Results From Lincoln, Rhode Island – Molina upsets Lundy!

The main event, a 12 round bout between former NABO Lightweight Champion “Hammerin” Hank Lundy (18-1-1, 10 KO) and John Molina (21-1, 17 KO) ended on somewhat controversial terms.

In the opening rounds, Philadelphia native Lundy was comfortably outboxing Molina. He was transitioning from the orthodox stance to southpaw, conserving his punches. He remained measured and calculated in his approach. Molina pressed forward looking for an opportunity to force his power.

By the 5^th round, it appeared that Lundy was beginning to slow some from his own exertions. Molina had entered the fight with a solid knockout ratio, and Lundy’s encroaching lethargy was making it easier for Molina to find his target. The decisive moment occurred in the 8^th round, when Lundy was knocked down by Molina’s powerful right hook. He survived his fall to the canvas, but reacted in a way that suggested he was shaken by Molina’s previously hidden strength.

Molina stalked Lundy as he moved around the ring. Lundy was wandering away with his hands down, leaving him open to attack. A moment of improvised choreography saw Lundy attempting some kind of odd, backward punch that landed to Molina’s body.

In the 11^th round, Lundy inadvertently sealed his own fate by spending too much time languishing on the ropes. He was caught in the midst of an onslaught by Molina, and at the 2:17 mark of the 11^th, referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the contest. Lundy was ahead on all scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Lundy called the result crazy. “They shouldn’t have stopped the fight,” he said. “I was boxing, moving around. This fight showed a different, versatile Hank.” Lundy was also emphatic that he would return. “‘Hammerin’ Hank ain’t stoppin. I go in there to have fun. I’m gonna do what I do. I’ll be back, I tell you that.”

Molina had no complaints about the stoppage, stating, “We went in his backyard and we stopped him in his backyard.” Of his newly acquired NABO Lightweight Champion status, he remarked, “I’m going to defend it with dignity and pride.”

Middleweights “Irish” Joe McCreedy (11-5-2, 6 KO) and Vladine Biosse (7-0, 4 KO) led the action prior to the main event in an explosive pairing. Biosse was landing his shots more soundly, but McCreedy remained undaunted. He continued to press forward in his usual style, moving headlong into the blitz. McCreedy successfully planted a straight, solid right in the 2^nd round, but his successes were not accumulating in the same way as the slick and quick Biosse’s.

By the middle rounds, Biosse was becoming more discriminating with his punches, abandoning a tendency to invest in drawn out, reckless combinations. McCreedy persisted and landed with some success, but he began to show the signs of wear and tear that Biosse’s body punches had caused.

The eight round contest concluded in a unanimous decision favoring Biosse, with two scores of 79-73 and one of 78-74.

Junior welterweight Diego Pereira (5-0, 2 KO) of Lincoln, RI used a skilled counterpunching technique to win a unanimous decision against Ricardo Calazada (2-2, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, NV. Pereira was completely comfortable in the ring, conserving his energy by resting against the ropes, confident that he could ward off Calazada’s attack. Calazada, for his part, stayed busy punching, but most were absorbed by the opponent’s gloves. Final scores were tallied with two of 42-36 and one of 39-37.

In a cruiserweight bout, Providence fire fighter Eric Estrada (1-0, 1 K0) made his professional debut against Akron, Ohio’s Keon Graham (2-3). Estrada is the brother of 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason Estrada. In the fight, it was the right hand of Estrada that ruled. He threw it in repetition, lunging forward aggressively with it. Graham kept cool under the pressure, but didn’t seem to catch on to the pattern. In the 2^nd round, Graham was weakened by a series of rights before falling to a left-right combination. Graham beat the count once, but another barrage from Estrada took him out of the fight. Referee Ed Claudio called the bout at the 1:29 mark of the second round, giving Estrada the TKO victory.

Super middleweights Keith Kozlin (6-1, 4K0) and Eric Pinaretta (2-3, 2KO) provided a stage for the practice of the elusive uppercut in their bout. Pinaretta went down in the 1^st round but was able to survive. He appeared winded when he rejoined the action, but he was rejuvenated enough to throw some punches. Pinaretta was largely susceptible to Kozlin’s offense, and particularly to his sneaking uppercut. In the 3^rd round, Pinaretta was tagged by a left, then an uppercut, followed by a left-right. Bloodied, Pinaretta had had enough. Referee Ricky Gonzalez stepped in at 1:57 of the 3^rd round. Kozlin won by TKO.

In other bouts, welterweight fighter Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes (3-1, 1KO) of Marshfield, MA won a majority decision against the previously unbeaten Kali Reis (2-1, 1KO) of Providence, RI. The fight began in a flurry of wild flailing. Both fighters sensed the hectic pace and slowed down. Reis landed a few shots, as Lopes tended to leave herself open when punching. As the rounds wore on, Lopes began finding her target more, becoming more selectively active. In the last round, Reis tried to reassert herself and had modest success. The final scores were 58-56 twice and one 57-57.

Super middleweights Joe Gardner (5-1-1, 1KO) of Woonsocket, RI and Demarcus Clark (1-3, 1KO) of Shreveport, LA utilized a similar rough technique against one another that resulted in a majority decision in favor of Gardner. Clark had a dangerous tendency of leading with his face, putting him on the receiving end of the shots being thrown. In the 2^nd round, Clark connected with his right hand, but it proved to be Gardner whose punches had the slight edge in precision. Gardner connected with a left in the 2^nd that forced Clark to clinch. One judge saw the fight even at 38-38, while the other two saw it 39-37.

Rounding out the evening in decidedly brief fashion was former Southern New England Golden Gloves Champion Dustin Reinhold (2-1, 2 KO), who put in a short night’s work against Joel Nieves (0-3) of Allentown, PA. Reinhold was met with little resistance from the opening bell to the 1:47 mark of the first round, when the fight was called by referee Ed Claudio.