Hard time for Powell at the Hard Rock!
Latimore upsets Powell; Quillin survives Miranda

Ringside by Matt Richardson
Photos by Marty Rosengarten

In an entertaining contest, unheralded jr middleweight Deandre Latimore scored an upset seventh round technical knockout victory over contender Sechew Powell in the main event of this week’s ESPN Wednesday Night Fights from the Hard Rock Café in Times Square in New York City. 

Both men rocked each other repeatedly throughout the fight but it was Latimore (19-1, 16 KOs) who came up big in the seventh when he wobbled Powell with a right hook.  An uppercut rocked Powell along the ropes and his head was repeatedly snapped back as he absorbed punch after punch.  With less than a minute left in the round referee Benji Esteves stepped in and called it off, much to the dismay of Powell and even some ringside observers.  Powell (23-2, 14 KOs) argued with Esteves, putting his arms around the ref, but legs of Powell still appeared to be shaky as the Esteves continued to examine the fighter.

At the time of the stoppage, all three judges had the fight even, 57-57, indicating the back and forth nature of the contet.  It was a very competitive fight in which both men never gave an inch, giving and taking rounds from the other. 

With the slightly controversial stoppage and the entertaining nature of the fight, a rematch is a natural and should be put together when both men recuperate.

QUILLIN SURVIVES MIRANDA

In the co-feature, super middleweight prospect Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin had a tougher than expected time against Dionisio Miranda when he was cut and nearly stopped before bouncing back to win a lopsided unanimous decision. 

Judges scorecards read 97-93 and 97-92 (twice) all for Quillin.  They did not, however, tell the story of the fight.

While Quillin dominated the fight, he had trouble in the seventh round after being cut over his left eye.  A right and left uppercut hurt Quillin badly and another straight right along the ropes snapped his head back.  The fight arguably could have been stopped at any moment at this point in the seventh round but Quillin showed good survival techniques, tying his man up as best he could until his head cleared.  He was caught with another solid uppercut towards the end of the eighth round but when the fight resumed in the ninth it was like nothing had happened and Quillin swept the final two rounds. 

Quillin (19-0, 14 KOs) was scheduled to headline an August 1st ShoBox card along with fellow New Yorker Jorge Teron in a match against an opponent to be determined.  How the cut over his eye effects that date, if at all, remains to be seen.

TERON PUMMELS DEVICTORIA IN THREE!

Lightweight prospect Teron stopped Lenny DeVictoria in third round of a scheduled eight.  Teron (21-0-1, 14 KOs) had a won a unanimous decision in their previous encounter.  After two rounds of one-sided action, Teron hurt DeVictoria to the body and DeVictoria leaned outside the ropes.  DeVictoria was met with a barrage of punches as leaned back into the ring, prompting him to cover up along the ropes.  DeVictoria (11-12, 3 KOs) attempted to wing a shot of his own but in the process got caught with a left hook and he hit the canvas.  He rose quickly but then resumed his position, grimacing as he was counted out with just 38 seconds left in the frame.

MORE UNDERCARD RESULTS:

In other action, Brooklyn super middleweight Yasin Rashid (7-0, 2 KOs) won a four-round unanimous decision over the well traveled Edward Andre Hemphill (6-8-2, 3 KOs).  All the judges tallied identical scores of 39-37 for Rashid.  In the final fight of the night, middleweight Richard Pierson cut up and stopped Jamal Davis in the sixth and final round.  Pierson (8-1, 5 KOs) was in charge throughout, cutting Davis over the right eye.  After pummeling the injured area the fight was stopped with a big tear above the right eye.  The time of the stoppage was 1:38.  Davis is now 7-4 with 6 KOs.