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Derek "Pooh" Ennis To Battle
Edwin Vazquez
On "Turf Wars", Jan. 15 In Philadelphia
USBA Jr. Middleweight champ headlines a non-title bout as
well as appearances
by Philly Favorites, Tony Ferrante, Victor Vasquez, & “Big
Poppa” Speller
On Friday night, January 15th, the first big boxing event of
2010 will take place as Greg Robinson’s Power Promotions in
association with River Edge Beverage Company presents “Turf
Wars” that will take place at The Arena in South
Philadelphia.
In the main event, USBA Jr. Middleweight champion, Derek
“Pooh” Ennis will take part in a ten round non-title fight
as he battles veteran Edwin Vazquez.
Ennis, 19-2-1 with twelve knockouts won the USBA Jr.
Middleweight title with a tremendous back and forth brawl as
he won a hard fought twelve round unanimous decision over
Eromosele Albert on October 16th and The Legendary Blue
Horizon.
Ennis and Albert exchanged hard combinations in close and
the near-sellout crowd at The Legendary Blue Horizon was
entertained as the fight was one of the best in Philadelphia
in the past few years.
Ennis won by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in the
bout for which most ringside observers thought could have
gone either way.
That win catapulted Ennis into the world rankings as he is
now ranked number-thirteen by the IBF.
The win over Albert was Ennis’ seventh straight victory and
he holds win over Albert (22-3-1), John Mackey (11-3-2) and
Troy Browning (20-2-1) in that streak.
This will be Ennis fourth appearance at The Arena (formally
known as the New Alhambra) and he has a record of 2-1 in
that building which includes the six round unanimous
decision over Mackey that took place on July 10, 2009.
Vazquez is a seventeen year veteran and has a record of
22-14-2 with eight knockouts.
The native of Santurce, Puerto Rico has been in with some of
the biggest names in boxing as evidenced by a resume that
includes fights with former world title challengers,
Demetrius Hopkins, Antonio Diaz, former WBO Jr. Welterweight
champion Ricardo Torres, Matthew Hatton, and former
Undisputed Welterweight champion Zab Judah.
Vazquez won the WBA Fedecaribe Welterweight title with a
twelve round unanimous decision over Jose Correa (13-1) on
March 23, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Local fans may remember Vazquez last appearance in the area
as he lost a razor thin unanimous decision to Eric Mitchell
(20-4-1) on March 15, 2008 in Sewell, New Jersey in a bout
that was for the IBC Continental-America’s title.
The fight was controversial as Vazquez was deducted a point
in round three for a low blow. If not for that deduction the
fight would have been a draw.
An outstanding undercard of some local favorites and bright
prospects has been as assembled as Victor Vasquez will
battle Ikem Orji in a Lightweight bout scheduled for six
rounds.
Vasquez of Philadelphia has a record of 10-3 with five wins
coming by knockouts and because of his all action style,
more often than not he is in The Fight of The Night.
Vasquez has won two straight which includes his latest bout
being a career best performance unanimous decision over
Tyric Robinson (9-4-1) on October 16th at The Legendary Blue
Horizon.
In the bout, Vasquez showed that he was more than a come
forward fighter as he showed some solid defensive skills in
what was his first bout with new trainer Chris Rotella.
This will be Vasquez seventh appearance at The Arena where
he has an impressive record of 5-1.
Orji of Laurel, Maryland has a record of 5-2 with one win
coming by knockout.
Orji won his first four bout before dropping a six round
unanimous decision to Phildelphia lightweight Anthony Flores
(6-0) on February 27, 2009 as part of Tomasz Adamek-Jonathan
Banks Cruiserweight title card in Newark, New Jersey.
Orji has been inactive for eight months since his last bout
which was a six round split decision to Isaac Suarez (6-0)
on May 8th at The Arena.
In a Light Heavyweight co-feature, popular Tony “Boom Boom”
Ferrante will take on Andre Hemphill in a bout scheduled for
eight rounds.
Ferrante of Northeast Philadelphia has a perfect ledger of
8-0 with four wins coming by knockout.
The popular fighter brings a boisterous fan base and has
quickly become one of the most well-liked fighters in the
city.
He is coming off an entertaining eight round majority
decision over Billy Bailey on July 10th at The Arena. That
was his second win at the venue without a loss.
Ferrante was most recently tabbed the chief sparring partner
for future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins for Hopkins
December 2nd fight with Enrique Ornelas.
Hemphill of Philadelphia has a record of 8-13-2 with five
knockouts and has faced top competition as the combined
record of Hemphill’s opponents is a very impressive 124-17-7
which includes eleven undefeated fighters.
He has wins over popular New Jersey prospect Bobby Rooney
(5-1), Simon Carr (4-0) and third round knockout over Joey
McCreedy (5-0).
Hemphill is coming off an October 2nd first round knockout
defeat to Jeremiah Graziano (6-0, 6 KO’s) at The Legendary
Blue Horizon in a bout that Hemphill took on less than
twenty-four hours notice.
This will be Hemphill’s second appearance at the Arena since
an August 24, 2007 draw with Carr in a rematch.
In a four round Light Heavyweight bout, Tommie “Big Poppa”
Speller (4-3, 3 KO’s) takes on Dave Cook (3-3, 1 KO).
In a four round Jr. Lightweight bout, Whaid Raheem (3-0, 1
KO) of Philadelphia battles Eilud Torres (2-1-2, 1 KO) of
Allentown, PA.
In four round Jr. Lightweight bout, Coy Evans (5-0-1) of
Philadelphia takes an opponent to be named.
6’4” Middleweight Derrick Webster (3-0, 2 KO’s) of
Glassboro, New Jersey will see action in a four round bout
as well as Middleweight Phillip McCants (8-1-1, 3 KO’s) of
Philadelphia in separate bouts
Both Webster and McCants will have their opponents announced
shortly.
Tickets for this outstanding night of boxing are priced at
$75, $65 and $40 and can be purchased by calling Power
Productions at 215-240-9987; Ticketmaster at 215-336-2000 or
The Arena at 267-687-7560
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