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The CyberBoxingZone News |
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Sandman Sends Easley to Dreamland
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By JD Vena at Ringside |
Friday, September 25, 2000
CRANSTON - Four years ago, Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton
suffered two successive knockout defeats. To this day, the
33-year old from New Bedford, Ma, is a firm believer that had the
referee in both fights allowed Pemberton to continue after being
knocked down, he would still be undefeated.
"Those losses irk the hell out of me,"
said Pemberton. "I want to go out on my shield. I
was counted out while I was standing on my own two feet.
Both of my losses happened that way. In those fights, I was
hurt but I could still continue."
This past Friday night at the Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet
in Cranston, RI, Pemberton showed that he could overcome such
adversity, when he picked himself up from a first round knockdown
and stopped Le' Van Easley in the third round. In a bout
contested for the vacant NABF super-middleweight title, Pemberton,
167, was staggered midway through the first round by a cracking
right hand from the 28-year old Easley, 166 ½, from Queens, NY.
A rubbery-legged Pemberton immediately clutched Easley, but couldn't
get away from Easley's right hand, which dropped Pemberton with
only seconds remaining in the first round. Pemberton
collected himself during the rest period after the first round to
later stagger, then drop Easley at the end of the second frame
with a vicious left hook-right hand combination.
Going into the third, it appeared that Easley
didn't recover as well as Pemberton did after the first round.
Pemberton noticed that and jumped on Easley with a two fisted
attack. After hurting Easley, an overanxious Pemberton was
stung with another right hand and wobbled into the ropes.
Sensing danger, Pemberton spun off the ropes and landed a mammoth
right hand that sunk Easley face first. Easley bravely
grappled to his feet only to be sent face first again with another
long right hand. Referee Charlie Dwyer reached the count of
ten at 1:16 of the third round.
Pemberton is the first fighter from
Massachusetts to win an NABF title since his friend and stablemate,
Ray Oliveira accomplished the feat in April of 1997.
"When I stepped into the ring tonight, I
was looking at Ray and thinking to myself, 'I'm going to
accomplish what you accomplished,'" said Pemberton.
"What I didn't know was that I was going to war tonight.
Easley was a really tough kid. All I heard throughout
training camp was that he couldn't punch, but I thought he could
and he certainly came to fight."
Pemberton, un-rated by the CBZ, is just outside
the top ten of all three of the governing bodies. His record
moves to 22-2-1 with 18 knockouts while Easley's drops to 14-6-2
with 6 KO's.
Pemberton wasn't the only hometown fighter
promoted by Jimmy Burchfield that night to win by knockout after
being floored. One could only imagine how concerned
Burchfield was while seeing all three of his prospects hitting the
deck.
"I was very nervous for all three fights.
We have the best fighters around. They're true warriors, led
by Vinny Pazienza all the way down. I'm very proud of all of
them, especially Scotty because he got off the canvas to win the
title. That's something a lot of fighters can't do."
One of those fighters wasn't Israel 'Pito'
Cardona; a former USBA and NABF lightweight champion himself.
On the comeback trail from two disastrous defeats to IBF champion
Paul Spadafora and Julio Alvarez, Cardona returned to the ring.
His opponent Friday night was the overmatched but game Matt Hill,
143 ¼, of Baltimore, MD. If it were up to the CBZ, Hill
would deserve the Tommy Attardo Tough Guy of the week award.
Hill was noticeably hurt the entire fight but wouldn't fold until
being stretched underneath the ropes of Cardona's corner by a
right hand. Just after Hill hit the canvas, one of his
cornerman hit Hill in the face with a beautiful three-point shot
with a white towel. Hill could have used that towel a few
rounds earlier, not at 2:48 of the 5th round. Cardona, 144,
of Hartford, CT, raised his record to 33-4 with 25 KO's.
Arthur "The Armenian Assassin"
Saribekian, 199, of Cranston, played yo-yo with Jose Torres, 186,
of Hartford, CT, dropping him twice in the first and twice in the
second round Referee Joe Lopino stopped the one-sided affair
at 1:48 of the 2nd round. The win for Saribekian improves
his mark to 22-4-1 with 16 KO's. Sadly to say, Torres, who
has been knocked out four times this year is now 10-42-2 with 5 KO's.
Will someone tell Torres to stop already? And while they're
at it, please give Genaro Andujar of New York, NY his pink slip.
Andujar lost for the 25th time Friday night against Cumberland,
Rhode Island's Brian "Drop 'Em" Dumas. Dumas, 156,
failed to drop Andujar, 149 ¼, but did manage to cut the beaten
face of the New Yorker and win all 6 rounds (60-54). Dumas'
record is now 9-1-3 with 4 KO's while Andujar is 8-25-2 with 1 KO.
Former model, Kathy Rivers, 167 ½, sporting an
Ivan Drago haircut, easily defeated Karen Bill, 164, of Lawton, OK
over four rounds. Rivers won by scores of 40-37 twice and
40-36. The win was Rivers' 10th against 2 defeats with 3
wins coming via knockout. Ms. Bill slumps to 3-5 with 3 KO's.
In back to back slugfests, local favorites, Dan
Constantino of Warwick and Jeff Horan of Narragansett won their
bouts after picking themselves off the canvas. Constantino,
182, coming off a three-year ring absence was decked in the first
and second rounds before rallying to stop George Holder, 184 ½,
of Woodbridge, VA at 2:39 of the third round. The drama
began in the first round when an aggressive Constantino was
clipped by an uppercut that dropped him on all fours. Then
in the second, the end for Constantino seemed imminent when he was
cut badly over the left eye and dropped by a right hand.
Midway through the third round, Constantino landed a left hook
that sent Holder to mat. Constantino jumped around in the
neutral corner knowing for sure that Holder wouldn't recover from
the blow. After two more knockdowns, referee and former
prizefighter, Steve Manfredo enforced Rhode Island's three
knockdown rule. Constantino remains unbeaten in picking up
his 7th win, 6th by KO. The hard punching Holder is now 7-4
with 6 KO's.
Horan, 147, had an easier task on paper then
did Constantino. He was fed with Jose Ortiz of Springfield,
MA, a loser in all three of his bouts coming in. During the
first round, it appeared that Ortiz was going to pick up his first
win after knocking Horan down with an overhand right. Horan
recovered though and in the third round downed Ortiz with a right
hand of his own. After reigning punches on the spent Ortiz,
Charlie Dwyer stopped the fight at 2:22 of the round. Horan,
who has lost twice by knockout to Matt Hill, moves over the .500
mark at 3-2 with 3 KO's.
Shakha Moore, 142 ½, of Norwalk, CT, improved
his record to 4-5 when he defeated Vernon Meeks, 143 ½, of
Woodbridge, VA over 4 one-sided rounds. All three judges
scored the contest 40-34 for Moore, who knocked down Meeks in the
first and third rounds. Like Jose Ortiz, who lost twice to
Moore, Meeks was winless coming into the bout with a record of
0-2.
John "The Big Greek" Mihalos, 274, of
Cranston, avenged his latest defeat when he floored Rodney McSwain,
215, of Lawton, OK in the second round with a jab and won a
majority 4-round decision. The judges had it 39-37 twice and
39-39. Mihalos, looking to become a Butterbean victim, is
now 8-3 with 2 KO's.
If you follow kickboxing, then the name Peter
Manfredo may mean something to you. Peter Manfredo, the
brother of referee Steve Manfredo, was a one-time world kickboxing
champion. Peter's son, 19-year old Peter Jr., a veteran of
175 amateur bouts, made his professional debut and soundly
defeated Steve Garret of Columbia, MD over 4 rounds. In the
first round, Manfredo dropped Garrett twice with lightning fast
right hands. Though Garrett continued, he did little to make
Manfredo look as impressive as he did in the first round in the
last three rounds. Garrett continuously smothered Manfredo
and got little warning from Referee Joe Lopino. Manfredo did
drop Garrett (1-1) one final time in the 4th round with a
beautiful double left hook combination. Manfredo, who won by
three scores of 40-33 looks like real prospect ladies and
gentleman. Stay tuned.
Promoter - Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment & Sports
Matchmaker - Teddy Panagiotis
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