Cincy’s Bang Bang 3: KOs Included

Cincinnati, OH – October’s Bang Bang 3 card delivered another exceptional evening of Friday night fights to Midwest fans of the sweet science. Fighters traveled from Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, and other Ohio cities to display their skills to gain new fans and hopefully advance their career with the defeat of the evening’s opponent. By night’s end 9 fighters would have their hands raised in victory while their 9 opponents returned to their home gyms with some deficiencies to shore up before their next bouts.

The evening’s featured bout pitted the Queen City’s Quashawn Toler (2-0, 2 KOs) against veteran welterweight Shane Gierke (5-42-2, 4 KOs) of Youngstown, OH. Toler assumed control of the fight immediately, using his hand speed advantage to land an explosive left-right hook combination to Gierke’s body. Powerful hooks to the body became the theme for Toler’s attack. A vicious body shot by Toler scored the fight’s first knockdown near midpoint of the opening round, but Gierke regained his composure and beat the referee’s count. Once back on his feet, Gierke managed to bob and weave and spring from his deep crouching defensive stance to land a few pop up hook shots to Toler’s head to close out the first round.

Those shots summed up Gierke’s only rally for the night. Shortly into Round 2, Toler landed a booming left hook to the right side of Gierke’s body that set up the same left-right hook combination underneath from the beginning of Round 1. The result this time was Toler’s third career victory by knockout.

The co-main event featured hometown fighter Boubacar Sylla (4-0, 3 KOs) versus Tolutumi Agunbiade (3-7, 1 KO) of Wichita Falls, TX in another welterweight contest. Sylla opened the fight working from behind his right jab and quickly expanded his attack to other punches from his arsenal. Sylla caught Agunbiade with a nice left hook to the body, an overhand right up top, and a solid one-two combination. Sylla’s strategic array of punches represented a stark contrast to Agunbiade’s wilder brawling style.

The Texan quickly became frustrated with trying to land anything from the outside, so he repeatedly fought his way inside with several wide arcing shots without any concern for defense or balance. Agunbiade’s attack quickly moved into what looked like flagrant fouls and dangerous rabbit punches, but the ref quickly stepped in to give a stern warning that those tactics would not be tolerated.

Prior to the ref stepping in Sylla briefly abandoned his disciplined attack and technique to engage in a full-on brawl, but the pause in action and reminders from his corner influenced him to stick to the game plan. After the fight Sylla stated that he momentarily allowed himself to get caught up in Agunbiade’s awkwardness early on, and that resulted in him trying too hard.

Sylla’s assessment of his performance was satisfactory and he added, “At first I wasn’t going to the body as much, but when I started going to the body I noticed he was a little soft, so them right hands was working, and then I brought it upstairs and got it done.” He also commented that he realized as he continued to fight increasingly sharper Agunbiade’s frustration grew more noticeable, and the chance for a stoppage started to become more of a reality.

The difference in class continued to become more striking from the midway point of the second round and on through Round 3. Boubacar consistently flashed crisp effective punching and began landing straight rights to the body. Agunbiade began circling around outside for longer periods of time, and charging in with his wild outbursts less and less. This became the rhythm of the fight until early in the fourth round when Agunbiade jumped unexpectedly into a well-timed Boubacar right uppercut that resulted in the fight’s first knockdown.

Boubacar swarmed Agunbiade after he signaled the ref he was okay to continue, and after a few wild flurries Boubacar finally landed a devastating left hook that stopped the fight immediately.

Santino Turnbow (2-0, 2 KOs) vs Mike Davis (1-27): Turnbow and Davis, a pair or Cincinnati-based heavyweights, competed in the most entertaining fight of the evening – albeit the action was completely one-sided. For a true cruiserweight ,Turnbow looked totally comfortable being the aggressor in the matchup, he controlled the action by snapping a lance of a right jab that kept Davis at bay for all three rounds.

Turnbow worked the crowd into a frenzy as he frequently connected with his entire arsenal of punches, and as his opponent began to fade from the punishment the southpaw began working in some showboating in Round 3. The quicker Turnbow flashed some great footwork and used a series of feints to create an opening for a single overhand left that startlingly knocked Davis flat onto his back. Just moments later Turnbow caught Davis with a vicious left hook to the head for a knockout victory.

Rondarius Hunter (1-0, 1 KO) vs Malcolm Speight (0-2): Georgia flyweight Rondarius Hunter’s professional debut culminated with a dazzling first round stoppage of North Carolina’s Malcolm Speight. Hunter, who once faced Floyd Mayweather’s lightweight protégé Gervonta Davis (16-0, 15 KOs) in a regional Silver Gloves bout, quickly capitalized on Speight’s erratic reactions to his feints to unleash a lethal finishing combination that prompted Speight’s corner to signal the ref to stop the fight.

Michael Moore (14-1, 7 KOs) vs Vance Garvey (9-48-6, 3 KOs):  Cleveland, OH middleweight Michael Moore impressed the crowd with solid power, flashes of slick defense and overall ring generalship as he outworked a seemingly sluggish Vance Garvey (Indianapolis, IN). An early big right hand to Garvey’s body by Moore possibly helped with the Indy native’s slow start, but by the second round Garvey’s shots visibly lacked enough pop to hold off Moore’s pressure.

Moore’s impressive adjustment was that he didn’t waste a lot of time or energy attempting to pierce Garvey’s high guard with head shots. Instead, he remained patient and focused on Garvey’s body until he began finding openings for uppercuts. In Round 3 Moore wowed the crowd in a lengthy exchange by slipping several Garvey shots as he stood chest-to-chest with his gloves behind his back. Garvey’s best moments came in the fourth round as he connected with shots as Moore laid along the ropes. However, Moore reasserted himself and scored a knockdown at the bell with a punishing right uppercut.

In Round 5 tones of desperation in the instructions from Garvey’s corner indicated rising concern for their fighter’s condition and inability to get off anything meaningful. After Garvey staggered backwards into the ropes nearby his corner, the effect of three crashing uppercuts from Moore, Garvey’s team threw in the towel to halt the fight.

Jermaine Franklin (8-0, 7 KOs) Saginaw, MI vs Robbie Mendez (3-2, 3 KOs): Saginaw, MI heavyweight Jermaine Franklin quickly overwhelmed Robbie Mendez of Topeka, KS as a couple of flush straight right hands seemingly disrupted Mendez’s initial game plan to come forward. Mendez circled his opponent trying to work from the outside before being knocked down with a crisp 1-2 combination. Soon after a second knockdown resulted from a Franklin right uppercut.

Franklin’s pressure caused Mendez to retreat into his corner and after being caught with a fierce combination, a thudding left hook to the top of Mendez’s head forced the ref to stop the fight.

Craig Lewis (11-0-1, 6 KOs) vs Travis Fulton (23-44-1, 21 KOs): Michigan’s Craig Lewis, the lone heavyweight winner from August’s Bang Bang 2, responded to a couple of early clean shots from Travis Fulton (Cedar Falls, IA) in resounding fashion. Lewis quickly shook off Fulton’s blows, and the crowd’s “oohs”, by connecting with a punishing left hook for the fight’s first knock down. A left hook to the body followed up with a big right hand from the Detroit native produced the fight’s second knock down. Moments later a dazed Fulton fell forward to clinch Lewis after being caught by a right hook, and after sliding down to one knee the ref stepped in to stop the fight.

Eric Moon (3-0, 3 KOs) vs Johnny Mitchell (0-2): Marietta, GA super middleweight Eric Moon thrilled the Cincinnati fans with an impressive early first round knock out of Johnny Mitchell of Wilson, NC. Moon caught Mitchell with a vicious right hook to the body that Mitchell never saw, and then once the action resumed finished his opponent with a right uppercut. Moon did eat a big straight right hand from Mitchell before blowing him away, so it was good to see that he can take a punch.

Ardreal Holmes (2-0, 1 KO) vs Charon Spain (0-8-1): The evening featured a few Michigan fighters, and while the Flint, MI-based junior middleweight southpaw was unable to get a knockout victory like the two aforementioned heavyweights, Holmes was dominant in his 4-round unanimous decision over Spain. Holmes controlled the action with his hand speed, reach advantage, and by consistently landing power punches with his left hand.

Spain displayed a great chin and fought a determined fight, but wasn’t able to solve Holmes’ southpaw stance with the exception of a few single shots sprinkled throughout the four rounds. Holmes fought an exceptional fight and put together skillful combinations for all four rounds before turning things up the final three minutes. In Round 4 Spain was given a standing 8-count after Holmes landed an explosive 1-2 combination that knocked Spain back several steps until he was kept upright by the ropes.

Bang Bang 3 featured an enjoyable evening of boxing action, and while it is important to consider the level of competition for each fighter, these types of events allow boxing fans to see crucial parts of the arduous process of putting together a legitimate contender. For the fighters (and their teams) that came from far away, and had very little to zero support in attendance, there may not be a more challenging set of circumstances in the entire sports world than a dazed or hurt fighter in a ballroom full of 500 raucous fans relentlessly cheering on their hometown fighter for more… Bang Bang.

Check back in for updates on the next event planned for early December.

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