Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Shines; KO’s Martinez in 12th

           
           After a slow start to the fight, Vazquez Jr. started picking his shots and was landing his left jab cleanly throughout the night. Throughout the fight, Martinez waved Vazquez in to exchange with him, but when he did in the later rounds, Martinez was no match. Late in the 11^th round it looked like Vazquez Jr. was going to finish off Martinez and even had him staggering throughout the round. As the 12^th and final round began, Vazquez charged in and landed a barrage of punched to Mendez, putting him down and out at :29 seconds of the round. Vazquez moves his record to 14-0-1 while the game Martinez falls to 14-4.

            In the 6 round Co main event, Javier Monserrate cruised to a Unanimous Decision over Jose Duran. Monserrate demonstrated excellent counterpunching skills by picking his shots and hurting Duran. During an exchange, Monserrate slipped away from a wide hook and landed a straight right to Duran which sent him to the canvas in the 2^nd round.  Throughout the fight, Duran was the more active fighter and threw many more punches than Monserrate, but Monserrate connected throughout with the cleaner and harder shots.  With the win, the 25 year old Puerto Rican Javier Monserrate moves to 11-1. He looks like a prospect to keep an eye out for.

            In a battle of 1-0 fighters, Karl Garcia dropped Ricardo Reyes early in round one and cruised to a Unanimous Decision victory. The lanky Reyes caused trouble to Garcia when he used his reach advantage and kept Garcia at the end of his jab. Garcia had a more powerful punch and destroyed Reyes on the inside. Many times throughout the fight, Ricardo Reyes was dazed and did not have his feet under him. Karl Garcia runs his record to 2-0, while Ricardo Reyes drops to 1-1.

            It was the end of a trilogy between Devarise Crayton and Michael “Bling Bling” Mendez on Friday Night. The two men fought twice earlier this year in Kissimmee, with each getting a win. Early on Mendez was the aggressor, but at the end of the first Crayton caught Mendez and battered him in the corner until he was saved by the bell. In the second, the two fighters had several good exchanges, but Crayton was getting the better of them. At the end of the third round, Crayton got caught with Mendez’s best punch of the night and retaliated with a straight left to the chin which sent Mendez down for the count. Time was 3:03 at the end of round 3. With the win Crayton moves his record to 6-5-1 while Mendez falls to 6-12-3.

            In a somewhat controversial 4 round fight, between Jean Petit Homme and Amaury Torres ended in a draw. Jean controlled the action throughout and was landing body punches on the inside. There was a lot of clinching in the fight, which led to some booing from the fans.  Torres was throwing very wildly, trying to take Homme out but Homme established a stiff left jab that connected at will on Torres. I thought Homme did enough to win but the scorecards where all over the place. One judge ruled 39-37 Homme, one scored 39-37 Torres, and the other scored it 38-38. I scored it 39-37 for Homme.

            Angel Albelo got his first win in his third fight over crowd favorite Puerto Rican Jose Pagan. Albelo, sporting a Mohawk, came out early throwing a barrage of punches that led to a cut over Pagan’s right eye. The start of the 2^nd featured a nice flurry between both fighters, but both are dead tired by the end of the round. The 3^rd and 4^th round was full of clinching; as both men tried to hold on to survive. Albelo stole the 3^rd round at the end with a beautiful right that knocked Pagan’s mouthpiece across the ring. Final scores where 40-36, 40-36, 39-37. Angel Albelo moves his record to 1-2 with his first win and Jose Pagan falls to 1-2.

            In the opening fight of the night, Javier Irving, making his pro debut, needed to stay in the gym a little while longer. His opponent Jesus Garcia controlled the tempo of the fight from the beginning. Neither man threw a jab the entire opening round. Irving looked gassed at the end of the first. Early in the 2^nd, Garcia staggered and cornered Irving, eventually dropping him with a body shot. Irving had enough, and did not answer the bell to start the 3^rd round. Jesus Garcia walked away with the first win in his career and moved to 1-3.