BATTLE IN THE BALLROOM - 25th Anniversary / 25th Consecutive Sellout
Thursday night a sell-out crowd turned out to celebrate both the 25th Anniversary of the insatiably popular Battle In The Ballroom show, as well as the 25th consecutive sellout, and they were treated to a special attraction in the likes of rising middleweight phenom, Craig McEwan taking on his stiffest challenge to date.
McEwan, a 6’1” southpaw hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, brought in his unblemished record of 12-0 w/ 7KO’s, against the hard hitting and dangerous Ivan “Sitting Bull” Stovall, 10-2 w/ 7KO’s, from nearby Pomona, CA. Stovall, brought in an 8 fight streak of 7-1 with his only loss coming by a majority decision loss in a fight where he floored his undefeated opponent.
Coming out to his customary Scottish bagpipe music, McEwan received a warm Orange County welcome, and now fighting out of Hollywood, CA, McEwan came well armed with trainer extraordinaire, Freddy Roach, as well as former two time heavyweight world champion, Michael Moorer, in his corner for added support.
In opening action, Stovall seemed unimpressed by McEwan and his entourage, and instead pushed the action for the first couple rounds. However, even at 6’1”, McEwan showed excellent mobility and was able to avoid the dangerous home run type punches that were unleashed by Stovall. The most damage Stovall was able to do to McEwan was to cause rope burns to his back that occurred while McEwan peddled away time and time again from Stovall.
Meanwhile, McEwan was still staying busy enough in boxing from the outside to win the early rounds.
By the third round, McEwan opened a dangerous cut over the left eye of Stovall, and for the remainder of the fight, it was literally a bloodfest, with ringside fans using their fight programs to shield themselves from Stovall’s blood that showered from above each time he was peppered by a McEwan jab, or hammered by a McEwan left cross.
Despite the disadvantage of the cut eye, Stovall continued to fight on valiantly, occasionally launching haymaker punches, none of which landed.
McEwan showed plenty of poise in taking his time to pick apart Stovall, and gradually wore down his muscular and spirited opponent, finally starting to visibly hurt him in the 6th round.
Not wasting any time, in Round 7, McEwan smelled, saw and tasted the blood of Stovall and did not allow opportunity to pass him by, as he jumped all over Stovall and punished him for a good minute before the referee did the right thing and put a compassionate end to the fight at 2:38 of the seventh round.
In his biggest victory to date, McEwan successfully moves his record to a perfect 13-0 w/ 8KO’s while the game Stovall drops to 10-3.
In a highly anticipated woman’s 5 round lightweight matchup, once beaten Rhonda Luna, from nearby Rowland Heights, CA, put her perfect 13-1-1 w/ 9KO record on the line against the always game Tammy “The Tigress” Franks, 2-6-1, from El Paso, TX.
Despite Franks losing record, each of her wins came at the expense of fighters with winning records, while four of her losses were to undefeated opponents. In fighting Luna, Franks again showed that she will shy away from no other fighter.
The opening round was a hotly contested affair with each fighter getting in some solid shots.
However, given Luna’s superior technical ability, as well as superior ring experience, it seemed a matter of time before Franks wide punches and lack of balance opened an opportunity for Luna to do some damage.
In round two, Luna seized control of the fight and punished Franks with hard counterpunches, as well as hard body shots. It was a solid shot to the body of Franks that put her on the canvas on all fours, as she struggled to compose herself but was either unable or unwilling to stand up to beat the ten count of the referee.
With the second round knockout victory, Luna raises her record to 14-1-1 and remains in title contention.
In a hotly contested lightweight matchup, it was the battle of Garcia’s, as local Arquimedez Garcia, 1-0-1, of Santa Ana, took on Cesar Garcia, 1-3-1, of El Monte, CA.
Both fought a spirited contest and in a fight that could have gone either way, it was Arquimedez Garcia who prevailed by split decision to raise his record to 2-0-1. No word on whether the loser, Cesar Garcia, must now change his last name.
In opening action, debuters, Ramon Camacho of La Habra, CA, and Scott Rose, of Carlsbad, CA, met in a light heavyweight contest.
Camacho proved the better man and prevailed by second round knockout to raise his record to 1-0, while dropping Rose to 0-1.
*In a very special ceremony, Roy Englebrecht Promotions inducted six members into the Battle In The Ballroom Hall Of Fame.
A veteran of eight fights at the Battle In The Ballroom, former two time Super Featherweight Champion, Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez bravely stepped into the ring despite showing the recent battles he has had lately with his toughest opponent to date, cancer.
Hernandez, despite fighting against fourth stage cancer of the head and neck, was nothing but positive and all smiles as he accepted his induction into the Battle Of The Ballroom Hall Of Fame.
Also inducted into the Battle In Ballroom Hall Of Fame was possibly the top trainer in the sport today, Freddie Roach.
Roach trains or has trained such notable fighters as current pound for pound king, Manny Pacquiao, Virgil Hill, James Toney, Michael Moorer, Mike Tyson and Israel Vasquez, to name a few.
Prior to embarking on a career as a trainer, Roach enjoyed a solid career as a professional fighter, starting his career at a solid 26-1, and eventually fighting against such quality opposition as Bobby Chacon, Greg Haugen, Daryl Tyson and Hector “Macho” Camacho, before hanging up the gloves in 1986 after an eight year professional career.
The other three inductess into the Battle Of The Ballroom Hall Of Fame included fighters Johnny Vasquez and John Montes, as well as the Irvine Marriott’s first boxing promoter, Don Fraser.
**Two fights were cancelled leaving a total of four fights for the evening. Even so, it was an action filled night with three knockout fights and the remaining one a hotly contested affair.
# # #
Rocco Morales for FightNews.Com
