Action Packed Fights at “K.O. at T.U.”
Approximately 3,527 boxing fans filed into the Times Union Center on Saturday, to see the first major fight card in the arena for 15 years. Titled “K.O. at the T.U.,” the card promised an action-packed night between the local talent on the undercard and two championships on the line in the main event, and it lived up to its name, with most of the six fights ending in knockout or technical knockout (TKO).
The main event, a fight between Joe “The Future” Hanks and Rafael “The Cuban- Cajun Connection” Pedro for the IBA Americas Heavyweight Championship, was billed as a war between giants, with both the fighters and Star Boxing CEO Joe DeGuardia telling people, “Don’t blink.” The expected ten-round brawl never materialized, however, as a right hook from Pedro in the beginning of the second round landed awkwardly, dislocating his shoulder and rendering him unable to continue. The fight was declared a TKO after 48 seconds of the second round, leaving Hanks still holding the title and sharing the fans’ frustration.
The co-feature of the evening, a showdown between Sahib Usarov and Yan Barthelemy for the WBO Intercontinental Bantamweight Championship, was a fast-paced but cautious affair and one of only two fights to go the distance. Barthelemy was the busier fighter, throwing far more punches, but had fewer connect solidly, and Usarov stayed right in front of him the whole time, cutting off the ring and outboxing the Cuban native all the way to a unanimous decision victory. Both men brought a great deal of technical skill to the ring, and fought carefully to avoid being caught with anything unexpected, but this didn’t sit well with the crowd, many of whom became rowdy and began jeering, booing and taunting the fighters.
One of the show’s main attractions capped off the preliminary fights, as Kevin “KC” Rooney fought Stanley “Chinchecker” Harvey. Harvey was the stronger fighter, hurting Rooney in the first round, but he was worn out by the second. Rooney’s conditioning and skill allowed him to take the fight to Harvey, who was reduced to leaning on the ropes and weathering Rooney’s assault in hopes of getting an opening. No opening for a surprise knockout presented itself, and Rooney was able to secure the unanimous decision.
This followed Jason “El Mostruo” Escalera taking on Marcus Brooks. Though Brooks showed a lot of resilience, proving willing and able to trade with Escalera, his opponent was clearly the better fighter, battering him around the ring with devastating rights and body shots. Brooks was dropped once in the second and third rounds, and again in the fourth, before a second knockdown 59 seconds into the round prompted referee Patrick Izzo to stop the fight. Escalera maintained his perfect record, and the TKO was the first knockout loss in Brooks’ career.
Two local fighters, Albany’s Mike “Showtime” Seitz and Schenectady’s Brian “The Brick” Abraham started the night off in exciting fashion, scoring first-round knockouts in their fights. In both fighters’ professional debuts, Seitz – who has local celebrity Mikey Faragon, the tenth-ranked light heavyweight in the world, in his corner – caught Brooklyn’s Karim Richardson by surprise, wrapping up the first fight of the night by knocking Richardson out two minutes into round one. Abraham, who has earned all his wins by knockout, dropped Rochester fighter Darnell Jiles with a flurry of punches with one second remaining in the first round of their fight.
“I hit him with two bricks,” Abraham said during a post-fight interview with ring announcer Joe Antonacci.
Between the fights, various local figures in sports and entertainment were called to the ring by Antonacci, such as Philadelphia Eagles running back Dion Lewis. Ray J, cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg, brother of Brandy Norwood and a rapper himself, also came to the ring. While speaking with Antonacci, Ray J told the crowd that boxing legend and business partner Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield would be attending the next event.
Though most of the audience left at the conclusion of the actual fights, those who stayed were given the chance to participate in shooting for “The Challenger,” a feature film by Wishing Well Pictures. Filming was done of the crowd during the card, and afterwards portions of the final fight between Jaden Miller (Kent Moran) and light heavyweight champion James Berchard (Justin Hartley) were filmed, including the walk-in, introductions and key parts of the fight. Fans were invited to portray members of the crowd, and filming continued until past midnight.
Joe DeGuardia and Bob Belber, General Manager of the Times Union Center, were both pleased with the event and what it signified for their working relationship.
“The event didn’t make a lot of money, but it didn’t lose any money, so it’s a good event to build on,” said Belber. “We have a great relationship with Joe… but I think the other thing is this is a great boxing area.” “It was a great night. I think the fans here in Albany are good boxing fans, are interesting boxing fans, and I think it was a good vibe and [had] good electricity from the crowd,” said DeGuardia. “I’m looking forward to being back here.”
Both DeGuardia and Belber confirmed that a date has already been chosen for the next Star Boxing event in the Times Union Center, which will fall on April 28 and might be filmed and televised by Showtime. Further details on that card are pending.