July 7, 2018. The court of Harold “King” Calderon (17-0, 10 KOs) invaded the stands last night at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and Hotel’s “Hometown Throwdown,” brought to you by Kris Lawrence of The Heavyweight Factory. But make no mistake, the fans of his opponent, and fellow Miami resident, JD“Pretty Boy” Martinez (now 10-1, 8 KOs) were well represented and did their rowdy best to spur their boy to victory. Unfortunately, this was not enough for the previously undefeated Martinez, who managed to stay in the fight while getting picked apart for ten rounds by the King.
This ten-round welterweight bout was punctuated by the solid offense of Calderon who continued to score with simple 1-2 combinations throughout the fight. JD’s defense was solid, but he was relinquished to the role of counter-puncher and just did not seem to be able to establish a solid rhythm on offense. The fight ended in a unanimous decision and the first professional loss for Martinez, with the judges scoring the fight 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91 for Harold “King” Calderon. To say the crowd was engaged in this bout would be an understatement. There were loud jeers and cheers throughout the fight by a crowd seemingly adverse to euphemisms and willing to continue their rivalry in the hotel lobby (and restroom) following the fight.
The co-main event of the evening featured the exciting prospect and WBO-NABO Youth Super Lightweight title-holder Logan “Korican Kid” Yoon (now 12-0, 10 KOs) taking on the veteran Luis E. Flores (24-10, 20 KOs). In what may have been his toughest challenge to date, Yoon managed to control the action and pull the unanimous decision, but failed to score a KO in the style in which he has disposed of all but one of his previous opponents. At the same time, Flores seemed intimidated by the younger and more stylish Korican Kid, and spent a lot of ring time avoiding taking the risks necessary for him to possibly win the fight.
In a scheduled 8-round heavyweight match, 6’9” former 2-time Olympian Bronze Medal winner Ivan Dychko (7-0, 7 KOs) of Kazakhstan made short game of his opponent, Maurice “Mo Bettah” Harris (26-22-3), a 42-year old journeyman who had his first professional fight in 1992. Dychko managed to land a left hook at 1:39 of round one that sent Harris to the canvas, unable, or unwilling, to regain an upright posture before the ten-count.
The previous bout was a featherweight slugfest, again between two Miami locals, and fight of the night contender. Southpaw Jessy Cruz (12-7-1, 5 KOs) earned a victoy over Raul Chirino (11-8, 6 KOs) following six rounds of action that saw some brutal infighting and skillful combinations landed by both competitors. Cruz came back after being knocked down by a straight right hand from Chirino in round two that clearly got Cruz’s adrenaline pumping. Cruz managed to knock Chirino to the canvas in the fourth round, and the sixth and final round ended on a high note with both fighters engaging and inflicting punishment on each other. The judges scored the fight 58-54, 57-55, 57-55 for Cruz.
In a scheduled eight round welterweight bout, Miami’s Livan Navarro (8-0, 6 KOs) scored a first round knock out with a very solid body shot against his opponent Julio Reynoso (12-1, 7 KOs).
In the light heavyweight division, Miami’s Ulysses Diaz (5-0, 5 KOs) defeated Chicago’s Israel Echevarria (3-4, 2 KOs) winning each round on every judges score card, despite seeming gassed at the end of round two. Despite the cardio issues, Diaz seemed completely unafraid of his opponent and controlled the action throughout the fight. The hometown crowd was pleased with this victory.
Another hometown crowd pleaser featured Maimi-based super middleweights Irosvani Duvergal (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Elie Agustama (6-8, 3 KOs) who fought hard to deny Duvergel his third straight knock out victory but ultimately lost a unanimous decision: 40-35, 39-36 and 39-36.
Coral Springs based lightweight Dustin Arnold (5-1, 1 KO) beat the previously undefeated Miami based Daniel Placeres (6-1, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision in an action packed six rounder that had the crowd on the edges of their seats.
In a six round super bantamweight contest, Lawrence “BT” Newton of Boynton Beach (9-0, 6 KOs) continued his winning streak with a victory over veteran Pedro Melo (17-18-2, 8 KOs). Newton displayed a willingness to fight from the outside as well as the inside and threw punches from all angles. We look forward to more action in the future from this up-and-comer.
by Matt Benoliel, The Fighting New Reporter
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