Teon Kennedy doesn’t seem to get a break. If Teon, or anyone for that matter, thought that he was walking into an easy fight after last November’s tragic brawl with Francisco Rodriguez for the USBA Super Bantam Title, they were sadly mistaken. Jose Angel Beranza came to Atlantic City for one reason: to take the title from Teon Kennedy.

Teon has always fought with calmness. He doesn’t get rattled by an opponent; he does exactly what he needs to do to win. At the beginning of the fight Beranza appeared to be the aggressor, trying to take charge of the action early. It was short lived. Teon was clearly in control by the middle of the first round. By the second round, Teon was obviously moving Beranza with his right. Beranza was having trouble coming in and landing his punches. But Beranza has experience behind him, coming into the ring with 51 fights behind him. By the middle of the second round, he looked as though he was starting to figure Teon out, timing his shots and landing more of his own.

Teon was keeping the pressure on Beranza in the third round. His punches seemed even more effective due to the fact that Beranza often found himself off balance when being hit. But Beranza never found himself out of the fight. He came out in the fourth round, fighting aggressively, and he was able to make Teon stumble from a punch. Far from causing Teon to back off, Teon only stepped up the pace at this point. The round ended with the two trading shots back and forth.

The fifth and sixth rounds saw both fighters trading shots back and forth. In fact, Beranza was throwing more punches than Teon in the sixth round. However, Beranza’s punches did not have the effect that Teon’s punches had. Beranza was breathing hard by the sixth. It seemed clear that Teon was wearing him down. It also seemed clear that Beranza had no intention on going down.

In the seventh, the fight seemed to shift in favor of Beranza. He was landing clean shots to Teon’s head by the end of the round. And Teon did not look as aggressive as earlier rounds. Early in the eighth round, Beranza was chasing Teon around the ring. Teon was falling into the trap of fighting Beranza’s fight. If this were not enough of a problem for Teon, he was also fighting with a swollen right eye and a bloody nose. It was becoming apparent that Teon was having trouble seeing Beranza’s left.

After being checked by the ringside physician between rounds, Teon came out in the ninth trying to turn the tide of the fight back into his favor. He started out more aggressive but quickly found himself caught on the ropes. He was unable to take control until late in the round. It looked as though Teon was wearing down, but he came out in the tenth round energized. He was able to catch Beranza on the ropes and not long after stun Beranza with a hard right. However, Beranza had tasted success against Teon and was not about to let it slip away. He was aiming for Teon’s eye and nose. The round ended in a back and forth brawl.

The eleventh round was another back and forth round. Beranza was trying to work Teon’s body. And then as if Teon were not fighting enough problems, a lump had formed below his left eye. He was having trouble connecting. But even with this, Teon was able to cause Beranza to stumble with another power punch. By the twelfth round, it was hard to tell if Teon could see Beranza. He seemed to throwing his punches in the general direction that he knew Beranza must be. Teon survived the round, even though at times it looked as though he was going down. Teon won by unanimous decision. The judge’s scores were 115-113, 117-111, and 117-111. Bruised and battered, Teon had managed to defend his title.
 

The co-feature of the evening was between Middleweights Patrick Majewski and Loren Myers. The fight had a slow start and early in the first round Loren Myers was throwing the majority of the punches. However, local favorite Majewski took control of the fight late in the first round and never gave up that control. Although Myers never quit, he never was able to shift the momentum of the fight. In the fifth round, Majewski was able to open a cut above the left eye of Myers.

Myers face was covered in blood, and Majewski just kept working that cut. Even though Myers’ corner was able to stop the bleeding between rounds, Majewski simply opened the cut up again at the beginning of the sixth. On the advice of the ringside physician, the fight was stopped at 1:05 in the sixth, giving Majewski win number 13 and knockout number 8.

Junior Lightweight Anthony Flores fought to a draw against Carlos Vinan. Although Flores had a definite height advantage of 5 inches, he never truly capitalized on it. Vinan showed a lot of determination and would often come right in and land a shot. And it was obvious that Vinan did not mind being hit. The first couple rounds, Vinan would take the punishment in order to land his punches. By the end of the third, Flores was picking up his pace. Vinan started out the fourth pressuring Flores, but then the momentum changed for good when Flores opened up a cut over Vinan’s left eye. Flores clearly controlled the action in the fifth and sixth round. The judge’s scores were 57-57, 58-56 for Flores, and 58-56 Vinan.

The night started with Junior Lightweight Ryan Carson winning the unanimous decision over Marcos Garcia. Although at times Garcia seemed busier, Carson definitely had more power in his punch. Junior Welterweight Ronald Cruz defeated Juan Ramon Cruz. Ronald Cruz seemed to have little trouble. In the fourth round, Ronald Cruz knocked down Juan Ramon Cruz. After the count, Ronald rushed backed in and knocked Juan Ramon down again by the force of the collision. The fight was stopped between rounds by the referee, giving the Ronald Cruz the TKO victory. Welterweight Josh Mercado defeated Joel Nieves. Nieves was the more wild and unpredictable fighter, fighting with all the grace of a wounded bull. Initially, this gave Mercado some trouble, but he quickly calmed down and took control of the round. Mercado turned up the pressure in the second, caught Nieves on the ropes. The fight was stopped at 1:02 in the second. The final fight of the night was between Super Middleweights Rafael Jastrzebski and Troy Maxwell. At times the two seemed to want to wrestle more than box. Jastrzebski got the decision.