July 11 Undercard Results From
The Prudential Center In Newark

By Tim Donaldson

For those in attendance, the night might have been all about Adamek and Gunn, but if they were watching between their chanting of Adamek, they got to see some good fights.

The surprise fight of the evening was between Curtis “Showtime” Stevens and Piotr Wilczewski. I say surprise for two reasons. The first is that on paper it looked like it should have been a close fight. The second is that the Polish fans were shocked at Wilczewski’s loss. But lose Wilczewski did. Stevens came out strong in the opening round and dominated the entire fight. It was apparent from the beginning that Wilczewski was in trouble. He was doing a lot of holding to try to stop Stevens’ attack, but it was no use. Wilczewski went down in the first, only to get up and finish the round on extremely shaky legs.

Wilczewski looked better in the second round. Now “better” is relative. He did not look better than Stevens, but he did look better than he had in the first. He was able to land a few good shots. He was still holding to try to stop Stevens' attacks, but Stevens was still dominating the round. The third round looked a lot like the first, with Wilczewski in trouble early. He went down but got up and said he could continue. But the fight was already over. Stevens chased him back against the ropes. Wilczewski was balled up on the ropes, trying to block Stevens’ blows, and after what seemed like an usually long time, referee Earl Morton stopped the fight. The Polish fans booed the stoppage, even Wilczewski protested, but any longer and Wilczewski would not have walked out of that ring.

Cruiserweight Ran “Sweet Dreams” Nakash also proved himself to be a tough opponent in his fight against William Bailey. In the first round, it looked as though it was going to be a close fight. Both were fighting in close, and Nakash, who is compact in stature, does well fighting close. Due to an accidental head butt, Bailey ended up with a cut above his right eye. This really had little to do with the outcome of the fight. Nakash won the fight for one main reason. The whole time they were in close, even when Bailey seemed to have some advantage, Nakash concentrated his attack on the body of William Bailey. At one point in the second round, Bailey was pushing Nakash across the ring, and Nakash just kept hitting Bailey in the ribs the whole time. By the fourth round, it was obvious that this was working. Bailey had lost his fight, barely throwing any punches. His corner threw in the towel, and the fight was stopped at 1:49 in the fourth.

Middleweights Denis “Momma’s Boy” Douglin and Lamar Harris also gave a good fight. Both came out in the first round ready to fight. Harris dropped Douglin in the first, and Harris went down shortly after. However, Harris’ trip to the canvas was ruled a slip. The entire first round was full of quick, hard shots. The two slugged it out from corner to corner. Toward the end of the first round, Harris was holding on to Douglin to keep from going down. The second round was much more of the same. Neither fighter would back down. It was anyone’s fight. The third saw Harris caught in the corner, but he was able to battle his way out. The two were throwing hard punches still and fighting in close. In the fourth, Douglin landed a solid right to Harris’ head. Both fighters were looking tired when the bell sounded at the end of the round. All three judges saw the fight exactly the same, scoring it 38-37 for Douglin.

Although Kaseem Wilson was not able to give Henry Crawford his first loss, he was able to do one thing. He was able to throw Crawford off of his fight. Kaseem was the first southpaw for Crawford as a professional fighter, and it was obvious that he really did not know how to handle that. Unfortunately, it did not make for an exciting fight. The first round was slow, but Kaseem was able to land a few shots. Early in the third round, Kaseem was looking a little more aggressive, but Crawford was able to land a hard right at the end of the round. Crawford did not look comfortable fighting a southpaw, until some time into the fourth round. But even still, the fight was slow, neither fighter really getting in there and taking any chances. And the great fighters, the fighters that draw the crowds, get in there and take those chances. Crawford won the unanimous decision.
 

The one fight that seemed like a huge mismatch on paper was between cruiserweights Mateusz Masternak (13-0, 8 KO’s) and Naser Mohamed Aly (4-3, 2 KO’s). The two fighters started out cautiously, keeping a lot of distance in the first round. Masternak would move in a couple times and land a few shots in the first round, but otherwise, they did little. The second round was a different story, almost as though two new fighters were brought in. Aly controlled the round early, but Masternak came right back and landed a hard right to the head of Aly. The rest of the round was back and forth. The third round was a continuation of the end of the second, back and forth. Neither fighter seemed to be committed. When either seemed to have the advantage, they would let the other off the hook. However, Masternak changed that in the fourth. He clearly was controlling the round, even at times chasing Aly. In the fifth, Masternak was able to fake Aly. He backed away and then charged in, catching Aly on the ropes. Aly went down in the fifth. After getting up, his corner decided it was time to get him out of there. The fight was stopped at 2:36 in the fifth round.

The night started off with the pro debut of junior middleweight Delen Parsley, fighting against Tyrone Miles. Although Parsley got the win, it was not an easy fight. Miles was busier the first round, and in the second, Miles caught Parsley against the ropes. Parsley took control of the fight in the third round. It was obvious the Parsley fought better when attacked. And after being hit a few times, he turned the fight around and did what he needed to do to win. The third round saw Miles holding on to Parsley to keep from going down. But Miles could not survive the fourth round that way. Parsley was hitting Miles hard, concentrating on the body. Miles went down against the ropes. The fight was stopped at 1:47.