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Rocky Lockridge sits high on a stoop, giving himself a lofty
view of the intersection of 7th Street and Chestnut in
Camden. In the midst of it all, a brown sedan stops, the car idling in the middle of the street. A middle-age man gets out and quick-steps to the top of the stoop to greet Lockridge with a fist bump and a quick man-hug. After a few quiet words... (MORE) |
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SIMON DROPS IBF ELIMINATION BOUT
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OQUENDO FELLS OAK TREE IN CHICAGO
Ready-to-Rumble local heavyweight Mark 'Oak Tree' Brown stepped in at the last minute to face former top contender Fres Oquendo at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on Friday night (6/26). But the irrepressible Oak Tree found a formidable foe in Oquendo, and went down to defeat by TKO at 2:38 of round three. For Brown, now 15-2, it was his second loss by KO, and the first since Joey Abell three years ago. Oquendo, who has only lost to Toney, Holyfield, Ruiz, Byrd & Tua, raised his record to 30-5 with the win. No matter how faded Oquendo's star may be these days, he is in a different class than Brown. But Oak Tree, who turns 41 next month, has been frustrated sitting idle and understandably jumped at the payday. Let's hope it was a big one. We welcome him back to both Salem, NJ and the drawing board. |
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PHILLY BOXING HISTORY NEWS & NOTES The normally quiet summer Philly boxing season will be uncharacteristically eventful this year. Although most of the bouts will be staged out of town, local fighters will be competing in important bouts.... June 27th: Lajuan Simon heads back to Germany for a 12 rounder against Sebastian Sylvester for an international belt.... July 4th: Fast Eddie Chambers travels to Berlin Hamburg, Germany for a 12-round WBO title eliminator against undefeated Alexander Dimitrenko.... July 10th: Undefeated Tony Ferrante takes on Billy Bailey at the South Philly Arena, in Philly's only summer show. Bailey is the guy who surprised Brian Cohen earlier this year. July 11th: Former cruiser champ Steve Cunningham makes his long-awaited return to the ring against Wayne Braithwaite in an IBF title eliminator in Sunrise, FL. A win for Cunningham earns him a rematch with the man who took his belt, Tomasz Adamek, who headlines his own card in Newark, NJ, also on July 11th. Adamek will make the 2nd defense of his title against Bobby Gunn. Also on that card is Blue Horizon stable Ran Nakash (vs. William Bailey), plus Kaseem Wilson vs. Henry Crawford.... Aug 8th: Peltz Boxing returns to Bally's in A.C. with a card featuring Mike Jones against Larry Mosley. This snake-bitten match up has been twice postponed, so let's hope the third time is a charm. |
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INTERNATIONAL BOXING HALL OF FAME
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Editor & Webmaster - John DiSanto |
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Assistant Editor - Chuck Hasson |
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Web site design by Fairhill Street Productions |
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By
Todd Schmerler for The Star-Ledger
Ranked
middleweight contender, LaJuan Simon made his second
consecutive trip to Germany and came away with another
points loss in an important bout. Back in March, Simon faced
IBF champ Arthur Abraham in a world title shot. He lost the
decision by a wide margin on the official cards, but the
fight was actually a lot closer. Last night (6/27), Simon
clashed with Sebastian Sylvester for a chance at a return
bout with Abraham. However, Sylvester won the title
elimination fight with a 12-round unanimous decision. The
bout was not televised. But based on the report posted by
Fight News, it sounds like Simon had his moments, especially
in the 10th & 11th, but came up short overall. The loss
shrunk his record to 21-2-2, but it was another good lesson
on the world stage for the 30 year old. Prior to this year,
he waited for some real action, and his last two fights
furnished him with true opportunity - something he can't get
at the Armory. So he'll have to rebuild a bit now, but
perhaps this loss will help him to seize his next chance at
the big time.
This
weekend, boxing fans from around the world will gather in
Canastota, NY for the International Boxing Hall of Fame's
annual induction weekend. Among those being honored is HBO
boxing analyst Larry Merchant. Philly Boxing History extends
a special congratulations to Merchant, who served as the
Sports Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News for many years.
Although Merchant has gained great status and celebrity for
his HBO telecasts, and is no doubt being inducted on the
strength of his broadcast excellence, we like to think that
his days in Philly played a key role in his development as a
Hall of Famer. This year, Hall of Fame honors will also go
to Lennox Lewis, Orlando Canizales, Brian Mitchell, PA's
Billy Soose, and nine others. We will take a few days off to
attend the festivities in Canastota, and to congratulate
Larry in person. (
North Philly's Teon Kennedy ran his budding pro record to
13-0 (5 KO) with an 8-round unanimous decision over
Reading's Lucian Gonzalez in the main event at Bally's on
Saturday night (6/6). Kennedy went right at his foe
beginning in round one and chose to trade shots all the way
through the bout. The light-punching Gonzalez stayed with
him, but was outclassed, especially in the last half of the
fight. Kennedy probably won 6 of the 8 rounds. What looked
to be a tough match going in, proved exactly that, as
Patrick Majewski took the decision in his fight with Latif
Mundy. Majewski floored Mundy early and punished him over
the first several rounds. But Mundy roared back late in the
fight to make it close. He bloodied Majewski and appeared to
be closing the scoring gap before Majewski won the final
round to close the show. The judges saw it comfortably for
the winner of the entertaining scrap. John Poore proved that
the end of his career is just around the corner. He looked
rusty and lost in his six... (
