by Cliff Rold

The opening round of the eight-man Middleweight version of the Boxcino tournament got underway on Friday night at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, with three knockouts and yet another undefeated fighter taking a loss.  All quarterfinal contests were competed at a scheduled distance of six rounds.

Only one made it that far.

In the final quarterfinal bout of the night, two men with pedestrian knockout percentages gave the night its lone distance contest.  It was also the least one sided contest of the night in the ring as 27-year old Willie Monroe Jr. (15-1, 6 KO), 160, of Ithaca, New York, used his feet and quick hands to earn a six-round unanimous decision over 34-year old Lithuanian Donatas Bondorovas (18-5-1, 6 KO), 160 ¼, of Chicago, Illinois.

It was a sometimes awkward clash of styles throughout with Bondorovas in pursuit and Monroe looking to box.  Monroe’s worst round was the first but he relaxed in the second and began to find his range. Bondorovas received a stern warning for low blows in the fifth but it didn’t stop the Lithuanian from trying to force the fight.  The crowd favorite was the man coming forward but it Monroe made his case as the ring general.

Knowing it to be a close fight, neither corner took their hand off the gas in the corner at first as they waited to see if there would be a ‘drawbreaker’ seventh round.  There would not be as scores came in at 58-56 and 59-55 twice, all for Monroe.  The fans booed but the nephew of 70s Philly Middleweight stalwart Willie “The Worm” Monroe, one of the few men to hold a win over Marvelous Marvin Hagler, moves on.

30-year old Vitaliy Kopylenko (23-0, 13 KO), 160, of Kiev, Ukraine, set up his end of the semi-finals with a dominant two-round walkover of 27-year old Cerresso Fort (17-3-1, 11 KO), 160 ¼, of Saint Paul, Minnesota.  The fight was a mismatch from bell to bell, Fort hurt repeatedly by jabs and never really got his legs under him.  The referee was Kurt Spivey.

Kopylenko established his class in the first round, punishing Fort with the jab and moving ever forward with hard right hands.  Fort was stunned by a lead in the round and was still unsteady when round two got underway.

Kopylenko was all over him.

It was the jab again getting Fort in trouble, landing with Fort coming right into it.  Fort beat the count but was waving in the wind and the referee took a hard look before allowing him to continue.  The finishing sequence was a textbook of precision.  With Fort on unsteady legs, Kopylenko landed a hard right, left hand, and a final right hand to send Fort to the deck for the second time in the round.  Fort rose again but Spivey wisely halted the contest at :43 seconds of round two.

The win was Kopylenko’s eighth stoppage win in his last nine fights.  Fort suffers his second consecutive knockout loss.  

In the second quarterfinal, 29-year old Raymond Gatica (14-2, 9 KO), 158 ½, of Austin, Texas, used all out pressure to undress a fighter with a pretty record and little idea of what to do with a man who could get inside, 21-year old Ghanaian Sena Agbeko (15-1, 15 KO), 157 ¼, fighting out of Tennessee, stopped in four rounds.  The referee was Bill Page.

The opening round got the fight off to a quick start, Gatica jumping right on Agbeko and landing some stiff right hands.  The pressure appeared to make Agbeko uneasy but he fired back right hands of his own and bloodied the nose of Gatica before the first was done.

It would be his highlight of the night.  Agbeko had no answer for the right hand and eventually the left became a problem as well.  In round three, Agbeko took a beating along the ropes and matters returned there in round four.  Limply covering up, Agbeko was blasted with a torrent of right hands and Page was left with little choice but to call a halt to the action at 1:06 of round four.

Gatica rebounds from a loss to Fernando Guerrero in his last outing and prepares for a semi-final contest with another knockout winner on the night.

Agbeko marked the third undefeated fighter to be defeated in Boxcino tournament action after both unbeatens in the Lightweight field were felled one week ago.

In the first Middleweight quarterfinal, 24-year old Brandon Adams (13-0, 9 KO), 160 ¾, of Los Angeles, California, scored a knockdown and forced a corner stoppage after four rounds against 33-year old Haitian Daniel Edouard (23-5-2, 14 KO), 160, of West Palm Beach, Florida.  It was Edouard’s first fight back from a retirement dating to his last fight in January 2011.  The referee was Kurt Spivey.

 

The veteran Edouard showed poise in the early going, boxing more relaxed and perhaps nicking the first round.  In the last minute of the second, Adams shifted his attack to the body and began to work Edouard over on the ropes.

It wasn’t long before Edouard looked ready to return to retirement.  In round four, Adams landed a harsh counter left hook to send Edouard to the floor.  The older man beat the count but looked the worse for wear.  His corner opted not to let him come out for the fifth round and Adams moves on to the semi-finals.

The card was broadcast on ESPN2 as part of its “Friday Night Fights” series, promoted by Banner Promotions.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com