Gabriel Rosado Steals NBC Fight Night Premier in Philly

Gabriel Rosado, post fight

Words and Pictures by Trey Pollard

PHILADELPHIA, PA – If you have to get beat up for money, there are worse places than Philadelphia. Maybe such a thing defies expectations. Philly sports fans, after all, are usually not known for their empathy. Instead, bleacher rat lore here is pocked with stories of Santas booed and batteries thrown.

But those are tales from the hives where the Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers have been disappointing fans for decades. Saturday’s card in the heart of South Philadelphia proved that when it comes to boxing, things here are different.

The ring announcer on Saturday at the Asylum Arena said Philly was “the boxing capital of the world.” I don’t know if I believe that or not, but I’ll at least say there’s an argument. If you can get 1,100 people to brave the bitter cold to stand in a sweltering converted warehouse watching fighters only the hardest of hardcore fans have heard of, I will grant you that your city takes the fight game for serious. And Philadelphia does. Sylvester Stallone knows it, Hollywood knows it, and, thankfully, NBC Sports knows it.

For the very first boxing show on the fledgling NBC Sports Network, the production could probably have gone two ways. For one, they could have tried to design a product for mass consumption – an effort to make the sport appealing and palatable for people who wouldn’t otherwise watch it. Think the NHL on Fox with the glowing hockey puck. They’d take a meager budget and try to lasso a few remotely recognizable fighters with any sliver of mainstream appeal and put on a threadbare imitation of a big Vegas fight. A faded copy of boxing’s glamourous peak.

Picture it: a headlining match of Kimbo Slice v. Butterbean in Reno complete with questionably middle-aged, slightly-overweight showgirls and C-List celebrities (“I see Joey Fatone!”). And that product would have doubtlessly failed.

Alternately, NBC Sports could do what they have actually done, and present the gritty essence of the sport at its finest. Distill all the bullshit out (or at least as much as possible – this is boxing after all), locate the heart and passion that attracted fans to boxing in the first place, and then put that up on the screen.

As it turns out, there’s not a better place to find that heart and passion than Philadelphia. To find boxing’s soul, it makes sense that you would have to go to a spot in a fading industrial park in a fading industrial town. It makes sense the venue is called an arena, but everyone knows it’s an old freight warehouse and bingo hall next to a failing department store. It makes sense that Michael Buffer and Floyd Mayweather are nowhere around, but hundreds of hardscrabble boxing lifers are, and they are grinning and drinking and glad-handing like its a class reunion.

Strip away all the money, TV contracts, and ego from boxing and what’s left is not Las Vegas. It’s the dirty floors, bloody faces, and hard work that happen at dozens of club fights every Saturday night across the country - fights between people that will never be psychoanalyzed on HBO or have dozens of reporters salivate over their tweets. And those are the people that NBC Sports profiled for their first show in South Philadelphia.

Part of that is luck – a main event featuring the city’s own heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers and Belarussian Siarhei Liakohvich was scrapped when Chambers was injured in training. In its place, the main event became a showcase for two local heavyweights, for whom it may very well have been the biggest fight they will ever have.

Originally from South Philadelphia, Maurice Byarm brought large cheering contingents from both here and his current home in Washington, D.C. His opponent, Bryant Jennings, had his own fans down from North Philadelphia, while three other Philly fighters filling out the undercard also had their people filling the seats.

The result was a packed house that wasn’t just passionate and loud, but respectful of the fighters in a way you just don’t see at big cards. The sheer effort of even the most beaten man on Saturday night was awarded with genuine ovations from a crowd, which recognized the fighters weren’t just knockout fodder, but committed competitors and, well, humans.

From the point of view of a spectator, that atmosphere and the crowd defined the evening almost as much as the fights. It was a rare opportunity to see boxing the way it is meant to be seen.

Whether all this works on screen is another thing entirely, and something I can’t attest to, having not seen the telecast. The addition of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach to the commentating team ideally would provide some technical analysis and historical perspective that would be second-to-none.

As for whether it works in the ring – the results are mixed. Matchmaking without well-known entities is a terribly tricky and risky proposition. While styles make fights, it’s hard to say whether a fighter will always bring a particular style into the ring if you just don’t know enough about him.

That panned out tonight, as some of the event’s better prospects flailed their way through what should have been easy opposition while unheralded professional opponents provided for excitement when it was not expected.

MAIN EVENT – Heavyweight, 10 rounds

MAURICE BYARM v. BRYANT JENNINGS

Arranged on one week’s notice after Chambers pulled out as headliner, tonight’s substitute fight between two Philadelphia-connected fighters garnered perhaps the most attention ever given to the heretofore unheralded Pennsylvannia State Heavyweight title. And, for Maurice Byarm (13-0-1) and Bryant Jennings (11-0), it was a surprise opportunity to take a major step forward in the heavyweight division against relatively easy competition. Time will only tell what ten rounds worth of attention on national TV will do for each, but the competition was more on the level of the trinket that was on the line rather than the potential bigger challenges that could come in the future.

Byarm entered the ring about 25 pounds heavier than Jennings, and looked the part of a man fighting on one week’s notice, though his promoter assured me he had been training for a January 28 date when he got the call. Both fighters entered undefeated, though with records composed mostly of the kinds of guys who serve as gateways to the Pennsylvannia State title.

Early, Jennings’ relative speed advantage served him well, knocking some shyness into Byarm. Byarm’s reluctance to throw was bemoaned throughout the fight by a vocal army of friends and affiliates who urged him to “LET THE HANDS GO.” Instead, Byarm fell into the role of a wary, unlucky suitor, following Jennings around the ring like a puppy but getting swatted with heavy overhand rights whenever he got too close. Whether Byarm’s initial inaction was due to first-TV-date jitters or otherwise, getting hit certainly did not make him more active.

While sniping the chasing Byarm, Jennings was able to move the fight on his own terms, maneuvering his pursuer into corners and onto the ropes where he unloaded and did most of his damage. At the same time, Byarm’s hesitance to throw much of anything was made worse by the fact that what punches he did actually land didn’t seem to do much damage. Its not that there weren’t opportunities. Jennings was noticeably tired by the fourth round, but Byarm was unable to take advantage, instead merely approaching punching range before his opponent leveled a few shots to keep him away.

The story doesn’t need much more telling: it was a weak puncher who wasn’t really punching against a relatively quick guy happy to engage when absolutely necessary. Each round played out nearly the same. Jennings started fast and then took a little vacation, weaving around the ring, while Byarm orbited like a timid satellite. Byarm would then either wander into the ropes and take a beating, or float too close to Jennings and get smacked away with a few powerful rights.

Byarm, who came in with some celebrated punching power, did his part to keep it a secret from the TV cameras. Jennings, meanwhile, could have easily been in serious trouble with a more aggressive fighter. Either way, both men will need some more tune-ups before stepping up to the next level.

JUDGES: 97-93, 96-94, 96-94 – All for Jennings

STIFF JAB: 98-92

BOUT 5 – Light Heavyweights – 6 Rounds

DAMAR SINGLETON v. SULLIVAN BARRERA

This swing bout brought Cuban featherweight phenom Yuriorkis Gamboa to Philly for the evening, as it featured his fellow Cuban Sullivan Barrera (8-0) in his 9^th professional fight. The second bout of the night pairing two undefeated fighters, Barrera faced Toledo’s Damar Singleton (7-0) in a match where little happened besides the crowd getting antsy for the main event.

Barrera has the build of a great fighter, but clearly isn’t one yet. Still, with an overwhelming reach advantage over Singleton, he was able to bloody his opponent’s nose and – at the urging of Gamboa shouting at ringside - throw uppercuts that mostly negated Singleton’s periodic attacks. Singleton showed an interest in making it a fight late, but both men’s highly inaccurate flailing made this one of the more visible bar fights across the nation this evening.

JUDGES: 60-54, 60-54, 59-55 - BARRERA

STIFF JAB: 59-55 - BARRERA

BOUT 4: Junior Middleweights – 10 Rounds

JESUS SOTO-KARASS v. GABRIEL ROSADO

Given the last-minute cancellation by Chambers, this – the fourth of six fights on the card – was the one highlighted in promotions and on posters, while the Byarm-Jennings headliner was reduced to a smaller postscript. Still, it was the most exciting fight of the evening and it left Referee Steve Smoger shouting “follow that!“ to friends afterwards.

Karass (24-6-3) received a well-deserved standing ovation after trying to walk down the barrel of a gun for five rounds with Gabriel Rosado (18-5). Amid whispers that he was a soft puncher, Rosado unleashed rounds of pain on Karass, who had previously been able to withstand 22 rounds with top local welterweight prospect Mike Jones.

Rosado seemed hell-bent on ending this one early, landing vicious combinations that had Karass wobbled in the first. While Karass seemed to find a slight rhythm in the second, a cut over his left eye quickly knocked him off the tracks and right back into Rosado’s thresher. With combinations bringing in all sides and targets in the fourth, Rosado had Karass in a place where any normal man would want the fight stopped. Karass’ corner didn’t budge, though, as their man had been here may times before. Instead, it was left to Smoger to call it a day for them in the fifth.

As a side note, Karass’ corner dumped a bucket of ice water on the fighter’s head in the fourth, which was enough to send a Commission official over screaming about a violation and a potential fine.

At any rate, it wasn’t enough to detract from an impressive performance by a razor-sharp Rosado, who showed few flaws tonight in front of a rabid home crowd. While his defense was not substantively tested, the win over a veteran opponent with a solid chin helped send a warning shot about his power and should be a good step forward in his career.

BOUT 3: Welterweights, 8 Rounds

RAY ROBINSON v. DOEL CARRASQUILLO

Robinson

Deeming himself “The New” Ray Robinson (12-2) wasn’t enough to help the 26-year-old Philadelphia fighter to an easy win over professional opponent Doel Carrasquillo. With a few impressive wins on the right side of his 16-18 record and the nickname of “the Amish Assassin,” Doel is something of a fan favorite at the Asylum and his aggressive style and relentless pacing likely earned him a few more followers in the meantime.

A sleek boxer with a flawed defense, Robinson preferred to dance away from Doel’s constant bull-rush while firing flourishes to score points. He landed often, but not enough to truly slow down Doel, who’d walked through worse many times before. But his lazy hands made for an interesting fight, as Doel’s timing and patience created opportunities against the boxer twelve years his junior.

Later in the fight, when it became clear that Doel’s chin and Robinson’s hands were combining with little effect to either, Doel arguably took several rounds by slipping big punches through Robinson’s defense. Robinson was clearly hurt several times, while Doel could probably have gone another 12 rounds if asked. While it was an entertaining clash of old and new, Doel didn’t do enough to beat the judge’s preconceptions. He may take solace and pride in the fact that Robinson celebrated his eventual decision win – occurring on his birthday – with the same jubilation most fighters save for title victories.

JUDGES: 79-73, 78-74, 78-74

STIFF JAB- 77-75

BOUT 2: Welterweights, 6 Rounds

JOSE PERALTA ALEJO v. LENWOOD DOZIER

Lenwood Dozier (7-3-1) is nicknamed “Mr. Composure,” but it seems like he’s confusing composure for extreme fatigue. If generous, you could say he is a defense-oriented fighter, but, if not, you could say he was very, very sleepy and threw punches like he was an old man swatting flies on a porch. It was unclear if he landed one all fight.

Part of that is attributable to his opponent. Alejo (6-1) impressed the crowd with his quick combinations and fluid movement around the ring, including feints that had him nearly squatting on the floor. He possessed a powerful straight right hand that focused on his opponents head, but lacked any real attention to body punching. His inability to finish off the lackadasical Dozier was unfortuante, and its hard to make any judgement about him until he’s seen against a better opponent.

BOUT 1: Lightweights, 4 Rounds

NAIM NELSON v. PEDRO ANDRES

A second case of a potential prospect who couldn’t finish the job, Nelson was all offense against Andres, who never had a real opportunity or ability to respond in his pro debut. Andres was rattled by Nelson’s powerful punches multiple times but, as Nelson himself said, “I got too close” inside and he wasn’t able to knock his opponent out in the short fight.

With noteworthy speed and accuracy, Nelson could be a man to look out for as he moves up the ranks – if he can duplicate this result against tougher opponents.