Solis Shines: Fight night in the Keys recap

The weather was hot and so was the crowd at Saturday Night for the seventh edition of Fight Night in the Keys at Mallory Square in Key West, FL. This years event was presented by Top Rank and broadcasted world wide on Fox Sports Net/ Fox Sports Espanol. In a card that Ernest Hemmingway would have been proud of, The event featured a heavyweight title fight, two state title fights, and several of the sports rising stars.


In the main event of the evening, former Olympic Gold medalist Odlanier “La Sombra” Solis moved one step closer to a world title shot, with a third round TKO over Carl Drummond to retain his WBC International Heavyweight title. Solis stalked Drummond around the ring landing several vicious shots. Near the end of the third round, Solis staggered and hurt Drummond but the bell saved him from taking anymore damage. In between rounds, Drummond quit on his stool. No explanation was given as to why he quit. The fight, which was the main event of Top Rank Live on Fox Sports Net, was initially delayed because of issues with Carl Drummond’s hand wrap. Drummond had threatened to pull out of the fight just shortly before his bout was to begin. With the win, Solis remains undefeated and moves his record to 16-0.


In the co main event of the evening, two undefeated prospects, Jorge Diaz and Alejandro Lopez, fought in a highly entertaining featherweight bout. Diaz, from New Jersey, came out looking for a short night. After dropping Lopez in both the first and second rounds, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the fight would end. Alejandro Lopez, from Tijuana Mexico, had other plans though. Lopez came out strong in the third round and never backed down. Lopez hurt Diaz several times throughout the rest of the eight round fight rounds and gave Diaz the toughest fight in his young career. The early knockdowns proved to be the difference in the scorecards as Jorge Diaz narrowly escaped with the victory via unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 76-74. Jorge Diaz’s record improves to 13-0, while Alejandro Diaz falls to 15-1.


Undefeated Glen Tapia kept his streak going, moving to 4-0 after his bout with Carlos Rodriquez was stopped between rounds two and three. Tapia controlled the fight from the beginning and landed several hard blows on Rodriquez. In an interesting note, the fight was delayed during the first round because Rodriquez’s protector broke. Just seconds into the fight, it became noticeable as the protector started to slide out from under Rodriquez’s trunks and down below his knees. While in the middle of the ring, Rodriquez removed his trunks, which received cheers from the ladies in the audience, to tape his protector back on.


In the fourth televised fight of the evening, highly touted Cuban prospect Luis Franco went the distance for the first time in his career, scoring a four round shutout over veteran Walter Estrada of Columbia. Franco, the former Cuban amateur champion moved to 5-0 in his young career, by using relentless pressure and speed to outbox the cagey Estrada. The Cuban star is trained by 2004 trainer of the year Orlando Cuellar and managed by Bad Dog Productions(Glen Johnson, Sechew Powell, Ricardo Cordoba).


The opening bout of the night at Mallory Square featured Marcus Upshaw against late replacement Scott Ball. Upshaw, who recently signed with Key West manager Si Stern, received loud ovations from the crowd and put on a great show for the crowd. Upshaw knocked Ball down in both rounds two and three with combinations to the body and head. In the fourth round, Upshaw used great counterpunching to catch Bell. A bruising right hook knocked Ball into the ropes and a straight left followed, which put Bell down for the final time. The referee waived the bout off at 2:07 in round four. After the bout, Upshaw said, “It felt great to get back in the ring and to come down to the Keys and put on a show. It was good experience and I look forward to fighting back down here again.”


In the second bout of the evening, Key West favorite Damian “Devo” Frias was shutout against former National Golden Glove champion Brad Solomon over 8 rounds. Frias, who was the main sparring partner for Joshua Clottey in preparation for his fight with Manny Pacquiao, could not get anything going in the fight. Solomon, who moved to 10-0, used lightning quick speed and combinations, while not allowing Frias to get any momentum. Frias’ trainer, John David Jackson, urged his fighter to let his hands go, but it just didn’t happen. With the win Solomon became the first Florida State Welterweight champion and picked up his first belt, out of many more to come, in his career.


The fight of the night was a slugfest between Key West native Danny “White Lion” Van Staden and Raymond Betancourt for the inaugural Florida State Light Welterweight Championship. Early on the White Lion roared, sending Betancourt down in round two. However, the knockdown came at a price for Van Staden, who broke his left hand during the punch. This forced Van Staden to change his game plan, and it costed him in the end. Betancourt came back strong in the third round, and nearly put Van Staden down before the end of the round. In the fourth round, Van Staden went down with a right hook to the jaw. Even with a broken hand, Van Staden fought valiantly. The back and forth action had the Key West fans on their feet cheering their local fighter on. With Betancourt pressing the action in the 7th, the hurt Van Staden took a knee in his corner. The fight ended at 2:08 of the 7th round. Betancourt, who is now on a three fight winning steak, moves his record to 8-4, while Van Staden falls to 8-5. At the time of the stoppage 8CN had the fight even, 56-56 and would love to see these two warriors go at it again.