#philly boxing

By: Rich Quiñones

Jerry Belmontes has pulled out of Saturday's 10-round junior lightweight contest against Edner Cherry at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia due to an injury sustained to his wrist.

The 25-year-old native of Texas is coming off back-to-back losses. His most recent setback was a 10-round split-decision loss to Abner Cotto back in August.

Prior to that setback, Belmontes (19-5, 5 Ko's) suffered a disputed 12-round loss to Omar Figueroa for the WBC World lightweight title last April.

He would have entered his bout against  Cherry having droppped five of his last seven contests, but a win would have put him right back in the mix.

Belmontes declined to comment but Adrian Clark, owner of AC Sports Managment and manager/advisor to Belmontes, told On "Q" Sports that the injury occured during a sparring session.

"The fight is just postponed due to a wrist injury suffered during sparring," said Clark.

Cherry (32-6-2, 17 Ko's) is currently No. 15 in the WBC at 130lbs. He is No. 11 in the IBF and Clark believes Cherry will get past Akaba.

"Russell (Peltz) and I have spoken via email, we anticipate Cherry winning Saturday and we have agreed to Cherry-Belmontes in February or March," Clark concluded.

Akaba turned pro in 2000 and sports a 24-6 mark with 19 Ko's. In his only bout in the US, he dropped an eight-round decision to Bahodir Mamadjonov in 2008.

Saturday's card will feature a 10-round contest between Steve “USS” Cunningham, of Philadelphia, and Natu “The Truth” Visinia, of Lakewood, CA. Cherry-Akaba is the co-feature.

Rich Quiñones is an award winning broadcaster and journalist. He is the lead blow-by-blow Boxing voice for GFL.tv and Go Fight Live’s Boxing on Comcast. He has sat ringside calling the action with Monte Barrett, Brian Adams, Amir Mansour, Danny Garcia, James Kirkland, Mark Breland, Ronnie Shields, Teddy Atlas and Lou DiBella, while broadcasting over 125 bouts for GFL in 2013-2014.

Rich is also a contributor to Ringnews24.com and he has also handled calling the action for Muay Thai and is exclusive lead blow-by-blow voice for CFFC MMA.

Miguel "No Fear" Cartagena putting away a tough Miguel Robles back in March, 2014. Cartagena scored the 2nd-round TKO and improved to 12-0 with the win. He i...

By: Rich Quiñones

What might get lost in the shuffle on Mike Jones' return to the ring Saturday night in the Grand Ballroom at Bally's Atlantic City, is several other bouts. Yes, Jones will most likely be the story of the night.

A fast rising Philadelphia prospect who was well on his way until he to becoming the next great boxer from Philly, Jones (26-1) was stopped in the 11th round of his IBF world welterweight title fight with Randall Bailey.

The former world-title challenger has been idle for two years and worked out daily in Las Vegas gyms.

The 31-year-old will step back into the ring in a slated 10-round comeback fight against Jaime Herrera (11-2).

But while Jones looks to resurrect his career, other boxers on the card look to make a name for themselves.

One of them is Thomas "Cornflake" Lamanna.

The tall, lanky, undefeated middleweight prospect is 14-0 with 7 Ko's, but the 22-year-old resident of Millville, New Jersey, believes he should be given more respect and seeks out to earn it Saturday night with a win against brawler Jamaal Davis.

The scheduled eight-round co-main event is a good test on paper for Lamanna, who realizes that people will look to this fight as a measuring stick.

"I do not see many 14-0 prospects taking on Davis, I only see guys like Yuri Foreman or Patrick Majewski fighting him," Thomas told On "Q" Sports earlier this week while preparing for the bout.

"The game plan is for me to put on a spectacular performance weather I have to fight him, box him, brawl with him, or rough him up, whatever it is, the game plan is to come out victorious."

Davis is 14-11 and has dropped three in a row and four of his last seven bouts. His last time out he suffered a second-round TKO loss to a very tough Jorge Melendez but Thomas does not take him or his record lightly and understands that means nothing once the opening bell sounds.

"At the end of the day, me and him have to get in there August 23rd and do what we need to do and may the best man win."

(For full interview click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG-_IFA71C4)

Also on the card will be undefeated light middleweight Ismael "Tito" Garcia who puts his 6-0 record on the line against Gilbert Alex Sanchez in a scheduled six-round affair.

Garcia is coming off perhaps the best win over his career when he got through a solid and then undefeated Dushane Crooks in March.

He earned a six-round unanimous decision and gave Crooks his first career loss. That bout showed that Garcia was able to work through injuries and make adjustments through out the fight.

"We knew going into the fight, that we would take a round or two to feel him out, see where his punches were coming from," he said during training earlier in the week.

"I would have liked to pick up the pace a little bit during the fight, if I did, we could have taken him out."

Sanchez (4-4, 2 Ko) is a very aggressive boxer who throws a ton of punches and has a tendency to lift his head while pulling out, something that might make this a quick fight.

For full interview with Garcia click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuPHG2fWSYY

Carlos Rosario makes his pro debut when he tangles with another debuting boxer in Grashino Yancy in a four-round bout.

Rosario is trained by his older brother Nick Rosario, who owns and runs Victory Boxing Gym in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The 23-year-old Rosario had a solid amateur career and is ready to lace them up for the first time as a pro.

"I think the biggest adjustment is focusing on what is just best for me," Rosario said.

"I started when I was 18, from wrestling to boxing in high school so that was a rough transition but I learned to pace myself. For full interview click here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFhylWKpYyo#t=124

In other action, super bantamweight Anthony Caramanno (1-0) will face Marquise Pierce (1-3) in a four-round bout, while lightweight Omarry Curry and Marvin Johnson square off in a four-round tilt as pro's for the first time.

Heavyweight Joe Cusumano (7-1) will face Randy Easton (2-3-1) in a four-round bout, while light middleweight Greg Thomas (0-3) batlles Nick Valliere (1-0) over four rounds to round out the card.

    Rich Quiñones is an award winning broadcaster and journalist. He is the lead blow-by-blow Boxing voice for GFL.tv and Go Fight Live’s Boxing on Comcast. He has sat ringside calling the action with Monte Barrett, Brian Adams, Amir Mansour, Danny Garcia, James Kirkland, Mark Breland, Ronnie Shields, Teddy Atlas and Lou DiBella, while broadcasting over 125 bouts for GFL in 2013-2014.

Rich is also a contributor to Ringnews24.com and he has also handled calling the action for Muay Thai and is exclusive lead blow-by-blow voice for CFFC MMA.

If you missed my recent interview with rising welterweight "New" Ray Robinson. Why he is the most feared welterweight out there, his future plans and who he wants to fight next.

  Rich Quiñones is an award winning broadcaster and journalist. He is the lead blow-by-blow Boxing voice for GFL.tv and Go Fight Live’s Boxing on Comcast. He has sat ringside calling the action with Monte Barrett, Brian Adams, Amir Mansour, Danny Garcia, James Kirkland, Mark Breland, Ronnie Shields, Teddy Atlas and Lou DiBella, while broadcasting over 125 bouts for GFL in 2013-2014.

Rich is also a contributor to Ringnews24.com and he has also handled calling the action for Muay Thai and is exclusive lead blow-by-blow voice for CFFC MMA.