Ronson Frank’s Uprising Promotions put on another night of action-packed fights at the Five Star Banquet Hall in Long Island City on Friday night.
Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon (7-0, 5 KOs) was in tough with gritty veteran Kita Watkins (7-14, 1 KO) in the main event, but the Long Islander displayed nice ring generalship and controlled the action for the majority of the six-round encounter. Watkins looked to make it a dog fight and draw Napoleon inside, but she was more than happy to oblige. Not allowing her work to remain smothered, Napoleon also fought Watkins on the edge of her range and threw hard power shots while maintaining great balance and movement.
While it took a calculated effort on her end, Napoleon got the better of Watkins over the course of the bout, eventually securing a unanimous decision (60-54, 59-55×2) to remain undefeated.
In the co-feature, Brooklyn featherweight Ariel Lopez (2-0, 2 KOs) put his fast hands on display to score a TKO stoppage over Wuesi Johnson (1-2, 0 KOs). The two quick featherweights exchanged throughout a rapid first frame before Lopez began to really bang up the body of Johnson in the second stanza. The work caused Johnson to initially slump over in the corner after that second round, and the ringside physician then advised to halt the bout before the bell rang to start the third frame.
In a back-and-forth middleweight scrap, Anthony Jones (5-0-1, 1 KO) was able to remain unbeaten after outpointing Villi Bello (4-2-1, 1 KO) in an entertaining six-round affair. Immediately from the opening, both men stepped into a phone booth and kept the action there for the entirety of the fight. Jones was an awkward and rangy boxer who was filled with aggression, which meant Bello had to smother a lot of his work on the inside. There was quite a bit of give and take throughout the bout, but the judges eventually saw the highly competitive fight in favor of Jones by tallies of 60-54 and 58-56 twice.
The lone knockout of the evening was a booming one from the left hand of New York welterweight Maxito Sainvil (4-0-1, 2 KOs), who was matched with gritty veteran Ray Velez (3-9-1, 1 KO) of Brooklyn. Sainvil went headhunting at the onset of this contest, using a sweeping left hook that repeatedly found the head of Velez. He also switched his stances with regularity to confuse his opposition, which paid dividends for him. In the second stanza, Sainvil fired at Velez with heavy numbers to cause the Brooklynite to take a knee for the first knockdown of the fight. However, Sainvil got off a late body punch once he went down, which caused referee Steve Smoger to deduct a point.
That subtraction would prove to be irrelevant, as Sainvil continued to batter Velez for another two frames before the bell rang to get the fifth round underway. Just 26 seconds into the stanza, Sainvil let off a thunderous left hook that shut the lights out and flattened Velez. Smoger knew a count was unnecessary and immediately waved off the bout, giving Sainvil an incredible stoppage victory.
Staten Island lightweight (2-1, 0 KOs) Grashino Yancy spoiled the pro debut of Romain Thomas (0-1), but every fan in attendance was treated to four rounds of an all-action scrap. Yancy knew he would need to pull Thomas out of his comfort area and make it dirty, and Thomas erroneously obliged him rather than box from the outside. Both men were giving and taking throughout the four frames, and neither fighter backed down at any point. Unfortunately for Thomas, that played into the hands of Yancy, who secured the unanimous decision victory by counts of 40-36 and 39-37 twice.
Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin represented junior lightweight Shawn Simpson (2-0, 1 KO) impressed in a four-round encounter, displaying good overall speed and an effective counter left hand that broke down a game Juan Muniz (0-4). Simpson was also able to slip well and show effective aggressiveness to never relinquish control throughout the bout, earning a shutout victory after all three judges gave him a 40-36 scorecard.
In the opening contest of the night, cruiserweight Frederic Julan (1-0) was successful in his pro debut against Damien Lewis (0-2), although a very game Lewis made him earn it. Julan operated quite smoothly and swarmed with heavy numbers, rarely throwing singular punches. He threw some impressive combination work that oftentimes included a lead uppercut, and the outcome of this one was never in doubt. Julan picked up his first professional victory after the final bell with straight 40-36 tallies from the ringside judges.
This Uprising Promotions card continued the initiative to KO Autism, with proceeds from the night getting donated to The School For Language and Communication Development (SLCD) in Glen Cove, New York.
