Rivera Annihilates Diaz

By "Super Fly" Aaron Dye & Damon "LatinBox" Gonzalez at ringside

TAMPA, FL – Another chapter of the ever popular "Fight Night at the Pavilion" presented by StarFight productions was added to the books in front of a capacity crowd at the quaint A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, Florida.  Fighters at different levels and different points in their careers put it all on the line, much to the delight of the fans attending the event.

The featured attraction was a grudge match between local rivals Carlos "El Rayo" Rivera (13-3-2, 4 KOs) and Carlos "Bam Bam" Diaz (9-13-4, 7 KOs).  Things were said to get heated before the fight got underway in the dressing rooms with both fighters exchanging fierce words with each other.

Both were at a crossroads in their careers, with Rivera getting back on track with an undefeated record in his last four fights and while the opposite was true for Diaz, who was winless in his previous nine bouts.  Diaz, despite his under .500 record, was still a respected fighter in the area who was once a promising prospect.  He began his career at 8-0-2 before becoming a trialhorse for other up and coming fighters.

Both fighters came out fast as the gong sounded to begin round one, with Rivera, 125 lbs, landing the first telling punch, a straight left.  The fighters constantly smothered each other and referee Dennis DeBon was quickly on top of the action to break them apart.  It was short lived, however, as Rivera and Diaz were intent on roughhousing on the inside.  Each took their turns holding and hitting at every opportunity, and when they finally separated, Diaz began to land vicious body shots while Rivera countered with the cleaner, more traditional blows.

The next round set the pace for the rest of the bout, as Diaz, 126 lbs, implemented his strategy of sticking the body.  It appeared to be working after a sickening body shot and follow up combination of punches left Rivera slightly glassy eyed.  Diaz sensed the kill and got a little wild, winging an uppercut from so far out that Rivera couldn't help but counter with a tremendous right hook.  Diaz sank to the canvas, badly hurt and most likely embarrassed from getting overanxious, but rose to his feet and jumped right back into the action.  His body shots again looked like they were taking a toll on Rivera, but that hope was shattered when he took a sharp straight left at the bell that left Diaz stunned, which prompted the fighters to continue swapping leather until the referee pried them apart.

In round three, Rivera returned to the basics, sticking behind his right jab and straight left, which Diaz was unable to avoid.  Diaz, stubborn and determined, stuck to the body of Rivera, ripping shots that would have felled lesser men.  Rivera stood his ground and traded power shots in the middle of the ring, with "El Rayo" getting the better of the exchange.  Diaz's Dante's Inferno of the fight, the dreaded straight left, continued to find a home every time he took a backwards step, but each occasion would come right back with several hits to the midsection.

By round four, Diaz was starting to tire from the accurate punching of Rivera but refused to back away.  He still had the belief that if he could land enough shots to the body, he could destroy Rivera's momentum and take him out of the fight.  Rivera had other plans on his mind and decided to stand his ground and fight Diaz's fight, trading booming body shots in the middle of the ring, with Diaz coming out on top.  With his confidence rising, Diaz once again began winging wild shots that allowed Rivera to put together fast combinations to the head of his opponent without getting hit in return.

Round five was probably the most vicious of the entire fight, with Rivera now in complete dominance.  His left landed at will and pinned Diaz in the neutral corner.  With nowhere for Diaz to go, Rivera began clubbing him with an assortment of hooks and uppercuts flush to the head.  So many shots were getting through that Diaz was almost knocked out of the ring as he lay against the ropes.  Diaz showed his indomitable will and not only survived the onslaught, but came back to amass a few good shots to the body.  By the end of the round, though, he was hurt again and saved by the bell.

The next two rounds were near copies of the fifth, with Diaz sustaining a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental headbutt and getting knocked corner to corner from straight lefts.  Diaz still was competitive and landed a strong right hook to the jaw in the seventh that fazed Rivera enough for him to spend the remainder of the round pawing with his jab and lazily shooting his straight left, which for the first time in the fight Diaz was able to avoid.

For the final round, Diaz knew he needed a knockout.  He came out desperate to land the shot to separate Rivera from his senses, but his adversary was wise and knew he was well ahead on the scorecards.  Rivera stayed on his bicycle for almost the remainder of the round, content to win on points, but the inner warrior came out for the final seconds and both combatants traded their best shots; Diaz with his patented hooks to the body and Rivera with his combination punching.

It was the fight of the night that had the crowd cheering and standing on its feet throughout most of the contest.  The wide scoring of the contest, 79-72 by Alex Levin and 80-71 from Mike Ross and Emile Conforti belied the fact that an absolute war took place inside the squared circle for the entirety of the contest.

The main support bout featured amateur standout Keith Thurman, 149 ¼ lbs, of Largo against Jason Jordan, 146 ½ lbs of Akron, Ohio.  Thurman had never had any of his previous five fights go past the first and was looking to make this an early night also.  Jordan, to his credit coming in at 6-22-3, had only been stopped three times against solid competition.

True to his pattern of finishing things early, Thurman came out fast with a flurry of quick shots.  Jordan stood straight up and attempted to pull back from the punches, ala Muhammad Ali.  He had some success early on avoiding the shots, especially after Thurman became impatient and started loading up too much on his punches.  Jordan easily dodged the more telegraphed of Thurman's shots until a leaping left hook sent his opponent crashing to the canvas, dislodging Jordan's bloody mouthpiece as it dangled on the floor next to his jaw.  Referee Brian Garry reached the count of ten, with Jordan nowhere close to beating the count and Thurman was announced the winner at the official time of 2:34.  Thurman improved to six wins without a loss, with all six wins coming by knockout in the first.

In a highly anticipated female match-up, popular hometown fighter Jenna "Cowgirl" Shiver, 125 ½ lbs, faced the most experienced boxer of her career, Renee Douglas, 128 lbs.  Douglas, hailing from St. Louis, MO, came in with 18 career fights, going 11-6-1 with 4 KO's to Shiver's ledger of 6-3-1 and 2 KOs.

Shiver had won four of her last five, but lost her last bout to a debut fighter.  Her opponent was a largely unknown commodity, but Shiver was driven to find out what she was made of as soon as the fight started.  She came out like a storm but mostly crowded herself, rendering most of her blows useless.  Near the end of the round, she was able to get some distance and dropped Douglas in the corner with a smashing right hand as she cowered in the corner.  She got up but was pummeled with rights and uppercuts until the bell.

During rounds two and three, Shiver and Douglas appeared winded after the fierceness of the second half of the first round and spent most of the time working on the inside.  Shiver was the one putting in the work, though, while Douglas was offering little in return.  Shiver got her distance again at the end of the third and landed a clean, straight right on Douglas that visibly affected her.

In the final round, Shiver continued to come forward, yet at this point most of her shots were arm punches with no real weight thrown behind them.  Many of her looping shots went around the head of Douglas but nevertheless Douglas looked ready to go.  Shiver put together a series of shots to try to close the show for the fans, but had to settle to go to the cards.  All three judges, Mike Ross, Alex Levin, and Don Trombley were fully in agreement that Shiver put on a boxing clinic and awarded her with a tally of 40-35.

Cruiserweight Nick "The Assassin" Ianuzzi (7-0-0, 4 KOs), 200 ¾ lbs, of Palm Harbor, FL was able to exhibit some of his promising skills against fellow boxer Dione Craig (4-13-1 (1 KO), who was clearly out of shape at 224 ¾ lbs.  Ianuzzi started off well, listening to trainer Pete Fernandez from the corner, and pumped out a stiff jab followed by a solid right hand.  Every so often Ianuzzi worked in a left hook, but it looked as if Craig wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  In the final seconds, a perfect shot behind the ear of Craig changed that sentiment as he fell to the canvas with a sickening thud.  He rose unsteadily and was in a state of disarray, but referee Dennis DeBon had finished the eight-count and the round was over, so he was allowed to continue.

Ianuzzi showed assuring work in the second also, battering Craig around the ring with a variety of punches, from well placed uppercuts and accurate hooks and right hands.  Craig barely had any output and was lucky to make it out of the round

That all changed from rounds three to six, with Ianuzzi ignoring his corner's instructions and instead trying to end the fight with one punch.  He flailed away with amateurish uppercuts over and over that never came close to hitting Craig, who sat still as a hermit crab and was ready to be taken.  The sixth was Ianuzzi's best since the second, as he used a better technique during parts of the round, staying behind a steady jab and right hand.  Both were tired by the end of the fight but the outcome was merely a formality.  Don Trombley, Alex Levin, and Ged O'Connor all saw it exactly the same way, 60-53, not giving Craig a single round of the fight.

For the third fight of the evening, local favorite "Mr. Brixx" Ashandi Gibbs put his perfect record on the line against Ben Aragon of Billings, Montana.  Each came out aggressively, with Gibbs, 159 lbs, unable to miss whenever he threw a looping right around Aragon's guard.  Aragon, 157 ½ lbs was game but outgunned, yet still tried to come forward to land something of importance.  Gibbs had too many tools; left hooks and right hands got in regularly and the jab often snapped Aragon's head back.

Aragon was staggered early in the second from an overhand right, which made Gibbs overconfident.  Aragon landed his best punch of the fight, a smashing uppercut, but Gibbs was unaffected and soon was doubling Aragon over with shots to the body.  An accidental headbutt left Gibbs with a cut and affected him for the remainder of the round.

Gibbs, still bothered by the cut, came out for the next round looking to end the fight, landing left hooks to the head and body with extreme force.  A right hand landed flush on Aragon's chin and had him out on his feet.  He tried to fight back but a left hook dropped Aragon to his knees.  When he rose, he reeled across the ring, still groggy from the shot and referee Brian Garry wisely waved off the contest at 1:28.  Gibbs improved to 8-0, with 3 KOs and Aragon dropped to 7-11-2, with 5 wins by knockout.

In the second fight of the evening, Tyrese "Head Honcho" Hendrix (13-0-1, 6 KOs), 140 lbs, from Monroe, GA, battled his near equal in Cincinnati's James Helmes (6-2-0, 1 KO), 140 ½ lbs.  Hendrix and Helmes came out fighting as southpaws, with Helmes landing a good body shot.  Hendrix landed a good straight left against the ropes but took a strong left from Helmes in return.  Helmes landed good combinations to the stomach but Hendrix came back stronger with a flurry to the head that had Helmes backpeddling.

Helmes came out for the second doing most of the work, switching between southpaw and orthodox stances at his leisure.  Helmes was landing lefts and rights, usually three to Hendrix's one.  Hendrix returned to form in the third, catching Helmes on the ropes with several effective punches.  Hendrix took a step back to find his distance and landed the stronger shots of the two, leaving Helmes winded.  By the fourth, each fighter was trying to establish their jabs; however it was Helmes who turned up the heat and concentrated his attack downstairs, landing five to six punch combinations.  Hendrix tried to mix it up but couldn't keep up the pace.  Finally he snapped Helmes head back with a straight left but Helmes lashed right back and they continued to brawl until the bell.

In round five, Helmes was able to back Hendrix into a corner and continue his onslaught to the body, but this time Hendrix came back with his own bag of tricks.  A straight left zapped Helmes momentum and a right hook pushed Helmes off balance.  Another right hook bounced off Helmes head to end the round.  The sixth had Hendrix again trying to use his jab to set up better shots.  He started strong, but Helmes went downstairs again and drained Hendrix with his body attack.  A sharp left catched Helmes but Hendrix wasn't active enough to win the round.  Pound4Pound had the fight dead even at 57-57, but judges Emile Conforti and Don Trombley disagreed with 59-55 scores as did Ged O'Connor with a score of 58-56.

In the opening fight, St. Petersburg's own popular heavyweight Jason Barnett, 219 ¾ lbs returned after a disappointing TKO loss to Audley Harrison to fight Earl Ladson, 232 ¼ lbs, who was representing Winston Salem, NC.  Coming in, Ladson had only one win in his last twelve fights.  Barnett started the fight with the jab, but soon the fight began to get ugly on the inside, with constant prying apart from referee Brian Garry.  Barnett was able to muster up a good left hook near the end of the round, answered with a rabbit punch from Ladson as his only effective punch of the stanza.  Barnett tried to establish the jab again in the second, even tripling up on it, but Ladson started to counter with powerful shots to the body.  Many of them were shots to the kidneys, as evidenced from the redness around that area, but Ladson was never warned.  Barnett was content to lie on the inside for the most part until the final ten seconds when he opened up and traded until the bell.

Barnett measured himself into a safe distance for effective punching in round three, landing a left-right that staggered Ladson.  Barnett landed another and Ladson looked like he was running on empty.  Appearances were deceiving, though, and soon Barnett flopped to the canvas from what looked like a right hand that landed square on his chin.  Brian Garry ruled it a slip and saved Barnett one of his best rounds of the night.  It was a dreadful mess by the final round, with mostly clinching and muscling around between the fighters.  Barnett pushed out the jab again while Ladson landed better shots to the body, most of them kidney punches like earlier in the fight.  Again, as the ten second warning buzzed, the fighters showed their heart and appreciation of the crowd and traded until the end of the bout.  Pound4Pound had it 38-38, with neither fighter gaining an advantage.  Mike Ross and Don Trombley saw it differently at 39-37 and Alex Levin had it at an even larger margin of 40-36.  With Ladson winning a unanimous decision, Barnett fell to 10-8, with 4 KOs while Ladson's stock and record rose to 14-18-1, with 7 KOs.