Ronson Frank’s Uprising Promotions delivered another evening of boxing to a full house at the Five Star Banquet Hall on Saturday night. In the final bout of the evening, heavyweight prospect Romarick Ngoula (5-0, 5 KOs) completely overwhelmed seven-fight veteran Glenn Thomas as soon as the opening bell sounded. The Colin Morgan trained Ngoula swarmed his Pennsylvania counterpart with power in both hands, allowing him no real estate to find his bearings.
Early in the first frame, Ngoula walked Thomas down before firing a left hook, right hook combination that dropped him to the canvas. When the action resumed, Ngoula wasted no time in stalking him again before consecutive right hooks to the head and body put Thomas back on the floor. Referee Eric Dali had seen enough at that point and opted to wave off the contest at 1:15 of the opening round.
Featherweight Jose Gonzalez (2-0, 0 KOs) returned to action on Saturday night when he faced Jaxel Marrero of Puerto Rico. After a bit of a feeling out in the first frame, Marrero looked to force the issue with Gonzalez by turning up the heat, which actually helped the native New Yorker get comfortable and find his timing. As the action progressed, Gonzalez threw heavier volume and was able to out-work Marrero, who definitely made him earn the win.
After going the four-round distance, Gonzalez found himself with his second professional victory after straight scores of 39-37 were delivered by the ringside officials.
Popular Bronx junior middleweight Peter Dobson (7-0, 5 KOs) got back to work on this card, facing Newark native Malik Jackson (3-8-4, 2 KOs), who was facing his 11th undefeated opponent. Dobson, known by the moniker of Pistol, was definitely firing on all cylinders against the awkward and always-tough Jackson. He was the more polished fighter of the two combatants, chopping away at the body while displaying a calm demeanor and great poise throughout what was the longest bout of his career to date.
In the latter frames of this six-round affair, Dobson was starting to find Jackson more often as he was able to time the jerky movement of his gritty opposition, picking his spots and maintaining control of the action.
When the final bell demanded the opinions of the judges at ringside, Dobson found himself with a unanimous decision victory via tallies of 60-54 (twice) and 59-55.
Highly-touted Brooklyn junior lightweight Jude Franklin (2-0, 2 KOs) confirmed again why so many people in the boxing community are so excited about him, disposing of Texan Rex Jackson (0-3) in less than two minutes.
Franklin displayed great balance and power in the short encounter, putting the exclamation point on this bout when he ripped a two-piece combination to the body of Jackson midway through the opening frame that immediately made him crumble forward. Unable to beat the 10-count by Dali, Franklin found himself with his second stoppage in two professional bouts. The end officially came at the 1:45 mark of the first stanza.
In an entertaining middleweight contest, Brooklyn native Villi Bello (4-1-1, 1 KO) faced Dallas resident (3-2-1, 0 KOs) Michael LeMelle over four rounds. There was some good back-and-forth action between the two pugilists, with Bello landing the cleaner punches amid their exchanges. By the third frame, he was finding a home for his looping right hand, remaining on the attack and delivering heavy volume throughout the encounter.
LeMelle certainly showed his grit and resolve to make it tough for Bello, but the New Yorker eventually saw his hand raised when the judges revealed 40-36 counts across the board.
Brooklyn junior middleweight Mathew Armstrong (2-0, 1 KO) shined in his second professional outing, extinguishing Philadelphia’s Malik Joe (0-2) at 1:29 of the opening round. After a couple of early exchanges, Joe pressed forward with a pair of jabs that both missed as Armstrong bounced beyond their range while maintaining his balance. Once he quickly planted on his back foot, Armstrong blasted a sharp right hand that landed perfectly on the chin of Joe, who crumbled to the canvas after his equilibrium began processing the blow. The impact of the shot was too much for him to get back his bearings within 10 seconds, and Armstrong fell to his knees in exuberation as his opponent was counted out.
The official time of the stoppage came at the 1:29 mark of the first frame.
In the opening bout of the evening, two-time New York Golden Gloves winner Natalie Gonzalez (2-0) returned to action against the pro debuting Rachel Sazoff (0-1). Gonzalez, who fought her first professional fight on the last Uprising Promotions card in January, appeared more polished in this outing. She displayed the same volume and speed, but her punches were coming off cleaner and more crisp. Sazoff was certainly a worthy opponent who hung in there tough, but the cleaner shots were coming off the hands of Gonzalez, who earned a unanimous decision win after securing consecutive 40-36 tallies on the scorecards.
This Uprising Promotions card continued its 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. This show was sponsored by Brooklyn Brothers, Sleep Inn, Alma Restaurant and Charlie’s Auto Collision in Long Island City.
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