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“The Standing Eight Count” -
Ringside At Pechanga For
Ji-Hoon Kim vs. Tyrone Harris
By Dave Wilcox
The beautiful Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula,
California welcomed Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas and the crew
of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights for some exciting Boxing
action on this cool Southern California evening.
In the main event, Tyrone “Fists of Fury” Harris took on
“The Volcano” Ji-Hoon Kim in a ten round welterweight
contest. Going in, Harris was expected to use his superior
speed and boxing ability to get past the tough and powerful
Kim. To everyone’s surprise, as soon as the bell rang to
start round one, Harris came out fast and pushed the action
at a rapid pace while throwing hard shots to the head of the
gritty Korean. Kim seemed surprised and for the first two
rounds, it looked like Harris had things going his way. In
the second round, Tyrone had a nice lead right hook and left
to the body working well, but as the round came to a close,
I couldn’t help but notice a slight shift in the action. It
seemed that even though I had given Harris the first two
rounds, he was the one who was slowing, while Kim seemed to
be making his move forward.
Round three was a close round and was fought at much slower
pace than the first two. I flipped a coin and gave it to
Kim. It seemed quite apparent at this point that Tyrone
Harris was slowing and Ji-Hoon Kim was picking up the pace.
Round four started status quo for the fighters and then
something flashed above the head of Kim and at the half way
point of the round, he just started throwing punch after
punch and began to overwhelm Harris. From my ringside
position, I literally saw a change in the look on Kim’s face
as he gritted his teeth and began to pour it on. He easily
dominated Harris for the reminder of round four. Things were
not looking up for “Fists of Fury”.
Ji-Hoon Kim started round five just has he ended the
previous stanza and continued to pressure Harris at a rapid
pace. He pounded Harris to body and it seemed like things
were looking bleak for Tyrone Harris. Kim landed a short
right hand, followed by a left that put Harris down. Tyrone
got up and took his eight count and the fight continued. Kim
rushed in and bombarded him with a barrage of punches, most
of which weren’t landing, but at this point, the damage had
already been done. Referee, Wayne Hedgepeth had seen enough
and stepped in to stop the fight at 1:52 of round five.
Tyrone Harris was livid at the decision to stop the fight.
He jumped up and down screaming at Hedgepeth. He was so
upset, that he made himself unavailable for post fight
interviews. Harris might have not agreed with that decision,
but I’ll go out on a limb and say most everyone else that
was watching has no problem with the stoppage. Kim was
overpowering and it was only a matter of time before he
would have been able to get Harris out of there.
As it was, I think we might have found a new television star
in Ji-Hoon Kim. What an entertaining and strong fighter he
is. I can’t wait to see him lace the gloves up again.
Ji-Hoon Kim improves his record to 20-5 (16KO), while Tyrone
Harris falls to 24-6 (16 KO)
In the co-main event of the evening we had junior
welterweights in action, as undefeated Russian, Ruslan
Provodnikov was really taking a step up and against the
aged, but very tough former IBF lightweight champion, Javier
Jauregui.
In round one Provodnikov pounded Jauregui to the body and
landed huge shots to his head. It was obvious from the very
beginning that the Mexican fighter was one tough customer.
In rounds two through four, Jauregui tried to find a home to
the body of Providnikov but just couldn’t seem to throw
enough punches. He found a home for his awkward uppercut on
the chin of the Russian on occasion, but as would be the
case the entire fight, he just couldn’t keep pace with young
and talented Provodnikov.
Unfortunately for Javier Jauregui, being tough doesn’t win
rounds, but the crowd was still quite impressed with him and
gave him the old, “MEH-HEE-CO” chant in round five to help
boost his spirits. He continued to try his best, but it
wouldn’t be enough.
In rounds six and seven, Provodnikov looked tired from
pounding on Jauregui as he continued to land hard punches on
Jauregui. Some have wondered what Antonio Plasterito put in
his gloves? Hell, I wonder what Javier Jauregui put in his
head.
In round eight, the Russian picked up the pace and started
landing even harder shots and then suddenly landed with two
big uppercuts and the mouthpiece of Javier flew out.
Provodnikov rushed in and after a barrage of shots, Referee
Jack Reiss had seen enough and stopped the contest at 2:10
of round eight.
A very impressive victory against a very experience and iron
jawed opponent for the young Russian.
Ruslan Provodnikov extends his undefeated record to 14-0 (10
KO) and Javier Jauegui drops to 53-17-2 (36KO)
The Undercard:
-Another undefeated Russian was on the undercard in a Super
Middleweight eight round affair. Maxim Vlasov of Samara,
Russia was taking on Julius “KOB” Fogel from North Carolina.
The tall Russian seemed to have control of the bout from the
start and landed some very nice combinations to head of
Fogel. Vlasov landed a big right hook, followed by a left
that seemed to graze on the back of the head of “Knocking
out Bums” Fogel and he went down. Fogel made the count, but
Wayne Hedgepeth again made a questionable stoppage and
called a halt to the bout at 2:42 of the first round.
Maxim Vlasov improves 15-0 (6KO) and Julius “KOB” Fogel’s
record falls to 15-2 (10KO)
-In a six round welterweight bout, Dashon “Flyboy” Johnson
from Escondido, California made quick work of Sergio Macias
of Pacoima, California. This was a one-sided mismatch.
Referee Jack Reiss did us all a favor and called the action
after a flurry of punches at 1:52 of round three.
Johnson jumps his record to 9-2-2 (3 KO) and Macias stays
consistent at 14-20-1 (6KO)
-In welterweight action scheduled for four, Gabriel
Tolmajyan of Glendale, California was up against Anthony
Martinez of Turriabla, Mexico. Tolmajyan controlled the
action from the start from his southpaw stance. In round
three, a beautiful lead right hand hook put Martinez down.
He was able to get up and finish the round. In the fourth, a
big left uppercut sent Martinez stumbling toward the canvas
and the minute he hit the canvas, the bout was waved off.
The time was 2:14 of round four.
Gabriel Tolmajyan continues to improve and jumps to 7-1 (2
KO) while Anthony Martinez does what he does best, lose. His
record falls to 21-33-3 (9)
On a side note, why is a guy that has a record of 21-33-3
get a license to fight?
-One Heavyweight and one fat guy squared off in a four
rounder as Garrett “Goodnite” Simon of Puyallup, Washington
took on a guy by the name of Francisco Mireles of Tucson,
Arizona. We’ll just say that at 5"10 or so and weighing
about 280 pounds, Mireles was less than ready to fight on
this night. In this embarrassing affair, surprisingly
enough, the first knockdown was caused by a body shot. The
end came shortly after as Simon doubled up on a left hook
and followed with a barrage of punches that forced Jack
Reiss to step in and halt it at 1:53 of round one.
Garrett Simon raises his record to 2-0 (2KO) and Francisco
Mireles evens his record at 5-5. May I suggest a new career
for Francisco?
-In the last bout of the evening, Featherweight Edgar Flores
of Santa Maria, California made his pro debut in a four
rounder against Eder Peralta of Pasadena, California. The
thin and lanky Flores seemed to be the guy who was being
showcased against the tattooed Peralta. That was of course
until Flores landed a vicious left hook to the chin of
Flores. He was out before he hit the canvas. The official
time of the knockout was 2:22 of round number one.
Eder Peralta evens his record in impressive fashion at 1-1
(1KO) and it’s back to the drawing board for Flores who
drops his pro debut.
-“Smokin” Joe Frazier- The legendary Heavyweight Champion
was ringside at The Pechanga as a guest and had the fans in
attendance in awe of his greatness. I had the good fortune
of sitting to the right of Mr. Frazier during the bouts and
I can honestly say it was a thrill. I had to break the Media
“code” and go talk to the great champion and have my
tremendous photographer, Ray Luna take the shot for me. I
think I got the stink eye from other “media”, but I didn’t
care to be
quite honest. Joe Frazier was very gracious and friendly to
all the fans that came up to him for autographs, pictures or
just a good old fashioned hand shake from the champ. The
line to see him was a mile long, but the champ just kept
smiling all the way through.
It was just another great night of Boxing action from what I
consider the best venue to see Boxing in Southern
California. The Pechanga Resort and Casino really knows how
to put on a show and as a matter of fact, ESPN2 Friday Night
Fights will be back in Temecula on Friday, March 5. On that
card, Martin “El Brochas” Honario will be defending his NABO
lightweight championship against Wilton “Pretty Warrior”
Hilario. You might remember that Honario won that title by
upsetting hot prospect, John Molina, Jr. at the Pechanga
back in November.
Also on the March 5 card will be hot prospects, Michael
Dallas, Jr. and Rico “Suavecito” Ramos.
It should be another great night of Boxing on March 5.
Keep Punching
*Dave Wilcox is the West Coast Coordinator/Correspondent for
the “Talkin Boxing with Billy C.” Radio show and appears on
Mondays. The show runs live five days a week and two hours a
day. Go to www.talkinboxing.com or www.BillyCBoxing.com for
all info on the show. It is also available on podcast
anytime by going to http://talkinboxing.podbean.com/
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