Undefeated Remain Undefeated

May 10, 2019

The Heavyweight Factory and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino provided an exciting night of professional pugilism featuring several undefeated local fighters facing some tough challengers and a few surprises. 
In the first bout, Ivan “The Kazakh Giant” Dychko (7-0, 7 KOs ) faced  Ray Austin (29-9-4, 18 KOs) 303 in a six rounder overseen by referee James Waring. Dychko, who stands 6’9” is best known for losing an extremely controversial decision to Anthony Joshua in the 2012 London Olympics, a defeat that cost him a gold medal.  Dychko is now looking to move up through the rankings and possibly face Joshua again. 
Against Ray Austin, Dychko sought to control the pace early in the first round and had Austin on the defense. One right hand rocked the much heavier Austin, who seemed a little hesitant coming out for the 2nd round. Austin fought most of round 2 with his hands down while the Kazakh Giant landed at will. Austin seemed to acquire a second wind in round three and tightened up his defense, but the bout was called at 1:48 due to an injury to Austin’s left arm, earning Dychko the TKO. 
Fight number two on the card featured welterweights Albert Mensah (27-7-1, 15 KOs) vs. Derrick “Pretty Boy” Cuevas (20-0—1, 14 KOs).  In a very physical first round, Cuevas forced Mensah around the ring, mandating him to fight off the ropes. Cuevas controlled the second round and had Mensah up against the ropes again in his own corner, again forcing Mensah to cover up for most of the round, only occasionally landing some counters. Throughout round three, Cuevas continued to push Mensah into the corner with help from his left elbow and Round 4 was much of the same. In round 5 referee Sam Burgos decided to put an end to the elbowing and pushing and Mensah landed some nice counters, even forcing Cuevas to retreat. Mensah’s last 3 rounds were his best efforts, but by that time he was too far behind on the cards.  Judges scored the bout 78-74, 80-72, 80-72, unanimous decision for Cuevas. 
The next fight up would be a contender for fight of the night on any card. Super Middleweights Jerhed “Underdog” Fenderson (5-10, 2 KOs) faced 2012 Cuban Olympian Irosvani Duvergel, the overwhelming crowd favorite fighting out of Miami (5-0, 3KOs).  Round one saw Fenderson swinging for the fences, trying to land a powerful shot to disorient his undefeated opponent. Duvergel found some nice counters and leads of his own, but the real action was yet to begin. The Underdog landed heavy shots in round two and knocked his opponent to the ground. Duvergel did not like that one bit and returned the favor…twice. Duvergel’s first knockdown brought the crowd to their feet and it seemed like the night was over for Fenderson as he sailed halfway across the ring before hitting the canvas.  Fenderson was far from defeated though.  After he regained his composure. Duvergel knocked him down again but he was saved by the bell. Round four saw even action and Fenderson had time to recover from the 2 knockdowns.  Fenderson was knocked down a 3rd time at the end of round 5 and took an eight count right and was again saved by the bell. Round six saw a turn of events with the Underdog becoming the aggressor and punishing Duvergel whose legs turned to jelly by the middle of the round. Unfortunately, the underdog couldn’t muster the strength to put Duvergal’s lights out for good, despite a beautiful right hand with two seconds to go of the final round. The judges scored the fight 59-53, 59-54 x 2,  UD for Duvergel. Before the fighters even left the ring, The Heavyweight Factory announced a July 12th rematch.  
Next up was Rumble at the Rock veteran Logan Yoon (15-0, 12 KOs) vs. Robert Frankel (37-20-1, 8KOs) for 8 rounds in the super lightweight division.  Logan controlled the pace inside the ring and but the action was uneventful until the end of round six when Logan started to load up his punches . Logan let it fly in the 8th and final round and left his opponent bloody at the end of the night. Scorecards read 78-74, 80-72, with the UD to Logan Yoon.In the co-main event of the evening, scheduled for eight rounds in the Super Featherweight division, Jesus Martinez (25-7, 12 KOs) faced Hairon Socarras (21-0-3, 13 KOs) of Miami. Socarras took control early with superior offense and defense, stalking his opponent first in a south paw stance, and then  later switching to orthodox and back throughout the fight.  Socarras was ahead on the cards throughout the fight until he knocked down Martinez in round five as crowd cheered, “Cuba! Cuba!” The ref called a halt to the bout at 2:59 of round five, awarding the TKO victory to Socarras. 
Next up was Livian “Machine Gun Kid” Navarro (10-0, 7 KOs) vs. Breidis Prescott (31-16, 22 KOs)  Both fighters traded meaningful blows in the opening rounds. Going into round five, Navarro seemed to be ahead on the cards but Prescott would continue to fight until the end. At the end of eight, judges scored the bout 78-74, 79-73 ,80-72 and Livian “Machine Gun Kid” Navarro advanced his undefeated record to 11-0. The night ended with a bonus four-rounder of light heavyweights featuring a real crowd favorite Blake “Bad” Davis of Ft. Lauderdale, FL in his second professional fight, vs. Quintell Thompson (2-7-1, 2 KOs).  In a fight that didn’t seem likely to last more than one round, Thompson managed to hang in and bloody Davis’ face even as he lost most of the exchanges. Davis fought with a considerable height and reach advantage that Quintell just could not figure out. Round 3 ended with both fighters unleashing flurries. After the fourth and final round, Davis was awarded the unanimous decision. 

By Matt Benoliel