Jacksonville, FL’s Juan Aguirre spoiled what was expected to be a homecoming for popular junior middleweight Ali Tareh Saturday, April 1 at the Bayfront Hilton in his hometown of St. Petersburg, FL.
Headlining Mad Integrity Fight Sports’ “Bombs Away 5” the main event boxers entered the ring for their eight round junior middleweight fight to a standing room only crowd, which packed the venue prior to the start of the first fight. A big ticket seller who had a large group of supporters on hand, Tareh took his time in the early going. Aguirre, a pressure fighter, looked to close the gap and connect with a hard shot upstairs. With seconds remaining in the opening stanza, Aguirre saw an opening and unleashed a devastating left left hook that knocked Tareh out cold at 2:59.
Aguirre is now 7-17-1 with 1 knockout. Tareh, who received a standing ovation upon returning to his feet, slides to 13-12-5 with 6 wins by knockout.
The six round co-featured bout marked the return of highly touted featherweight Jose “Lil Pacquiao” Resendez of Bradenton, FL. Coming off a year and a half layoff, Resendez met once-beaten Raul Chirino of Miami. A spitting image of a right handed Manny Pacquiao physically and stylistically, Resendez went to work from the opening bell. Resendez dominated the action with blazing fast combinations to the body and head before dropping Chirino towards the end of the first.
Resendez went back to work in the second and hurt his foe again but the game Chirino hung in tough and landed some counter shots against the ultra-aggressive Resendez. Smelling the blood from the damaged he’d done in the prior two rounds, Resendez continued to aggressively attack Chirino with hard combinations. Resendez was credited with his second knockdown of the evening when the referee ruled the ropes kept Chirino up. Dazed from taking many clean punches, he was in no position to continue and the bout was stopped at 2:03 of the third.
Resendez, who was mobbed by picture snapping fans after the win, improves to 5-0 with 2 KO’s. Chirino is now 7-2 with 3 KO’s.
Welterweight Armando “The Gentleman” Alvarez of Miami scored a one punch knockout over Tampa’s Lee “Holliwood” Dawson in the second of their eight round bout. After dominating the first round by throwing a plethora of punches against the defensive minded Dawson, Alvarez dropped him with a hard right hand for the ten count at 1:24 of round two.
Alvarez ups his professional ledger to 9-0 with 5 knockouts while Dawson’s record slips to 2-2-4.
In what was without a doubt the fight of the night on an evening full of action, junior lightweight Michael “Choko Guillen scored a dramatic last minute stoppage of Rafael “Junito” Rivera. Guillen immediately came at Rivera winging aggressive shots to the body and head. Rivera, who recognized his opponent left himself open during the relentless attack, scored a flash knockdown with a counter left hook. Undeterred, Guillen continued to swarm Rivera at a frenetic pace in the second and third while the latter found success tagging his wide open opponent with crisp counter shots.
With the crowd on their feet in the fourth and final round, Guillen cornered Rivera and dropped him with a hard shot to the body. Rivera immediately vomited and was counted out at 2:29.
Guillen, of Edgewater, FL, is now 2-0 with 1 knockout. Tampa’s Rivera is 1-2 (1 KO).
Highly touted Cuban junior welterweight Yordan Frometa went the distance for just the second time as a pro against awkward Farkhad “Crazy Russian” Sharipov. Frometa, who now calls Miami home, was the busier fighter and showed power in both hands. Sharipov however forced him to work from bell to bell by punching from different angles while regularly switching between orthodox and southpaw.
Scores were 59-55 and 60-54 twice. Frometa’s record is now 8-0 (6 KO’s). Sharipov, of Kissimmee, FL by way of Kyrgyzstan, is 4-8 with 1 knockout.
Middleweight prospect Steed “The Stallion” Woodall of Houston, TX by way of Birmingham, UK broke down Bradenton, FL based Bolivian Juan Raya en route to a third round TKO. With world renowned Ronnie Shields in his corner Woodall thoroughly dominated with hard shots to the body and head until Raya’s corner threw in the towel at 2:40 of the third.
Woodall improves to 10-1-1 with 7 KO’s. Raya slides to 2-5 with 1 knockout.
“This was an incredible card from end to end,” said Joey Orduna of Mad Integrity Fight Sports. “The fans definitely got their monies worth and I owe a special thanks to everybody involved with the event. Fights like these are what the sport is all about and if we continue to give the fans entertainment, the interest in the sport will only grow.”
For updates on Mad Integrity Fight Sports, please visit Facebook.com/MadIntegrityFightSports
Other results:
Heavyweights: Jose Medina (2-0 Winter Haven, FL) UD4 Todd Bradley (0-2 Brandon, FL) 40-36 3X
Super Middleweights: Arnold Hill (6-10 4 KO’s St. Petersburg, FL) MD4 Rashad Jones (4-7-2 2 KO’s Selma, AL) 38-38 and 39-37 2x