ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – In a fight where both undefeated fighters had to get off the canvas, Yan Marcos escaped with a split decision win over Dwyke Flemmings Jnr on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.
The judges had the fight scored all over the place. One judge preferred the aggression and power-punching of Flemmings, now 11-1 (10 KOs), of Paterson, N.J., turning in a scorecard of 96-92 for him. The other two judges preferred the Cuba-born Marcos, now 15-0 (10 KOs), by the scores of 96-92 and 97-91, who moved and boxed for most of the fight. All three judges were from New Jersey or New York.
The fight was the co-main event of a ProBox TV card.
Flemmings, who appeared to be the larger fighter, was dominant in the opening round, getting off first and pushing the southpaw Marcos around the ring. Marcos let his hands go more in the second, flurrying while Flemmings pressured without punching.
That pattern continued into the third as Flemmings was too patient while waiting for Marcos to over-commit. Marcos took a big step toward gaining respect in the fourth when he timed a left hand as Flemmings threw his hook, sending Flemmings to the canvas for the first time as a pro.
Just when it seemed like Marcos had taken over the fight, Flemmings came back strongly in the fifth, sending Marcos to the canvas, also for the first time as a pro, connecting with a thudding shot that had Marcos on wobbly legs and hurt much more seriously than Flemmings had been the round before.
After a tentative sixth, Flemmings began to press more in the seventh, working the body while Marcos sought to jab and potshot. Flemmings made a slight adjustment in the eighth by using his jab to work his way toward his left, which lined Marcos up for a right hand to begin the round. Flemings’ pressure paid off as he landed three rights along the ropes while Marcos kept his offense to his right jab.
Flemmings continued to press forward in the ninth, finding it hard to pin down the constantly moving Marcos but landing the best punch of the round, a right hand along the ropes. The 10th was a replay of the ninth round, as Marcos continued to move and potshot with his jab while Flemmings pressed the fight and targeted the body in an effort to open up power shots upstairs.
In other undercard bouts:
Heidan Martinez Morillo went the distance in his first fight on U.S. soil, winning his first decision as a pro in a 10-round fight against Philadelphia’s Daiyaan Butt. The 21-year-old Martinez, now 18-0 (17 KOs), of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, won a unanimous decision by scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91 on the third, sending the 29-year-old Butt, now 20-4 (10 KOs), to his second straight defeat.
After a technical beginning to the fight for both, Butt began pressing Martinez near the end of the fourth, landing shots along the ropes. Martinez picked the initiative back up in the fifth, landing straight lefts as Butt circled to his right, but Butt still managed to sneak in clean right hands. Martinez went back to controlling the fight with combinations in the sixth, while Butt was mostly content to land one at a time.
It wasn’t until the eighth that Martinez had his first dominant round, putting his punches together in combination and knocking Butt’s head back whenever he landed cleanly. That offensive explosion necessitated a rest round for Martinez in the ninth, as Butt pressed forward but was unable to land anything clean against his opponent.
Butt continued to press against his exhausted opponent, but he walked into a series of punches – first an uppercut that stunned him, and then a right hook that had him out on his feet, leaving Butt one punch away from going down before the bell rang to end the fight.
Michael “Go” Harris, now 5-0 (1 KO), of Trenton, N.J. overcame a slow start to outhustle Washington D.C.’s La'Vay Lawrence, 4-3 (3 KOs), by majority decision in their four-round lightweight bout, with one judge having it even at 38-38 while the other two had it 39-37.
Harris, who typically controls the action behind his jab, had trouble early on adjusting to a southpaw boxer who looked to seize the boxer role, neutralizing Harris’ jab and landing sharp counters to the body. The pattern picked up in the second, as Lawrence used his right hook counters to knock Harris off balance.
With the fight slipping away, Harris went into desperation mode, dispensing with the jab and dialing in right hands down the middle, putting Lawrence on the defensive and opening a cut near his left eye. Harris looked to finish the fight early in the fourth, hurting Lawrence and knocking him to the ropes before settling in towards the final bell.
In a six-round light heavyweight fight, Arjan Iseni, now 6-0 (5 KOs), of Staten Island, New York, went the distance for the first time, dominating local fighter Christian Figueroa, 2-1 (2 KOs), to a unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54 on one card and 59-55 on the other two, all for the southpaw Iseni.
Muadh Abdus Salaam of Newark improved to 4-0 (1 KO) with a majority decision win over Benji Gomez, 1-9, by scores of 38-38, 39-37 and 40-36.
Kicking off the card, Norman “Pooh” Nealy battered Gabriel Garcia Perez to a second-round stoppage in their six-round heavyweight fight. The end came at 2:13, as Neely, 17-1 (12 KOs), of Paterson, New Jersey, rocked the 343lbs Garcia, 8-5 (7 KOs), of San Ysidro, California, with an overhand right and then followed up with a barrage that had Garcia ready to collapse at any minute.
