Post by Peter Dilorenzo on Mar 9, 2009 8:43:17 GMT -5
January 3, Braintree Sheraton
New Years Redemption turned out even better than expected. Twelve outstanding fights rounded out the evening, the second at the lovely Sheraton Convention Center.
The near capacity crowd was on its feet most of the night, enjoying the non-stop action.
The evening started with Brian Marino of North Attleboro representing Inner Circle Wrestling and LA Boxing facing the tough Steve Butler of Dragon Warrior in Woburn. Butler looked the much larger man in spite of only a 4 pound weight advantage but it as the more savvy Marino who utilized his superior ground skills to cause Butler to tap out in the second after a nearly dead even war in the first round. Marino raises his amateur record to 2-0.
In another match in the 155 pound weight division, debuting Dillon Jennings stopped previously undefeated John Nealon in the first. Nealon, an excellent striker from the outside, had no answer for the aggressive Jennings who simply gave him no room to breath.
Scott Nichols, representing Dragon Warrior, raised his amateur ledger to 2-1 with a unanimous decision win over the popular Mike Romig of Quincy, representing South Shore Sportfighting. The 18 year old Nichols and the 29 year old Romig was a war from the start, with both men taking turns holding the upper hand. All three judges gave the win to the youngster 29-28. The fans were calling for a rematch before the fighters left the ring.
Bridgewater’s Dan Conway, 3-1, stopped Nic Kossivas, representing Doomsday MMA, at the end of the first round. An overhand right from Conway put Kossivas to the ground a split second before the end of the round. In spite of the bell, Kossivas was unable to make it to his corner under his own power prompting referee Kevin McDonald to wisely call a halt to the action. Conway, a tremendous puncher who fights out of Bishop’s Boxing and Fitness, is a fighter to watch in the future.
Dan Fonseca, representing Silver Dragon in Agawam, MA, stopped Chris Maynard of Woonsocket, RI, by KO just 8 seconds into the second round. It was the first amateur fight for both men.
Travis Lerchen of Waterbury, CT stopped veteran Todd Solek with a choke hold in the first round of their pro contest. Lerchen immediately grabbed the mike from ring announcer Johnny Vena to call out Chris Traietti, who made a successful debut on AFO’s November 26th card. Look for that fight to be made very soon.
Maurice McNeil of Quincy evened up his amateur record at 1-1 with a second round choke hold over a very game Ryan Francis. The Dorchester native and active Army soldier gave as good as he got in the first, but a mistake on the mat allowed the superior ground fighter to gain the advantage. McNeil’s debut in November was fight of the night in a loosing effort with Paddy Thompson of Pembroke.
Doomsday’s Frankin Isabel, after running up a 4-1 amateur career, joined the professional ranks successfully with an 18 second stoppage via an arm bar over veteran Pete Reveredo of Fall River. Isabel appears to have all the tools, showing an outstanding repertoire in his two appearances for AFO. Another fighter to watch in the future.
In an exciting 170 pound match James Malvesti of Quincy via South Shore Sportfighting upset favorite Mike Kittridge of Silver Dragon with an arm bar at 2:55 of the third round. Malvesti dominated the entire match, keeping Kittridge on the defense with steady pressure and solid body work from the top position. Both exciting fighters, AFO is looking forward to having them return on February 21.
Daniel Sucuri of Plymouth lived up to his name again, stopping Pete Gouveia of Fall River at just 17 seconds of the first round. Bringing a reputation as a fast-handed, hard puncher, Sucuri showed his speed and ground skill, slipping inside of the first punch Gouveia threw, taking him down for the choke hold. Sucuri will definitely return on February 21 and AFO President Pete DiLorenzo expects big things out of the 205 pounder, originally from Crisuma, Brazil.
The co-feature, a highly anticipated rematch between two of the biggest little men in MMA more than lived up to the expectation. Mike Flores brought an undefeated record in against veteran Josh Spearman, pitting Silver Dragon and Dragon Warrior against each other. The first round had the audience on their feet with blinding speed out of both fighters who alternated between vicious exchanges of punching and amazing ground work. It began to look as though Flores was gaining the edge toward the end of the round, and he returned to his corner looking fresh and confident. A strong start to the second ended in highly controversial fashion with Spearman gaining a lock on Flores which was over his mouth, but not over his throat. Referee Gary ____ asked Flores if he was okay, and was answered with a thumbs up. The bout continued, with Spearman holding tightly and Flores unable to escape. As the referee again asked if he was okay and this time did not see a response, he stopped the bout, time of 2:59. Immediate protests from the Flores corner by trainer/manager Keith Gordon prompted chief referee Kevin McDonald to agree to review the tape of the fight. The stoppage was certainly with safety of the fighter in mind. AFO will await the decision upon review of the tape as to weather the bout will be deemed a no contest or remain a tko with for Spearman. In any case the correct answer is rematch in February. The audience agrees.
The main event featured pound-for-pound #1 Ken Stone of Braintree, fighting out of South Shore Sportfighting against undefeated Muay Thai champ Nam Nguyen of Dorchester, originally hailing from Saigon, Vietnam. Nguyen’s fast, hard kicks looked like they may give the undefeated Stone some trouble until he closed the gap and brought the fight to close quarters. Stone, one of the smoothest, most well-schooled fighters in the business, kept Nguyen neutralized on the ground, showing patience in gaining the position he wanted, a perfect mount which enabled him to rain down punches at will, prompting referee McDonald to step in at 3:27 of the first round.
AFO will return to the Braintree Sheraton Hotel February 21 featuring Chris Traietti, Daniel Sucuri, Tim O’Connell, Brian Marino, Franklin Isabel, and more.
New Years Redemption turned out even better than expected. Twelve outstanding fights rounded out the evening, the second at the lovely Sheraton Convention Center.
The near capacity crowd was on its feet most of the night, enjoying the non-stop action.
The evening started with Brian Marino of North Attleboro representing Inner Circle Wrestling and LA Boxing facing the tough Steve Butler of Dragon Warrior in Woburn. Butler looked the much larger man in spite of only a 4 pound weight advantage but it as the more savvy Marino who utilized his superior ground skills to cause Butler to tap out in the second after a nearly dead even war in the first round. Marino raises his amateur record to 2-0.
In another match in the 155 pound weight division, debuting Dillon Jennings stopped previously undefeated John Nealon in the first. Nealon, an excellent striker from the outside, had no answer for the aggressive Jennings who simply gave him no room to breath.
Scott Nichols, representing Dragon Warrior, raised his amateur ledger to 2-1 with a unanimous decision win over the popular Mike Romig of Quincy, representing South Shore Sportfighting. The 18 year old Nichols and the 29 year old Romig was a war from the start, with both men taking turns holding the upper hand. All three judges gave the win to the youngster 29-28. The fans were calling for a rematch before the fighters left the ring.
Bridgewater’s Dan Conway, 3-1, stopped Nic Kossivas, representing Doomsday MMA, at the end of the first round. An overhand right from Conway put Kossivas to the ground a split second before the end of the round. In spite of the bell, Kossivas was unable to make it to his corner under his own power prompting referee Kevin McDonald to wisely call a halt to the action. Conway, a tremendous puncher who fights out of Bishop’s Boxing and Fitness, is a fighter to watch in the future.
Dan Fonseca, representing Silver Dragon in Agawam, MA, stopped Chris Maynard of Woonsocket, RI, by KO just 8 seconds into the second round. It was the first amateur fight for both men.
Travis Lerchen of Waterbury, CT stopped veteran Todd Solek with a choke hold in the first round of their pro contest. Lerchen immediately grabbed the mike from ring announcer Johnny Vena to call out Chris Traietti, who made a successful debut on AFO’s November 26th card. Look for that fight to be made very soon.
Maurice McNeil of Quincy evened up his amateur record at 1-1 with a second round choke hold over a very game Ryan Francis. The Dorchester native and active Army soldier gave as good as he got in the first, but a mistake on the mat allowed the superior ground fighter to gain the advantage. McNeil’s debut in November was fight of the night in a loosing effort with Paddy Thompson of Pembroke.
Doomsday’s Frankin Isabel, after running up a 4-1 amateur career, joined the professional ranks successfully with an 18 second stoppage via an arm bar over veteran Pete Reveredo of Fall River. Isabel appears to have all the tools, showing an outstanding repertoire in his two appearances for AFO. Another fighter to watch in the future.
In an exciting 170 pound match James Malvesti of Quincy via South Shore Sportfighting upset favorite Mike Kittridge of Silver Dragon with an arm bar at 2:55 of the third round. Malvesti dominated the entire match, keeping Kittridge on the defense with steady pressure and solid body work from the top position. Both exciting fighters, AFO is looking forward to having them return on February 21.
Daniel Sucuri of Plymouth lived up to his name again, stopping Pete Gouveia of Fall River at just 17 seconds of the first round. Bringing a reputation as a fast-handed, hard puncher, Sucuri showed his speed and ground skill, slipping inside of the first punch Gouveia threw, taking him down for the choke hold. Sucuri will definitely return on February 21 and AFO President Pete DiLorenzo expects big things out of the 205 pounder, originally from Crisuma, Brazil.
The co-feature, a highly anticipated rematch between two of the biggest little men in MMA more than lived up to the expectation. Mike Flores brought an undefeated record in against veteran Josh Spearman, pitting Silver Dragon and Dragon Warrior against each other. The first round had the audience on their feet with blinding speed out of both fighters who alternated between vicious exchanges of punching and amazing ground work. It began to look as though Flores was gaining the edge toward the end of the round, and he returned to his corner looking fresh and confident. A strong start to the second ended in highly controversial fashion with Spearman gaining a lock on Flores which was over his mouth, but not over his throat. Referee Gary ____ asked Flores if he was okay, and was answered with a thumbs up. The bout continued, with Spearman holding tightly and Flores unable to escape. As the referee again asked if he was okay and this time did not see a response, he stopped the bout, time of 2:59. Immediate protests from the Flores corner by trainer/manager Keith Gordon prompted chief referee Kevin McDonald to agree to review the tape of the fight. The stoppage was certainly with safety of the fighter in mind. AFO will await the decision upon review of the tape as to weather the bout will be deemed a no contest or remain a tko with for Spearman. In any case the correct answer is rematch in February. The audience agrees.
The main event featured pound-for-pound #1 Ken Stone of Braintree, fighting out of South Shore Sportfighting against undefeated Muay Thai champ Nam Nguyen of Dorchester, originally hailing from Saigon, Vietnam. Nguyen’s fast, hard kicks looked like they may give the undefeated Stone some trouble until he closed the gap and brought the fight to close quarters. Stone, one of the smoothest, most well-schooled fighters in the business, kept Nguyen neutralized on the ground, showing patience in gaining the position he wanted, a perfect mount which enabled him to rain down punches at will, prompting referee McDonald to step in at 3:27 of the first round.
AFO will return to the Braintree Sheraton Hotel February 21 featuring Chris Traietti, Daniel Sucuri, Tim O’Connell, Brian Marino, Franklin Isabel, and more.