Photo Credit Bad Left Hook
UNCASVILLE, Connecticut – ESPN’s Friday Night Fights card on Friday February 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena was originally intended to be a showcase of a pair of prospects with a shining upside. Although both Demetrius Andrade and Raymond “Tito” Serrano defeated their opponents with relative ease, they did so against adversaries that offered little in the way of competition and tenacity. Andrade’s second round knockout of Angel Hernandez was a brutal display of power and precision, but left fans yearning for a step up in competition—a complaint Andrade has grown accustomed to. In the co-main event, Serrano defeated Kenny Abril by unanimous decision despite being knocked down for only the second time in his eighteen fight career.
2008 Summer Olympic competitor Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (16-0-0, 11 KOs), hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, has faced fervent inquiries from boxing fans to increase his level of competition for much of his career. After a defeat of Grady Brewer in August 2011, he appeared to finally be working his way up in the adversary talent pool. The Star Boxing promoter prospect was originally scheduled to face Derek Ennis, but after the conqueror of Eromosele Albert and Gabriel Rosado pulled out, the search was on for a last minute substitution. In the days that followed, 1996 Olympic Bronze medalist Terrance Cauthen was named as a replacement, only to have the New Jersey native bolt the locks and refrain from answering the door for promoter Nedal Abuhumoud to sign the contract.
After a furious search to save the main event, tested veteran Angel Hernandez (30-11-0, 17 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois, stepped up to the plate. Medical concerns hounded Hernandez in the hours leading up to the fight, with reports claiming that Hernandez had been slurring his speech and was not in prime physical condition. Yet, the thirty six year old challenger passed all tests issued by the Mohegan Tribal Department of Athletic Regulation, and Joe DeGuardia’s fight card was saved. Hernandez had previously defeated James McGirt in 2009, but suffered losses in his prior three fights, including a TKO loss to Peter Manfredo Jr. in Mohegan Sun Arena in 2010.
Prior to the fight, referee Steve Smoger chastised the Andrade corner for failure to listen and respect the pre-fight instructions in the center of the right. Once the bout began, Andrade landed a good right hand. Fighting from the clinch in center of the right, each fighter fought out with good shots to the body. Hernandez was clearly not afraid to charge in and force Andrade to trade power shots, but a pair of rights for Andrade caught the Chicago native lunging in. Andrade soon backed Hernandez into a neutral corner and landed a group of uppercuts and right straights with nearly sent his adversary down. In the final seconds of the round, the fighters traded power punches with Andrade clearly getting the better of his opponent.
The second round started with a far more cautious pace. Andrade was content to stay on the outside and use the jab, while Hernandez whiffed on power punch counters. Upon exiting a clinch, a pair of counter rights rocked Hernandez sent him to the canvas just over sixty seconds in. After a standing eight count, Andrade landed a vicious right to the body and a hellacious left hook to the head which knocked Hernandez down and out at 1:39 of the second round, the eleventh knockout win on the résumé of the Rhode Islander.
At the conclusion of the bout, Andrade told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna that he plans to call out the big names in the light middleweight division within five fights.
In the co-main event, Philadelphia based prospect Raymond “Tito” Serrano (18-0-0, 8 KOs) returned to the ring in his second career bout scheduled for ten rounds. The twenty two year old had looked good but unpolished against inferior opposition in his previous fights. Friday night’s fight against Kenny Abril (11-5-1, 6 KOs) of Rochester, New York, provided little variation from the aforementioned formula, although the nine year veteran did score a flash knockdown to make things interesting and tighten the scorecards in the third round. However, Abril’s failure to put together combinations and fight aggressively cost him dearly in a fight which could have been his for the taking despite weighing in over three pounds overweight.
A short straight connected early in the first round for Abril, but the following minute was fought at a very cautious pace. In the final half of the round, Serrano put multiple combinations together to the head and body. The combatants swapped rights by ropes and moved across the ring where a short right landed for Serrano. After a right left combination to the ribcage, Abril clinched repeatedly until the end of the round.
A great right straight landed for Serrano merely moments into the second round. Abril landed one of his best punches of the fight soon after, a counter right hook to the head, which was followed by a pair of power shots to the back by Serrano that resulted in a stern warning by referee Dick Flaherty. Throughout the remainder of the round, Serrano’s jabs found the target, setting up right hands. With approximately one minute to go in the second stanza, Serrano landed a pair of right uppercuts to the sternum flush. Abril continued to clinch, but Serrano let himself be tied up by his opponent. After a right to body and left hook to the head made Abril step back, the fighters tied up in the center of the ring again. Both of the opening rounds clearly belonged to the undefeated Philadelphian.
To being round three, Serrano whiffed on a left right combination and Abril missed the target with counter uppercuts and hooks. In a rare moment of aggression, Abril lunged forward throwing power shots, only to be driven back across the ring with right straights by Serrano. Neither fighter was extremely effective in the opening minutes despite an influx in activity. In the final sixty seconds, Serrano landed a piercing straight to the body that was countered by a southpaw jab that sent Serrano to the canvas. Serrano was not hurt by the flash knockdown, and neither fighter pushed the pace at the conclusion of the round.
In round four, Serrano still marched forward and mixed a fair share of body shots with head shots. Serrano also continued to show a tendency to lunge forward and leave himself open to be countered, an opportunity Abril could not capitalize on all night. With one minute remaining, a left hook for Serrano landed on the button, sending Abril to the ropes. The New Yorker tied up another clinch, and the fighters traded shots with mild efficiency to end the round.
The fifth round followed a similar pattern. In first thirty seconds, Serrano landed good combinations with Abril in the corner, using the lead left to set up punch sequences. Abril kept jabbing and clinching, but did little else in the round except get absorb punches from his undefeated adversary. After a left hook right straight combination in the center of the ring for Serrano, he inadvertently shoved Abril onto the ropes and onto the canvas. A pair of solid left hooks landed at the sound of the bell for Tito.
Abril secured a clinch right away in the sixth round, but Serrano managed to fight out of it with shots to the body. Serrano controlled the round early on, but after a clash of heads in the center of the ring, the fighters swapped hooks and straights in an exciting final minute in which Abril may have stolen the round.
Serrano started out round seven with a left right combo that popped Abril right on the face. Soon after, a pair of rights smacked Abril with his back to the ropes. After blocking a series punches, Abril landed a straight and entered the clinch, where he was hit on the cheek with a hook by Serrano at close range. A double jab found the chin of Abril shortly before the bell.
In round eight, the gap on the scorecards continued to widen in favor of Tito Serrano. A piercing counter straight by Serrano opened the round. From there on in, Serrano caught Abril several times while the veteran lunged in. With one minute to go, the duo traded right hands over the top in the center of the ring. At this time, blood appeared on the forehead of Abril, ushering back memories of a nasty gash suffered in 2007 against Eric Hall. However, the blood did not create a serious problem for the New Yorker and the fight continued, albeit it totally in Serrano’s favor.
Serrano was relentless in his attack to the body, and to his credit, he did not hit Abril low once. A left hook to the beltline for Serrano began round nine. A right cross to the head and a left hook to the body pounded Abril, who still struggled to mount any offense. Serrano began throwing singular punch attacks as opposed to the combinations that had worked so well earlier, but he still won the round with relative ease.
Ring announcer David Diamante urged the crowd to their feet to begin the tenth and final round. A good left right combination struck Abril early on, and Serrano landed another two punch combination shortly after. After slowing the pace in the ninth, Serrano once again threw punches in bunches. A solid left hook landed to the body for Serrano, whose mixed attack worked best when leading with a left hook to the body. After a pair of clinches, Abril and Serrano traded uppercuts and right hands in the center of the ring to end the bout.
At the culmination of ten rounds, the judges scored the bout 97-92, 97-92, and 95-94, all in favor of Raymond “Tito” Serrano, who notched another victory in his undefeated résumé.
Other bouts:
Mike Arnaoutis (23-7-2, 10 KOs) def. Shakah Moore (11-17-3, 2 KOs) via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 59-55)
Joseph “Chip” Perez (7-1-0, 2 KOs) def. Jamell Tyson (2-5-1, 1 KO) via unanimous decision (59-55, 58-56, 58-56)
Emanuel Gonzalez (10-0-0, 7 KOs) def. Jesus Bayron (5-4-0, 4 KOs) via unanimous decision (40-36, 39-37, 39-37)
Charles Foster (2-0-0, 1 KO) def. Borngod Washington (3-10-0, 1 KO) via unanimous decision (38-37, 38-37, 38-37)
Jair Ramos (2-0-0, 1 KO) def. Miguel Antonio Rodriguez (0-2-0) via TKO at :53 of round 2
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