Cincinnati Golden Gloves Boxers Shine Bright on Friday Night Fight Card

Boxing prospects Boubacar Sylla, Quashawn Toler, and Jayvon Garnett thrill fight fans for the second event in Cincinnati’s promising Bang Bang series.

On Friday August 5th Queen City boxing fans packed the Cincinnati Riverfront Radisson’s Bluegrass Ballroom to support hometown fighters on Steele & Neil Promotions’ Friday Night Fights: Bang Bang 2 card.  The event’s fighters included Glass City Boxing’s middleweight Roy Barringer (Toledo, OH), Daniel Long and Cincinnati Golden Gloves’  Jayvon Garnett, Quashawn Toler, and main event participant welterweight Boubacar Sylla.

In addition to the fighters Golden Gloves’ founder Buddy LaRosa of LaRosa’s Pizza was in attendance. Current WBA and IBO Bantamweight World champion Rau’shee Warren – also a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team member – sat ringside to take in the night’s explosive action. Undefeated heavyweight Shaun Seymore was also in the house – he was pictured on the BB2 flier but did not enter the ring due to an injured hand.

Humberto Velazsquez vs Ramiro Bueno Jr: The night’s first bout marked the professional debut for Kentucky-based middleweight Humberto Velazsquez. Velazsquez executed a disciplined game plan en route to a second round TKO over Bueno Jr.

Craig Lewis vs Timothy Dunn: The evening’s heavyweight bout featured Detroit, MI’s Craig Lewis versus 295-lb Timothy Dunn. Lewis maintained a steady jab while mixing in some right hands over the top of Dunn’s guard to create openings for heavy body work on the shorter opponent’s large belly. After moving Dunn around the ring with the same punch sequence for 2 1/2 rounds, late in third Lewis began to connect with some counters as Dunn’s pace slowed and his offense started coming off the ropes or in the corner. Lewis closed out the third round by stepping to the side and landing a pair of vicious uppercuts, and finally put Dunn away with a pair of thudding body shots at the 1:36 mark of the fourth round.

Roy Barringer vs Orion Bolds: Bolds entered the bout with a noticeable weight advantage over the 160-lb Barringer, but in the end the 20 extra pounds failed to impede RB3 from collecting his third career victory. Bolds landed a couple of clean shots earlier in the fight as Barringer got adjusted to the bigger fighter, and the action became more physical as Barringer began to return fire. Following a point deduction for Bolds in round two Barringer landed a pair of looping hooks for the fight’s first knockdown. Barringer continued to close the distance in the third round, and after a frustrated Bolds received a second point deduction for a head butt Barringer landed a counter right hand that floored Bolds – bringing the fight to an end. After the fight Barringer said his trainer Lamar Wright’s preparation was critical for Bolds’ size advantage and rough house tricks, adding that once he hurt his man the objective became to maintain his focus, use feints to expose his opponents mistakes and close the show in convincing fashion.

Daniel Long vs Brian Otey: Featherweight Daniel Long simply overwhelmed Otey with blazing hand speed, landing a left hook that Otey never saw coming to earn his first knockout in round one. Long added his second victory to remain unbeaten.

Jayvon Garnett  vs Anthony Crowder: The night’s second featherweight contest was equally explosive. Garnett’s blurring hand speed instantly mesmerized Crowder, and the first knockdown came after a perfectly placed left hook to Crowder’s body. Crowder courageously beat the count only to be caught with a sweet 1-2 combination moments later that resulted in a thrilling knockout.

Quashawn Toler  vs William Davis: These welterweights entered the ring in front of an electrified hometown crowd, and from the opening bell Davis’ second visit to the state of Ohio quickly became as hostile as his June appearance at Dayton, OH’s The Awakening. Toler quickly assumed the role of the fight’s boss, as power punches from both hands continually force Davis into the ropes in a defensive shell. Unable to stand in front of Toler and command respect with punches, Davis was repeatedly warned to quit pushing to ward off Toler’s pressure. Toler stepped off the gas to close out the first round and allowed Davis to regroup, but shortly into round two he landed a powerful combination that left Davis on his back in the center of the ring. After this triple play of explosive knockouts the raucous crowd was all the way up!

Boubacar Sylla. vs Shane Gierke: After the three preceding fights the main event was in jeopardy of being skipped for the after party. Almost! After the opening bell the third member of the Golden Gloves stable, rangy welterweight Boubacar Sylla, headed towards the center of the ring and quickly established his long, snapping left jab against Gierke’s guard. Sylla’s jab and follow-up left hook body shots quickly forced his opponent into a defense-first posture – which made it more difficult to consistently land effective power shots. Sylla stayed patient but maintained a good pace while Gierke adjusted and began bending down extremely low to work himself inside in attempt to smother Sylla’s punching. This approach extended the fight into the third round where Sylla started breaking down Gierke until a crisp left uppercut caused the fight’s first knockdown. Moments later the ref stepped through a Sylla flurry to give Gierke a standing 8-count. And finally, before Gierke could survive until the bell, Sylla connected with a 1-2 high on his opponent’s head to earn his third career knockout in four fights.

Nearby boxing fans – in both northern Kentucky or southwestern Ohio – are in store  for great action with future Steele & Neil Promotions events. The next card is planned for October 7. I want to thank Timothy “2 Steele” Singleton for hosting me at the event, and urge readers to look out for interviews featuring some of the fighters mentioned above on my Pay Me No Mind sports and entertainment podcast (at TalkLoudRadio on iTunes and Stitcher).

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