Rock Solid Promotions debuted their first ever boxing card in Houston, TX, Thursday night in what could only be deemed a resounding success. A packed ballroom was thrilled all evening long as they witnessed quick decisive knockouts on the undercard and a split decision slugfest in the main event.
Light Heavyweights Chris “Hard Hittin” Henry and Rayco “War” Saunders put on an action packed brawl which saw Henry narrowly keep his WBC USNBC title belt by Split Decision. Henry clearly out landed Saunders, but Rayco at times landed harder cleaner punches earning him many of the middle rounds. A headbutt in round 3, deemed accidental by referee Laurence Cole, opened a cut just to the outside of Saunders’ left eye. The cut bled the rest of the way, but didn’t factor into the fight’s outcome. Henry was docked one point in the 8th round for low blows after receiving his 3rd warning from Cole. The point deduction made a difference on only one judge’s scorecard who’d given each fighter 5 rounds resulting in a 95-94 advantage for the visiting Saunders. Both other judges scored it 96-93 for the hometown fighter resulting in a Split Decision victory for Henry, who retains his regional title and continues his climb up the WBC rankings. Boxingtalk.com scored the fight the same as the lone dissenting judge, and most of press row agreed. Henry moves to 16-0, with only his second decision victory, and Saunders slumps to 15-8-2.
The chief supporting fight featured local favorite son Middleweight Chase “White Tiger” Shields in his toughest match up to date. Facing veteran fighter Jerry “Hot Rod” Perez, Chase methodically broke down his opponent, landing virtually all his punches. Perez was down in the 1st from what appeared to be a straight left jab, and again in the 2nd round from a similar punch. Perez, bloodied from several cuts, mounted a comeback in the 3rd round, cornering and knocking out Shields’ mouthpiece. That would prove to be all Hot Rod had to offer as the Tiger connected with a right hand 1:01 into the 4th round. With blood streaming down his face from a fresh cut, Perez wisely decided to not get up before the ten count. Shields ups his record to 21-0-1, while Perez drops to 9-16-4.
In a very special attraction, former UFC Heavyweight champion, Ricco Rodriguez, put on the 12 oz gloves to make his professional boxing debut. It was a quick night for him as he knocked out Brandon Baker, also in his debut, at 1:35 into the 1st round.
In the Lightweight division, Angel Rodriguez landed a series of continuous unanswered rights on his opponent, Martin Delgado, violently snapping his head backwards until 2:43 of the 1st rounds when referee Bobby Gonzales stepped between them to halt the bout. Rodriguez improves to 2-0, while Delgado is now 0-2.
Whenever Roberto Flores fights, the local fans are treated to something special, and this would be no exception. Known as “Big Bobby” or “El Jefe,” Flores is easily one of the top 4-5 Houston fighters in terms of popularity. The reason being Flores has touched so many people’s lives as he runs a boxing club, trains amateurs, has established many local gyms, trains and manages MMA fighters, and is a bouncer at a popular nightclub. After a hiatus from the ring while dealing with his many endeavors, El Jefe got back into the ring to face Brandon Quigley. The fighters circled and touched gloves to start the bout. Flores then caught Quigley with a perfect right hand landing flush behind the jawbone. The visitor from Iowa was sound asleep before hitting the canvas, his eyes rolled back into his head. All he needed was his favorite blankie and teddy bear, as he lay motionless for a few minutes, unaware of the screaming throng of Flores supporters going wild. The official time of the KO was 0:11 of the 1st round.
In the opening bout, Cruiserweight Willie Edwards made a successful debut, dropping Mark Long in both the 1st and 2nd rounds with a methodical attack. Edwards’ killer instinct took over after the 2nd knockdown as he aggressively went after his opponent until the referee halted the contest at 1:22 of the 2nd round. Long drops to 1-4.
Rock Solid is headed by Cameron Park with partners including Lou Savarese.
In attendance was a who’s who of the Houston boxing world, including Evander Holyfield, Juan Diaz, Rocky Juarez, Lou Savarese, Frank Tate, Raul Marquez, Travis Walker, Ahmed Abdin, Ronnie Shields, & Dwight Pratchett.