Saturday, April 25, 2009

Tucker Wins Split Decision in Westminster!

Eldersburg, MD light heavyweight Mark "TNT" Tucker remained undefeated with an eight-round split decision over Ross "The Boss" Thompson of Buffalo, NY tonight at the Shipley Arena in Westminster, MD.

Tucker also gained a learning experience along the way as he was taken through the eight-round distance for the first time in his young career. Tucker, who gave up nine pounds to his opponent (180 1/4 to 189 1/4), had a tough time dealing with the awkward style of Thompson, who used solid defense and countering shots to gain advantages.

Thompson might have lost his advantage on the scorecards near the end of the fight, where he slowed his offensive assault and seemed to look only to counter Tucker. However, judge Malik Waleed thought Thompson did enough to win and scored the contest 77-75. The other two judges -- Gary Camponeschi and Kenny Chevalier -- saw the bout differently at 78-74 and 77-75 for Tucker. BATB scored the bout 78-74 for Thompson.

With the win, Tucker is now 9-0, seven KO's while Thompson is 27-12-2, eight KO's.

In the co-feature, Laurel, MD super featherweight Ikem "The Warrior" Orji won a six-round unanimous decision over DC's Ron "Teflon" Boyd.

Boyd's gameplan employed more side-to-side movement, staying outside Orji's forward attack. Boyd, however, did not use a lot of offense in combination with the movement, so he was not given a lot of credit for ring generalship. The judges preferred Orji's forward movement, even though he didn't land a lot of punches either. Orji pitched a shutout on judge Don Risher's card (60-54) while judges Chevalier and John Gradowski scored the bout 59-55.

Orji bounces back from his loss to Anthony Flores in New Jersey in February and raises his record to 5-1, one KO. Boyd is now even at 6-6, two KO's.

Also on the card, Baltimore junior middleweight Omar Sims fought to a spirited four-round split decision draw with Jamar Freeman of Wilson, NC. Both men gave and took extremely well but neither man turned out to gain a clear advantage. If there was any advantage at all, it would have gone to Freeman if a knockdown had been judged in his favor. Late in the third round, Freeman seemed to drop Sims with a right hand. However, as Sims fell, Freeman tripped over him and also fell. Referee Camponeschi ruled there was no knockdown and the bout continued.

Sims has his second straight tough draw and is now 1-0-2, one KO while Freeman remains undefeated at 2-0-1.

In the opening bout, DC middleweight Robert "Rated X" Reed made an impressive pro debut as he stopped Zaid Malik of Cleveland, OH with a short right hand at 1:24 of the first round. Malik is 0-2.

Two other bouts were scratched because boxers in those bouts did not meet the medical guidelines of the Maryland State Athletic Commission.

Here is the BATB Post-Fight Wrap-Up for this card:

Gabcast! Boxing Along the Beltway #163 - Full Report From The Shipley Arena!

"The Fight Doctor" Jerome Spears and I talk about the TNT Promotions card at the Shipley Arena in Westminster, MD, including the valuable lesson Mark Tucker received to stay undefeated in the main event.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a shame the Maryland boxing commission is so crooked.I was there tonight and I promise you I will never go back to watch another fight until they change their style.Tucker was absolutely destroyed I had him losing 6 of the 8 rounds I do not think anyone seen it differetly except the judges.Tucker even has to be sick about the win! Digital this is unacceptable, do you agree?

Anonymous said...

That's the way HOME TOWN COOKING works, he's been carried and when he fights somebody with a little experience he can't handle it.Consider him done!!

Anonymous said...

Digital,

You tell it like it is, and thank you for that! Thank you for saying that you had Thompson winning the fight! Imagine that, Kenny Chevalier had the hometown guy winning! He's a crook beyond compare! And Pat Pannella, you should be ashamed of your commission! The word is out in the boxing world about Maryland and it's an F/N disgrace!

Signed,

Pissed Off!

Anonymous said...

I agree Kenny Chevalier should be banned from Judging and Refereeing any fights, this isn't the first time that he has shown partiality toward home town fighters, remember the longest eight count in boxing between Rivera and Nicklow.

Anonymous said...

way go too mark jr. n sr

Anonymous said...

the Rivera-Nicklow "8 count" was not a pause in the count. Rivera lost his mouthpiece.

Anonymous said...

Kenny Chevalier is an f/n disgrace! Pat Pannella is an f/n disgrace! It was obvious what happened when George Rivera fought Nicklow and it's obvious what happened last night. Mark Tucker did not win that fight and everybody knows it! This has happened so many times that it is obvious that Chevalier and Pannella are crooked! You can't even explain it as being incompetent. They are blatant cheats! Somebody needs to investigage the Maryland Commission and they need to start with Kenny Chevalier and Pat Pannella. CROOKS!

Anonymous said...

Mark and Mark don't worry about what they say just chaulk one up in the win colmun and go on to the next one.

Anonymous said...

Gary thats wesminster not winchester.

Anonymous said...

Fight was close and each boxer fought, and landed punches, in spurts. It seemed like when one of the boxers won a round, he did just enough to win it. Several rounds were decided by just a few punches.

Anonymous said...

That last post must have been from Chevalier or Pannella.

Anonymous said...

How did the Omar Sims draw with Jamar Freeman really go? I did not make it out this time but Dozier got a hometown decision his last fight in Westminster.

Gary Digital Williams said...

Sims-Freeman was a legitimate draw. I think the bout would have gone to Freeman if a knockdown he seemed to have scored in the third round was called. I thought the ref missed that.

Since the knockdown wasn't called, the judges couldn't score as such and the draw was legitimate. It was a great bout!

Anonymous said...

wow, these comments seem to be full of bias and resentment...

I watched the fight as a spectator... I don't know how to count the points, I just know the feeling that I got. I felt like the fight was a close fight, but overall TNT was the winner. the Boss seemed very cagey, experienced and thinking... planning his moves. Certainly he was the best that TNT has faced. TNT was aggressive and did not back down, nor did he seem rattled. They both needed to dodge punches. It was a good fight IMO and a fair decision.

Anonymous said...

when you are talking about punches thrown/landed, Tucker definately won. Meaningful punches, the boss won. This is the system that is used, so tucker won. Tucker is one tough s.o.b. He should have won, which he did. He is the beltway boxer, so why not embrace him? Thompson did not do anything to win the fight..

Anonymous one said...

The truth is... nobody around here fights competiton like what tnt fought. The boss would destroy many local fighters. Congrats to the Tuckers for stepping it up! If you are not a judge, I guess it does not matter how you scored it! Tucker fights/sparrs quality fighters inside and outside the region. If you want to stay along the beltway, then do so.

Anonymous said...

that want to be indian he must
be from the donkey blood line
hehaw hehaw.

The Prince said...

I was front row for this fight...I saw Thompson do very well early, but "TNT" completely outworked him over the second half of the fight. Tucker showed that he is for real, and will be a force to be reckened with in the Light Heavy weight division... He fought a bad ass veteran with 221 rounds experience, and had gone the distance with Pavlik, Echols, and Lacy. "TNT" never lost focus or belief in himself in trench warfare, and that is something you DON'T learn in the gym.(u either have it or you don't). Kudos to Mark and his team for taking such a risk, and coming through. That was an acid test, and Tucker passed with flying colors.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like people hating on the Tuckers. My thought is if you don't think Tucker is all that... then produce a guy that can beat him. Enough said.

Innocent Bystander

Anonymous said...

Well for that to happen, he must fight outside of westminister!

Anonymous said...

jackass he only fought twice in westminster. He has gone all the way to freegin Vegas and fought.

Anonymous said...

It is true alot of these maryland shows have a air of confusion to them at times. I saw Mike Dietrich almost get killed because the ref wouldn't stop the fight when it was obvious to everyone in the building. But, these things happen all over the country so all you can really do is supports your fighters and hope for the best.