LOWELL, MA – WBC US Silver Welterweight Champion ‘Speedy’ Rashidi Ellis (27-1, 18 KOs) delivered on his promise Saturday night, stopping the normally durable Josec “The Scorpion” Ruiz (24-9-3, 17 KOs) in emphatic fashion in his home state of Massachusetts.
The fight topped a massive pro-am show at the nearly sold-out Lowell Memorial Auditorium that was televised live on Swerve Combat TV.
16 years after competing at this very venue as an amateur, Ellis showed his local supporters why the welterweight world champions are so wary to face him.
“I want to thank everyone that came out,” said a gracious Ellis after the fight. “I first fought here when I was 16 years old at the Golden Gloves. 16 years later, I’m headlining here as a professional in front of my friends and family.”
Ellis’ skills were on full display: blazing speed, sharp combinations, and the sneaky power that has stopped his last 3 opponents and reminded everyone of just how good Rashidi has become.
Ellis began the scheduled 10-round contest with quick combinations, hitting Ruiz several times before dancing out of range.
Ruiz, a Honduran based in Miami, Florida, is a normally durable fighter who has seen the final round against the likes of Henry Lebron, Gabe Flores Jr. and Alex Martin.
Against Ellis, Ruiz could not make it out of round 3. Whenever the Scorpion tried to engage, Ellis countered him with lightning-fast strikes. A picture-perfect counter left hook to the body, hook to the head combination in round 2 dropped Ruiz, who beat the count at the bell.
Knowing his prey had not fully recovered, the ‘Savage with a Smile’ pounced on Ruiz in round 3, trapping the Honduran against the ropes and teeing off with a two-fisted assault to Ruiz’s head and body. Ruiz bravely tried to respond, but a left hook dropped him for an 8-count. Ruiz again beat the count, but a counter left to the body had him back on the canvas, forcing the referee to step in at 2:19 of round 3.
“You already know who I want: [WBO World Champion] Brian Norman Jr.,” said Rashidi moments after the bout. “I’ve been calling him out for the last few years. It’s getting to the point where he won’t be able to avoid me and I’m telling you; it’s going to be easy work.
Ellis and Norman Jr., who impressively stopped contender Jin Sasaki in Japan on Thursday, are on a collision course. Currently ranked #8 by the WBO, there is only so long that Norman will be able to delay meeting the talented Ellis.
Hogan stops Correa; calls out Booker
In the co-feature, WBC US Silver Middleweight champion Francis “Frank the Tank” Hogan (20-0, 17 KOs) overcame a shaky moment in round 2 against Venezuela’s Esneiker Correa (16-6-1, 14 KOs) to roar back and stop the 26-year-old in round 4 of their 10-round middleweight contest.
Escorted to the ring by local legend “Irish” Micky Ward and trained by Mark DeLuca, Weymouth’s Hogan was greeted warmly by the boisterous crowd.
Things started off well for the 6’2 Hogan, who used his superior height and reach to keep Correa at bay behind a stiff jab while the Miami-based Venezuelan fired rights and lefts to Hogan’s midsection.
Frank returned the favor in round 2, but a low blow caused the Venezuelan to take a knee. Once recovered, Correa came alive, landing a series of shots including a right to the head which seemed to hurt Hogan.
“I knew he was a tough opponent,” admitted Frank immediately after the fight. “He just caught me with a big shot and stunned me.”
The 24-year-old remained calm, however, tightening up his defense behind a high guard and picking his shots to survive the round.
Correa became frustrated after a back and forth round 3, drawing a warning from the referee after intentionally headbutting Hogan in round 4. The Venezuelan was lucky that a point wasn’t deducted, but Hogan would not be needing the extra points on this night. The fighters traded, and a hellacious left hand to the body dropped Correa in agony for the full count.
“He definitely took me off my game a bit,” said Hogan. “I didn’t realize that he was able to throw awkward shots like that from all angles, but I stuck to my gameplan and stayed calm like my corner told me and I ended up getting him out of there with a body shot.”
The colorful Hogan, who is penciled in to headline a card at Mohegan Sun Arena on July 19, did not hesitate when asked who he’d like to fight next.
“I leave that up to my trainers Mark and Matty Ryan,” said Hogan, “but I do want to call somebody out that used to talk a lot of s@$% about me: Chordale Booker, I said it at the media workout and I’m going to say it again. If you want this smoke, come get it. I’ll put you to sleep over 10. No more talking. Let’s go!”
Fontanez remains Blessed
It took a few rounds, but Michael “Blessed Southpaw” Fontanez (11-0, 7 KOs) eventually figured out Noah Kidd (10-15-2, 5 KOs) to keep his unbeaten record intact in an 8-round middleweight bout.
‘Salsa Mike’ won the first 2 rounds using an educated right jab and long left hand, but he had to be wary of Kidd’s unorthodox style. With his hands down and switching between conventional and orthodox stances where he launched sudden leaping shots, the Missouri native reminded many of Emanuel “The Drunken Master” Augustus.
Undeterred, the Nashua, NH resident turned his assault to Kidd’s body in round 3, landing thundering shots. Kidd fell to the canvas after a left hand strayed low. Once the action resumed, Fontanez trapped Kidd in the corner and landed a border line shot that folded Kidd to the canvas. The referee again ruled the punch a low blow, this time deducting 2 points from Fontanez.
Determined not to let the fight get away from him, the Blessed Southpaw pressured Kidd to the ropes and landed 2 body shots, these ones legal, that dropped the Missourian to his knees in round 4. Kidd beat the count but was met with a flurry of punches that convinced the referee to halt the action at 2:58 of the round.
After the bout, Fontanez called for showdowns with Pablo Valdez or Fernando Vargas Jr.
Other Action
The last time Adrian “Tonka” Sosa entered a boxing ring, he suffered his first loss to fellow unbeaten prospect John Mannu in Melbourne, Australia. 3 years later, the Lawrence native made a resounding return to his home state, dominating Giovanni Gutierrez (11-14-1, 6 KOs) over 4 rounds before stopping the Nicaraguan veteran in round 5 to improve his record to 13-1 with 9 KOs. Time of the stoppage was 0:22 of the round.
Led to the ring by newly inducted Hall-of-Famer Vinny Paz, New Hampshire’s Jaydell “The New Pazmanian Devil” Pazmino (7-0, 7 KOs) wasted little time in demolishing Aelio Mesquita (22-19-1, 20 KOs), dispatching the Brazilian in just 34 seconds of round 1.
In a cross-town war, New Bedford’s Josh Alvarado (3-1, 1 KO) outlasted Lawrence-based Puerto Rican Kevin Rodriguez (4-3, 2 KOs) over 4 rounds. Scores were 40-26 (2x) and 39-37 for the 24-year-old Alvarado.
In the opening bout of the evening, Cork, Ireland’s Brian Long (2-0, 1 KO) pounded out a 4 round unanimous decision over Winchester based Brazilian Jhony Dos Santos (0-2).
For more information about ‘Mill City Mayhem’ and all other CES Boxing events, visit cesfights.com.
INFORMATION
About CES Boxing
CES Boxing is one of the top promotions on the East Coast. Founded in 1992 by Jimmy Burchfield Sr., CES Boxing has promoted many world class fighters, including Jamaine Ortiz, Juiseppe Cusumano, Hank Lundy, Vinny Paz, Peter Manfredo, Mariusz Wach, Jason Estrada, Matt Godfrey, Chad Dawson and Ray Oliveira. CES Boxing has promoted such super fights as “The Thriller on Triller: Tyson v Jones Jr.”, “Mayweather vs. Gotti III” and “The Contender: Manfredo v Pemberton”.
