Nutmeg State Fighters

[Thunder]

Bad Chad Dawson had an easy time of Adamek to win the WBC Lt. Heavyweight title. It was kind of a boring fight. Cards were 116-110, 117-109, 118-108.

Upcoming:

Zab Judah vs. Israel "Pito" Cardona, April 27

Hartford's Cardona is 36-6 and has held the IBO Super Feather, IBO Jr. Welter, USBA and NABF Lightweight belts at various points. But it's been eight years since he had any belt, though he's only 32. It's only his third fight back after a four-year retirement, so it might be a tall order, but hoepfully he's making some dough.

[Thunder]

Mike Oliver W12 Gary Stark (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) to defend his USBA Jr. Welter title Friday in Okla.

Judah-Cardona off after Judah signs to fight Miguel Cotto for the WBA title.

Cardona will fight instead against TBA April 6 at the Mohegan Sun on the undercard of Matt Godfrey (18-0) vs. Felix Cora (18-1-2) April 6 (yawn).

[SAL]

Originally Posted by Thunder

Mike Oliver W12 Gary Stark (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) to defend his USBA Jr. Welter title Friday in Okla.

Had front row seats for this one. I had Stark winning 115-113. Oliver did more holding than scoring in this bout I thought.

[mh2365]

Originally Posted by Thunder

Mike Oliver W12 Gary Stark (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) to defend his USBA Jr. Welter title Friday in Okla.

Judah-Cardona off after Judah signs to fight Miguel Cotto for the WBA title.

Cardona will fight instead against TBA April 6 at the Mohegan Sun on the undercard of Matt Godfrey (18-0) vs. Felix Cora (18-1-2) April 6 (yawn).

Not where I expected to see the results of a fight I still have taped! Oh well ... Very stupid of Judah not to have a warm up fight before taking on Cotto. Out of action for 15 months and stepping in against Cotto, not bright.

I say Cotto in 4 or 5

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Very stupid of Judah not to have a warm up fight before taking on Cotto. Out of action for 15 months and stepping in against Cotto, not bright.

I say Cotto in 4 or 5

I agree Mike. Shows you that Judah cares more about the money than his career. Interesting thing is that just last week Zab was on FNF promoting his fight with Cardona and less than a week later he pulls out of it. If i'm the guys at ESPN, I wouldn't be too quick to have him on one of their cards anymore, even if he was a former WW champ.

[Romultiltus]

Cinco de Mayo card at Mohegan Sun

Just a shout out to the CT crew. I'm heading out this Friday to the casino to see the card littered w/ locals I've seen a few times already. (My step-dad got comped 2 free tickets so I guess I'll be chauffering him up there)

SBW - Mike Oliver 18-0-0 (7) [Hartford, CT] vs. Vernie Torres 27-9-0 (15) [Pensacola, FL] 10 RNDS

LHW - Rodney Toney 29-4-4 (17) [Boston, MA] vs. Anthony Russell 15-2-1 (4) [Brockton, MA] 10 RNDS

CW - Chris McInerney 7-0-1 (4) [Stoughton, MA] vs. John Battle 14-18-1 (7) [Molson, NC] 6 RNDS

HW - Tony Grano 8-0-1 (7) [Hebron, CT] vs. Jay Sweetman 7-5-0 (3) [Smyrna, DE] 6 RNDS

FW - Dat Nguyen 8-0-0 (5) [Maui, HI] vs. Jorge Ruiz 5-1-1 (0) [Miami, FL] 6 RNDS

JWW - Anthony LaMonica 3-0-0 (2) [Boston, MA] vs. Ken Yon Kellum 0-1-0 (0) [parts unknown ???] 4 RNDS


Tony/Russell is a rematch: Tony won U-10 back on 10-28-06 on another Mohegan Sun card

Grano's opponent Jay Sweetman lost his last fight (L-KO2) to Bruce Seldon on 3-10-07

[CONN CHRIS]

I think this is the fight that Will mentioned to me on the phone a day or two ago - he may be going as well

Have fun Dave! I look forward to full reports on Grano and Mike-Mike.

[mh2365]

I'll be home watching the Oscar-Floyd fight!

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Thunder

Bad Chad Dawson had an easy time of Adamek to win the WBC Lt. Heavyweight title. It was kind of a boring fight. Cards were 116-110, 117-109, 118-108.

Check this out Will and Dave:

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-daw...adlines-sports

Two days after my birthday and on the hall of fame weekend.


Hmmmm

[Thunder]

I'm all over that card . . . Last time around was a good time.

But I'm not going Friday night. I'm still on the mend after car crash.

[Thunder]

Nothing life-threatening or even any broken bones on the crack-up . . . someone cut me off and I broadsided them . . just been sore and it flared up yesterday

[Romultiltus]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Check this out Will and Dave:

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-daw...adlines-sports

Two days after my birthday and on the hall of fame weekend.


Hmmmm

If this card ever gets finalized, I'm in.

[Romultiltus]

Originally Posted by Thunder

Nothing life-threatening or even any broken bones on the crack-up . . . someone cut me off and I broadsided them . . just been sore and it flared up yesterday

Damn Will, that sucks. Hope you're feeling better soon.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Thunder

I'm all over that card . . . Last time around was a good time.

But I'm not going Friday night. I'm still on the mend after car crash.

Let's talk about doing this one if you are up to it. I have a wedding to go to on Sunday but might be able to swing it.

Get better - you have a long season ahead of you!

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

If this card ever gets finalized, I'm in.

Let's keep an eye on it. That was a great venue for boxing - beat the snot out of the casinos anyway.

[Romultiltus]

Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville CT (5-4-07)

Well, thanks to free tickets, I made my way out to casinoland to see a card with a lot of local flavor. Of the 6 scheduled fights reported originally by boxrec, only 5 actually took place.

Thanks to virtually the entire town of Hebron, CT the place had a good enthusiastic crowd.

The first bout was a 6 rounder between CW Chris McInerney from nearby Stoughton, MA and veteran Eric Starr who sported a 15-30-3 (4) record. The first thing noticible upon the ring entrances was that McInerney towered about a foot over the very short Starr. McInerney seemed to use his reach advantage well, but Starr landed a few looping shots and charged in quite often. He did his best work while on the inside and it is clear that McInerney needs to work on inside skills (which it seems he has none of right now). Starr got wobbled a few times and started slumping against the ropes when the referee jumped in and stopped the fight. McInerney was clearly the better fighter, but I thought that the stoppage was a bit premature. I don't remember what round it was (could have been 3 or 4)

The second bout was another 6 rounder but in the FW division between Dat Nguyen and Jorge Ruiz. Apparently Nguyen has decided to be called "Dat Be Dat" now and likes to enter the ring wearing hood of his fancy robe covering his head. This was a very good action filled fight even though there were no knockdowns. Ruiz was a very tough guy and managed to sting Dat Be Dat with a few clean shots, but was unable to cause any damage. On the positive side, he seems to have mastered the art of the headlock clinch which he used at least a dozen times in the fight. Dat Be Dat won the fight, but I don't know what fight the judges were watching. It was closer than the 60-54 and 59-55 on two of the judges cards. The third judge's 58-56 seemed a bit more appropriate.

The third bout was for the very prestigeous Vacant IBA Americas LHW Title between Rodney Toney and Anthony Russell - both from Massachusetts. They had fought previously in 2006 w/ Tony winning a 10 round unanimous decision. Before the first bell Toney made a classy "knife slice acrosss throat" jesture to Russell I'm guessing was supposed to be intimidating. For the 3 rounds that it lasted, it was good fight. The shorter Toney charged Russell and tried to land inside shots. There were a few near head-butts, but nothing serious until near the end of Rnd 3. I didn't actually see a supposed thumb-to-the-eye by Russell that cased Toney to paw at his eye and start whining. The referee stopped the action and brought Toney over to the ringside physician. The ringside physician stopped the fight saying that the injury would prevent the whining Tony from continuing the fight. The fight was called a No Contest and Toney stopped whining, ran over and hugged Russell in his corner - apparently not remembering the "throat cut" gesture less than 15 minutes before. The title is still vacant and I'm guessing that both guys are going to be paid. Also, being the class-act that he is, Toney proceeded to respond to the crowd's boos with several "crotch grab" gestures. This guy should be fined and/or suspended.

The fourth bout was the fight the entire town of Hebron was waiting for. Entering the ring to a standing ovation and accompanied by 2 white-rappers yelling out his personal theme song was local HW Tony Grano. The noise was so loud that I couldn't make out the words of the rappers. Who knew that Hebron was such a mecca of Hip-Hop (maybe on the mean streets of the Hebron South Side). Anyways, Grano came in looking good and bulking up to a career high 223lbs. His opponent (if you could call him that) was 40-year old Jay Sweetman sporting a 7-5-0 (3) record. This poor guy was just completely overmatched and was dropped twice by Grano in the first. The screaming Hebronites went nuts when the referee stopped the contest at 1:35 of the first immediately following the 2nd knockdown. I happened to be fortunate enough to be sitting in front of an entire row of Hebronites, one of which confidently uttered the words: "In a couple of years, Tony will be the champion." This may happen, but Grano will need to step up against opponents a little more formidible than a loaf of bread. Also I had the opportunity to overhear one of the Hebronites point out each of his neighbors in the crowd. He seemed to know everyone except me in the building.

Main Event: (Enter the two white-rappers) "... the machine is gonna settle the score ..." "... the machine is gonna settle the score ..."
Hartford, CT local SBW Mike "Machine Gun" Oliver (and entourage and two-white rappers) "... the machine is gonna settle the score ..." faced off against rugged Vernie Torres from Florida. I have to say this - Oliver is fast, really fast. For the first couple of rounds, he pressured Torres into the ropes and peppered him with punches, but none seemed to hurt too bad. Torres was very awkward and managed to land a few looping overhand lefts and rights while ducking down low. Oliver got hit clean but was also unhurt. This continued until Torres awkward style cause several unintentional head-butts between the two. Oliver kept complaining to the referee and rubbing his head. By the 8th round, Oliver was in-charge but Torres seemed to be landing more big shots. Then there was yet another head-butt and the referee stopped the action. Torres seemed to have taken the worst of the clash and the ringside physician called the fight after telling Torres he could not continue. Since the clash of heads was ruled an Unintentional Foul, the judges cards were tallied and Oliver was awarded a Unanimous Decision.

Overall, a good night of boxing with a lot of action, despite the fact that the 2 main bouts (not counting Hebron's favorite son Tony Grano) were stopped by the ringside physician. The only part that really bothered me (not just tonight, but boxing in general) is that it seems that young boxers still fighting 4 and 6 rounders seem to need monster ring entrances to over-hype the fights. It just seems like a bit of overkill when the ring entrance lasts longer than the fight itself.

[CONN CHRIS]

Great re-cap Dave, Thank you!

Hip hop, entourages, Hebron?!? We had more cows than people when I grew up and one stop light. It doesn't sound like my Hebron anymore but good for Tony.

Did the Hebron faithful leave en-masse when Grano finished? They all headed for the bars within minutes last September.

I really like Oliver, I hope he goes far.

[Cap]

Did they look like the hip-hop/break-dancin' farm folk in the "Drink Milk" commercials?

Cap

[Romultiltus]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Great re-cap Dave, Thank you!

Hip hop, entourages, Hebron?!? We had more cows than people when I grew up and one stop light. It doesn't sound like my Hebron anymore but good for Tony.

Did the Hebron faithful leave en-masse when Grano finished? They all headed for the bars within minutes last September.

I really like Oliver, I hope he goes far.

Surprisingly, it seemed that a lot of the Hebronites hung around to see Mike-Mike as well. Tony actually came out and walked over to the bunch sitting in the rows behind me and talked for a few minutes. He did look good in the ring, but I gotta tell you, he's not very intimidating in street clothes and doesn't even look or act like a fighter. Hope he does well, but he really needs to step up the competition.

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

Damn Will, that sucks. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Thanks, buddy. It's ain't no thang. (doing my best to keep up the suburban CT rap flavor here)

Great report!! I laughed a bunch of times, good stuff!