Professional boxing returned to the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino in Hollywood Florida tonight with “Rumble at the Rock” as presented by Kris Lawrence and The Heavyweight Factory.
In a crowd pleasing main event Pilipino Reymart “GenSan Assassin” Gaballo 19-0(17KO) fought his way to a WBA title with a well-earned unanimous decision victory over St Louis’s Stephon “Showstopper” Young 18-1-3(7KO). Young ended up on the canvas once in the lone knockdown early in the fight, a round which saw Young barely make it out of. Gaballo controlled pace throughout the fight, with aggression and a straight right hand that was very accurate. Young fought off of his back foot from the knockdown on until round 11 where the St Louis product seemed to dig deep change his fight plan and finally let his hands go. A very strong finish to the fight had Young winning the last two rounds but clearly not enough for the victory as Gaballo had control of rounds 2 through 10 and ultimately was crowned WBA champion of the Bantamweight division by way of a unanimous decision.
Former WBA World Super Bantamweight Champion Juan Carlos Payano 19-1, (9 KOs) came off the canvas in round three to comeback and claim the NABO Intercontinental Super Bantamweight title in a unanimous decision win over previously undefeated Philippine “Magic” Mike Plania 14-0, (7 KOs) Thirty-three-year-old southpaw Payano, a native of the Dominican Republic, who now lives in Miami, is in the third fight of his mission to regain his world championship. He has now notched three solid victories since splitting a pair of championship fights with top-level bantam Rau’shee Warren. After 10 rounds of a competitive match the official cards read 96-93, and two at 97-92 for Payano.
Two time Olympic Bronze medalist Ivan Dychko 8-0(7KO) demolished Stephan Kirnon 2-1(2KO) in under one minute. The 6’9” Dychko connected with nearly every punch through the fight and a final combination that put the Miami based fighter on his back for several minutes. Where it seemed too easy for Dychko, his superior skills shined impressively tonight.
Fast-rising Hawaiian welterweight prospect Logan “Korican Kid” Yoon (10-0, 10 KOs) stepped up in competition tonight and won the NABO Super Lightweight title when he faced Mexican former two-time world champion Juan Carlos Salgado (27-7-1, 16 KOs) The Korican Kid found out the same punches that took out his previous opponents, did not seem to affect the Mexican former champion, however this did not slow his attack as he kept a high accurate punch output outpointing Salgado in a spirited affair while going the distance for the first time in his young career. A strong finish by Yoon made for exciting final rounds that included the only knockdown of the fight in round nine. This prospect is officially turning into a contender. The cards read 98-91 ad 97-92 100-89.
The action got started early with a familiar name as Roberto Duran Jr 1-0-(1KO) made a successful debut with an impressive knockout win over Miguel Morales. Duran Jr. the oldest son of the legend Roberto Duran, picked his shots throughout the four-round tussle ultimately setting a beautiful uppercut that put Morales to the canvas midway through round four. Morales able to rise to his feet was met with 3 more power shots that again showed him the canvas. Official time was 2:21 in round 4.
Jorge De Jesus Romero from Miami kept the train rolling with a knockout win over Szilverszter Ajtai 12-10-9. Romero was too much for the Hungarian Ajtai. The stoppage came at 2:01 of the 2nd round.
Boca Raton Steve “The Ambassador” Geffrard 17-2(12KO) picked up a nice hometown KO win over Zoltan Sera 38-19(20KO). Geffrard hunted Sera down with sharp jabs, strong right hands, uppercuts and left hooks to the body. Sera threw wild haymakers and often held on for dear life after each combination the American Born Haitian Geffrard threw. Geffrard put Sera on the floor a few times through the bout until Sam Burgos finally waved a stop to the fight at 39 seconds of round four with an official TKO win for Steve Geffrard
Kazakhstan born Mussa Tursyngaliyev 8-0(7KO) won the NABA USA title tonight with a 3rd round TKO win over Luis Hinojosa. Tursyngaliyev, now fighting out of Miami showed his enormous power from the start of round one against Dominican fighter Luis Hinojosa 31-14. Hinojosa is as game as they come eating leather without ever taking a step back, exception only when getting knocked back or knocked down. By the advice of his corner the fight was called after the third round officially a TKO title win for Tursyngaliyev.
Sam Rodriguez 5-2(3KO) of Palm Bay Florida came to fight as the underdog and pulled off the upset over crowd favorite Jessy Cruz 12-7. In a very entertaining back and forth battle putting Cruz on the canvas on his way to a unanimous decision win.
Harold Calderon 15-0(9KO) from Miami kept his perfect record in tact with a 3rd round TKO win over tough Ronald Montes 18-8(16KO) from Barranquilla COL. Calderon seemed to have problems with the awkward Montes however the punishment he took in the first three rounds were enough for his corner to wave his fighter off at the end of the third officially giving Calderon a TKO win.
Since starting his career in August of 2016 John David Martinez has put together a nice, but untested unbeaten record of 9-0. Pretty Boy Martinez added another win to his record, this one was questionable as he was awarded a majority decision win over Jose Cortes to the displeasure of the crowd. I had the fight a draw the same as judge number one 57-57 where the other two judges scored 58-56.
Special Guests included former heavyweight champions Michael Moorer, Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield and Timberland.
