Immanuwel Aleem Passes Test On ESPN, Campillo Beats Top Dog WIlliams
Immanuwel Aleem file photo by Trey Pollard for StiffJab.com
by Gautham Nagesh
Two DMV boxers faced the toughest tests of their career on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights from Shelton, Wash. tonight. Richmond super middleweight Immanuwel Aleem passed with flying colors, reaching back to score a sixth-round stoppage of Juan Carlos Rojas to preserve his unbeaten record. It was an impressive performance by Aleem in his tenth pro bout, and it may have put him on the map after spending his early career largely overlooked.
Light heavyweight prospect Thomas “Top Dog” Williams has gotten much more attention of late, a tribute to his top-ten ranking at 175 lbs. While we haven’t paid as much attention to Williams, other like ESPN’s Teddy Atlas have more than made up for it by showering him with praise. Unfortunately, Williams was unable to live up to that lofty billing in the main event against Gabriel Campillo. Campillo poked him with a jab in the 4th round that opened up a bad cut, from which Williams was unable to recover. The doctor stopped the fight before the 6th round.[[MORE]][[MORE]]
It was an ignominious performance from Williams, who seemed completely undone by the first cut of his career. Williams had built interest via a string of impressive outings on ShoBox and Friday Night Fights, earning him a top-ten ranking from practically everyone. It might have been premature. Campillo was slow to start as usual, but he appeared to confound Williams by the 4th round. Top Dog punched less as the fight wore on, and had no idea how to respond once he got cut.
Williams kept pawing at the wound, hoping the blood flow into his eye would stop. It didn’t work. Instead, he bounced around the ring and looked at his corner, as if imploring them to step in and help. They eventually turned in turn to the doctor after the 5th round, who told the ref Williams couldn’t see and stopped the fight. If Williams felt his vision was at risk, he did the right thing. But unless the cut was much deeper than it looked, we have seen fighters deal with worse.
This was a tough outing for Williams, and he seemed genuinely humbled when he spoke to Atlas at ringside afterward. He is a likable young man, and charged with a great deal as the son of a former heavyweight with the same name and a complicated past. One loss is nothing, and he didn’t show any weaknesses that can’t be corrected in the future. What he needs is another hard fight or two before he steps up again, and a much better cut man.
Like Williams, Aleem also appears to be managed by the shadowy Al Haymon, judging by the presence of one of the Watson boys in his corner. We have seen Aleem fight several times before, and he seemed typical DMV: a skilled counter-puncher who fights with his hands low. He stuck to the script against Rojas, and it appeared to be working well early when he rocked his opponent with a looping right hand.
Fortunately for the fans and the TV audience, Rojas was the very definition of game. He responded to getting hit by sticking his chin out and coming harder, peppering Aleem with blows on the inside and liberally flouting the rules when needed to gain an edge. A point deduction in the middle rounds seemed ready to affect the outcome, as Aleem struggled to make his crisp, short blows resonate with Rojas constantly in his face. More pressure from Rojas in the 5th and it looked like Aleem might be the one to get upset.
But in the 6th and final round, the 20-year-old from Richmond showed a flash of the heart and determination it takes to reach the sport’s highest levels. Aleem stopped moving and began sitting down on his punches, winging hard shots intended to hurt Rojas. A left hook landed first, then a short overhand right that smack Rojas directly in the chin. Rojas staggered back, out on his feet, and turned his back instead of going to the mat.
Had Rojas simply gone down, he could have risen with a few seconds left and hoped for a miracle on the scorecards. Instead he stood defenseless, forcing the referee to step in and stop Aleem from pummeling the Mexican into submission. If this had been a title fight, or even a ten-rounder, I would have called it an early stoppage. But for this venue, I can’t begrudge Rojas the brain cells.
Flint super middleweight Andre Dirrell opened the telecast by dominating “Mr. Providence” Vladine Biosse en route to a 5th-round stoppage. Dirrell showed little rust considering it had been 18 months since his last fight. The former Olympic bronze medalist is several levels above Biosse, and showed it by pummeling him from both the southpaw and orthodox stances.
Talent has never been the problem for Dirrell, who hasn’t looked the same since he was knocked out while kneeling on the mat against Arthur Abraham. Dirrell won that fight by disqualification in March 2010, but has only fought three times since. He expressed a desire to avenge his only loss against Carl Froch after the fight, and we hope he reaches that level again before too long. Flint Town could certainly use something to cheer for.
Stiff Jab favorites Gervonta Davis, Jordan Shimmell, Phil Jackson-Benson and David “Day Day” Grayton were also scheduled to fight on the undercard of a show stacked with Al Haymon fighters, but there has been curiously no social media or online chatter about the non-televised fights. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring you those results at some point this weekend.