Ran “Sweet Dreams” Nakash Gets TKO Victory
Over Dave Brunelli At The Legendary Blue Horizon

By Tim Donaldson

Once again, The Legendary Blue Horizon lived up to its reputation of being one of the best places to see a fight. And the excitement was topped off by Nakash’s TKO over Brunelli.

The first round started off slow, like so many first rounds. The two fighters taking their time trying to get to know the style of the other. Brunelli, who had a height advantage, looked good in that round. He landed several good punches that round while Nakash looked as though he was still warming up. But the second round saw a more aggressive Nakash come out from his corner. Brunelli still looked good, but you could see that Nakash was wearing away at Brunelli. Nakash’s hits seemed more solid. And Nakash appeared not to be affected by Brunelli’s punches, charging right through them to be able to land punches of his own. Brunelli’s nose was bleeding by the second round.

The third round saw Nakash taking control of the fight. He was setting the pace. The blood filling up Brunelli’s nostrils had to be making it hard for him to breathe. The fourth round was much the same. And even now, by the middle of the fight, Nakash appeared to be untouched by Brunelli’s punches. But even by the fifth round, it still appeared that Brunelli could win this. He was still landing hard shots against Nakash, and at times, seemed to be controlling the action. But Nakash never let this go on for too long. He would be right back in there. And Nakash was showing that he could move
Brunelli to wherever he wanted, mostly against the ropes—the whole time concentrating on the bloody nose of Brunelli.

Sensing that time was running out, Brunelli came out strong in the sixth round. He was the more aggressive fighter throughout the round. Even with the blood dripping down his face, he continued to go after Nakash. But Brunelli failed to keep the attack up, always letting Nakash off too soon rather than trying to end the fight. Brunelli did manage to catch Nakash on the ropes at the end of the round. But the damage was already done. Nakash had been working methodically on Brunelli throughout the fight. By the seventh round, Brunelli was bleeding more and more. At the advice of the ringside physician, the fight was stopped at 1:18 in the seventh round. It was a fitting end to a great night of boxing.

The night started as exciting as it ended. The first fight was between Cruiserweights Taneal Goyco and Davit Davitashvili. For both, this was only their second fight, and for what they lacked in experience, they made up for in heart. Both gave a great fight. Davitashvili was able to corner Goyco against the ropes three times in the first round and land some powerful shots. In fact, Goyco seemed to be stumbling some by the end of the first round. The second round saw a change. Again, Davitashvili cornered Goyco against the ropes, but Goyco fought back and punched his way across the ring, putting Davitashvili against the ropes on the opposite side of the ring. Two things were clear. Goyco had a better boxing style. Davitashvili was a bull in the ring. Goyco’s biggest problem is that he was trying to reach with his punch and would lose all power behind it. The third round still saw Goyco boxing better, but the fourth Davitashvili was able to keep Goyco against the ropes most of the round. However, Goyco was able to deliver a late flurry of punches. Goyco won by unanimous decision.

The second fight was between Junior Welterweights Ronald Cruz and Shannon Hill. Hill dominated most of the first round, but by the second round Cruz was taking control of the fight. By this time both were bleeding. Cruz from the top of his head and Hill from just above his eye. By the fourth round, Cruz was clearly in control of the fight. Hill spent most of the round against the ropes. Cruz won by decision.

Typically the red corner is the favored corner, and this night saw the red corner winning every fight. But the third fight was the one that for a short period of time looked like it might be a big upset. The fight was between Junior Lightweights Paul Fernandez and Joseph Francisco. Francisco, in the blue corner, came out strong in the first round. He was aggressive and fast, landing close to twice as many punches as Fernandez. But this was short lived. By the second round, Fernandez was starting to tie up Francisco, keeping him from landing punches. By the third round, Fernandez was now the aggressor. Francisco spent most of the round walking around the ring trying to stay out of reach, but he could not stay out of reach for long. Fernandez knocked down Francisco in the third. The fourth round once again saw Francisco walking around the ring. He seemed to be tiring himself out walking in circles. But again Fernandez was able to catch him, knocking him down once and then delivering a flurry of punches that resulted in the ref stopping the fight. Fernandez won by TKO at 2:57 in the fourth round.

The fourth fight featured Featherweights Joselito Collando against Jason Rorie. Both fighters were aggressive, and for most of the fight it looked more like a bar room brawl than a boxing match. For most of the fight, Rorie seemed unaffected by Collando’s punches. And one reason for this might be that Collando kept over reaching to try to hit Rorie. But even though Collando’s punches seemed weak at times, he was able to land more than Rorie. By the fifth round, Rorie seemed worn out, and at times in the sixth round, he was just punching the air. Collando won by unanimous decision.

The fifth fight might have been the slowest fight of the evening. Cruiserweights Julio Cesar Matthews and William Gill got off to a slow start. And by slow, I mean the first three rounds seemed quite slow. But by the fourth round, both were fighting much harder. Matthews was definitely the more aggressive fighter from this point on, but he failed to give that extra push to finish the fight. He repeatedly let Gill off the hook, but this never really helped Gill because he failed to capitalize on these breaks. Matthews won by unanimous decision.

The sixth fight was one of the best of the evening. It featured Junior Welterweights Julius “Marvel” Edmonds, who wore a Spiderman shirt into the ring—I am guessing that has something to do with the “Marvel,” and Tyric “Too Sweet” Robinson. Edmonds shows a lot of promise in this sport. He came out of his corner fast in the first round, keeping his head low and swinging, pinning Robinson up against the ropes again and again. But Robinson never let himself drop out of this fight. He fought hard throughout the fight. The problem was that he fought mostly with his back against the ropes. And it was obvious, even in the second round, that it was taking a toll on him. Edmonds just kept pounding away at the ribs of Robinson, throughout the fight. Although Robinson shows promise, he does not seem to have the skill yet to avoid an attack by someone like Edmonds, who was relentless in his attacks round after round. Robinson was able to get a late round flurry in the sixth and final round, but it was not enough. Edmonds won by unanimous decision.

I don’t think that any of the fans left the Legendary Blue Horizon disappointed. It was a good night for boxing.