Quintin Romero Rojas W10 Bearcat Wright: Rojas pulls off his second huge upset of the tournament, out-mauling the No. 17 seed en route to a 97-95, 96-96, 97-95 majority decision.
The scoring was not without controversy, as the two judges who favored Rojas gave him the 10th round, though most ringside observers and the third judge thought Wright won that round. But a number of rounds were far less clear-cut, and Wright may have alienated the judges by receiving two official warnings and three cautions for a variety of fouls. Of course, Rojas, who was also on the receiving end of a head butt ruled accidental, was also warned twice. Neither fighter was floored or cut, though Wright’s swelling left eye seemed to cause him problems over the last three rounds.
George Godfrey KO7 Phil Scott: The fighter derisively known to generations as “Fainting Phil” came out as if he had something to prove (which, of course, he did). Rather than fighting defensively to protect his delicate chin or feigning undue discomfort at Godfrey’s borderline body shots, Scott took the offensive behind a sharp jab and solid body work with both hands.
Well in the lead by the fifth, Scott opened up and landed a right uppercut as the larger Godfrey moved in, dropping “The Leiperville Shadow” for a seven count. Godfrey just made it through the round, but took more punishment in the sixth and was carrying his hands low, his mouth gaping, by the end of the round.
Scott came out aggressively in the seventh, landing a cross to the chin and a hook to the body. But when the Brit charged in to follow up, Godfrey stopped him with a hard jab, then followed with a right cross that caused Scott to hop slightly back and to his right, then collapse. Scott flinched when referee Frank Cappuccino’s count reached five, but never made a serious effort to get up until several minutes after he had been counted out at 58 seconds of the seventh round. Scott led 58-55 (twice) and 59-54 at the sudden conclusion.
Harry Wills W10 Larry Gains: Fighting in front of an enthusiastic fans who made the drive down from his native Toronto, Gains, the tournament’s 28th seed, makes Wills work throughout. The No. 5 seed’s harder shots help him build an early lead, but Gains’ footwork, defense and counterpunching help him chip away, taking the sixth and the eighth, while fighting Wills to a standstill in the seventh on all three cards.
Going into the ninth, the fight is even on two cards, with Wills up by two on the third. A heavy hook to the ribs and a pair of hard rights give Wills the round, despite a late charge by Gains. It’s all Harry in the 10th, as two big right crosses wobble Gains and an uppercut drops him. The former Canadian champion fires back gamely, but referee Barry Yeats could, and perhaps should, have stopped it any time in the last 40 seconds.
Instead, it went to the judges, who ruled Wills the winner by scores of 97-94, 98-93 and 97-94.
Jack Dempsey TKO1 Fighting Bob Martin: Fighting Bob comes out intending to do just that, engaging Dempsey in a mid-ring brawl seconds after the opening bell. Such pluck seems only to enrage Dempsey, however. The Manassa Mauler connects with a devastating right to the face that drives Martin into his own corner, where he will spend the rest of the fight.
Dempsey traps him with flurry after flurry, following hooks to the body with rights to the jaw, throwing the occasional jab for variety and mixing in head-snapping uppercuts that keep Martin from falling forward. Finally, after a hook to the body, a right cross to the forehead and a right uppercut under the chin all land flush, referee Pat Russell pulls Dempsey off, allowing the semi-conscious Martin to slump to the floor with seven seconds left in the first.
PunchStat indicates Dempsey landed 58 punches, 44 of them power shots, to Martin’s seven. Quintin Romero Rojas, whose upset decision over Bearcat Wright earned him a spot in the corner opposite Dempsey in the round of 16, left the stadium without comment.