PHOTOS page 17
1/28/2008
Willie Gibbs kayos Lenord Pierre in 12 round brawl for USBA Middleweight Belt Photos by Brendon Pierpaoli
In the early going Willie Gibbs did damage with power punches and hurt Pierre in round one, but Gibbs had trouble connecting with more than one punch at a time.
Pierre pressured Gibbs relentlessly, working his body with powerful hooks to Gibbs' hips and ribs.
The fight raged through the middle rounds where Pierre was cut over both eyes by clean blows from Gibbs, and in the eighth blood flowed freely from the wounds staining Pierre's trunks a rosy pink.
With less than thirty seconds left in the final round Gibbs caught Pierre with a left hook that crumpled him and left him in a heap on the canvas above the neutral corner.
The victory gave Gibbs the USBA Middleweight belt, one he had tried to win on a previous trip to Connecticut's Mohegan Sun, where Gibbs lost to Daniel Edouard in a thriller that saw both men hurt before Gibbs was stopped in round four. Friday's title winning victory all but erased those bitter memories for Team Gibbs as they savored a hard fought win over the gritty Lenord Pierre.
Philip McCants (in white trunks above) controlled and outworked Jose Medina over six rounds to seal a unanimous decision victory.
Shamone Alvarez's attack seemed to be lacking in power but he made up for it with busy aggression and fought his way to a unanimous decision win over Virgil McClendon (in beige trunks above).
Big men, Larry White and Carlos Lovato fought a spirited, but sloppy, four rounder that got the crowd heated up quickly, proving once again that a heavyweight brawl is always a crowd pleaser no matter the skill-level of the combatants.
Featherweights Devon Cormack (in black & gold trunks above) and Angelo Acevedo rumbled in the first contest of the evening which saw Cormack break down Acevedo with power punches, scoring a TKO at 2:07 of round 2.
Wesley Hobbs (above in solid black trunks) gave the assembled a less than thrilling display of careful but tactically proficient boxing against Lowell, MA's favorite son, Joey Ortega.
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