin off and box for awhile, but ultimately it was Delgado, going after her prey like a leopard hunting down an impala, that would force her back against the ropes and into volleys of hurtful, damaging abuse to the body and head that took most of the starch out of Nielson.
Delgado displayed improved defense by blocking and rolling with many of the lead shots, keeping her elbows in tight and chin down, and countering with her own, under and over, over and under, that had Nielsen hurt to the body from a right hook to the side at the end of the fifth, and ready for the taking going into the sixth and final round.
The last stanza was all Delgado's as she belabored a by now exhausted Nielson throughout, and sealed the deal on the unanimous verdict that was well received by a standing ovation from the packed house.
Delgado is a very durable and aggressive southpaw that fights out of a semi-crouch, and who uses her very strong legs and superb cardio, and low center of gravity to basically walk down her competition, and ultimately batters the resistance out of them.
Having now shored up and stabilized her defense, Delgado dosen't punch to one singular target, but rather lets her hands go in pre-determined strike patterns to the torso anywhere she can hit something whether it be the chest, sides, stomach, or even the arms and shoulders that has her opponents frozen and unable to punch back in there after several rounds of numbing knuckle lathering.
Delgado passed her first 6 rounder with flying colors and promoter Park is very confident in the young fighter as he believes he has a real winner on his hands here.
In other bouts:
Powerful cruiserweight Willie "Dynamite" Edwards iced Joey Crawford in three, tough welterweight Jose "Tapita" Gutierrez stopped Omar Ballard also in three, lght heavyweight Alfonso Lopez stopped fouling James Johnson in five, and heavyweight bomber Eugene "Mean Gene" Hill destroyed Clinton Boldridge in three.
It was another winning effort for Rock Solid who continues to be the leader and innovator in the Houston boxing scene, and the throng of boxing and sports fans really screamed and yelled in appreciation between rounds at the sexy ring card girls from the Ritz, and the hot Hooters babes made sure they got their palate full of food, liquid refreshments, and mouth watering eye candy.
Until next time, see you at the fights!
Note: This piece is dedicated to the memory of my wonderful Aunt, Diana Holder. May she Rest in Peace.
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