Rowin Javier Sanchez KO3 Jacob Marrero... Boxing is the theater of the unexpected. That saying was never more evident than in two of the final four bouts of CES Boxing’s Riverside Rumble in Hartford, Connecticut last weekend, which saw two heavy favorites lose to underdog opponents. Fighting in his first main event, previously undefeated lightweight Jacob “Lefty” Marrero suffered a scary stoppage in the third round against Rowin Javier Sanchez, who entered the bout with a modest record of 6-2-3 with 4 KOs. After two rounds of back-and-forth action between speedy southpaws - and Marrero’s supporters drowning out Sanchez’ few fans that made the trip from Prichard, Alabama – Rowin landed a perfect right hook that sent the Bridgeport-based Marrero crashing to the canvas on his right side. Referee Johnny Callas probably didn’t need to give Marrero a count, but he did anyway. Marrero remained motionless.
“Typically, I would have immediately waved it off,” said Callas. “However, I could not see his face at all as he had it completely covered by his gloves and he was in a fetal position. When I got down to one knee, I still had to position my head to look underneath him to see his face. Once I saw his condition, he was still out and at that moment I immediately waved it.” Fans in the crowd grew more nervous as he stayed in the same spot minutes after the fight ended, and as medical personnel had entered the ring, applied oxygen and set him up to be carried out on a backboard.
He was hospitalized overnight and BoxingTalk.com subsequently received word he was released later in the day. Marrero is apparently OK but “disappointed” with how things transpired, according to a CES staffer.
UNDERCARD
Prior to the main event, junior welterweight Mykquan Williams, of East Hartford, scored a first-round stoppage of Guillermo Leonel Crocco, of Buenos Aires. An overhand right sent Crocco to the canvas, forcing a stoppage at the 1:50 mark. Williams moves to 24-1-2 (13) while his opponent drops to 20-7-1 (6).
Quick-fisted junior lightweight on the rise Iman Lee, of Yonkers, NY, won a unanimous eight-round decision over Jose Nunez Sosa, Bronx, NY. Lee may have had the advantage of speed and height but the shorter Sosa was a scrappy fellow who made things very entertaining, especially with his punches in bunches style in the first half of the bout. In the fourth round, he knocked Lee off-balance when he countered an offensive burst with a stiff right hand. However, he did begin to slow down a step around this time, which allowed Lee to showcase his superior skills a bit more. By the sixth round, Lee was putting more power into his shots and remained in control as he put on a boxing clinic in the final two rounds. He won by scores of 78-74 (twice) and 77-75.
His record improved to 15-0-1 (8) while Sosa falls to 8-3 (6).
In the first upset of the night, light heavyweight Slawomir “Heavy Hitter” Bohdziewicz, suffered the first setback of his professional career, getting dropped twice in a six-round bout with Jose Carlos Rivera. Bohdziewicz is a no-nonsense, all-business type fighter nobody thought would lose to the shorter Rivera, and who had been away from the sport for four-and-a-half years. Rivera looked a bit nervous during ring instructions but once that bell rang, he became a different person. The confidence came back. He dropped Bohdziewicz with a counter left hand in the opening frame after some steady pressure from the CES fighter. He then grew more aggressive. Round two began with the crowd cheering for Bohdziewicz, to spur him on. However, if this was supposed to be Bohdziewicz’ night, Rivera didn’t get the memo. After an attempt by “Heavy Hitter” to bang away at Rivera in a neutral corner, Rivera flipped the script and got “Slaw” in a neutral corner. Bohdziewicz escaped the corner, but Rivera followed in hot pursuit, connecting with a lead straight left and right hook that sent him to the canvas for the second time in the bout. This was a more impactful knockdown, so it was fortunate for Bohdziewicz there were only about two seconds left in the frame once he got to his feet. The last four rounds saw no knockdowns by anyone but it was a back and forth affair, with Bohdziewicz applying greater pressure and Rivera finding holes in his offense, or in spots between his offense bursts, to potshot and score with solid punches. Feeling himself, Rivera entertained the crowd with some showboating. At times held his arms aloft, as if to say “C’mon, I’m right here.” Another time, there were a couple of dance moves that preceded an attack. He could have been a little busier at times but with the knockdowns, he had done enough. He won by scores of 59-53 and 57-55 on two scorecards, while Glenn Feldman saw it was a draw with his scorecard of 56-56. Rivera, who hadn’t fought since August 2021, improves to 10-5-1 (15), while Bohdziewicz’ record is now 7-1 (6).
Stamford’s Douglas Marroquin had a live underdog in front of him in Victor Vazquez, of Yonkers, NY, in their scheduled six-rounder. However, the unbeaten middleweight did his thing once again, forcing a stoppage after the end of the third round to raise his record to 10-0 (6). “He (Vazquez) asked to stop it,” said referee Steve Willis. “He might have damaged his eye.” The USA Boxing News subsequently heard a ringside doctor talking about possible double vision. Marroquin began the bout with a solid work rate but intensified the leather as the fight wore on. By the second round, he was assaulting Vazquez, 11-6 (5), along the ropes in impressive fashion. Vazquez spit out his mouthpiece, perhaps hoping for a reprieve. However, Willis didn’t put it back in until there was a lull in the action. One round later, Marroquin continued to impress with a fierce attack along the ropes, switching his attack from the head to the body seamlessly. Vazquez was done.
“Send the contract. We sign it. We fight. Anybody can get it,” said Marroquin.
In junior welterweight action, Carlos “Carlito’s Way” Perez, of Meriden, stopped Deonta Williamson of St. Louis in the opening round of their scheduled six-rounder. Using his right jab to keep Williamson at bay, Perez followed up with a right hook to the body that hurt his opponent. Willaimson dropped to one knee but he was in no condition to continue. Callas waved the fight off. The official time was 1:51. “I wasn’t looking for the knockout. I never do,” said Perez. “But I went in there extremely confident because we had a great training camp with a great game plan. The quick ending was the result of that. I saw he kept leaning towards my left, leaving his body wide open, so I timed it very well and threw that well-placed body shot. Once I landed that shot, I knew it was going to be hard for him to get back up.” Perez added he wanted to thank his management team, PGsports, as well as his head coach “Mike Controy, Sean Malone, Dennis Rivera, my brother Kevin Perez and my strength and conditioning coach, Jonathan Hernandez.” With the victory, he is now 6-0 (1), while Williamson drops to 3-8 (3).
Super bantamweight Joseph “J-Elite” Chisolm, 7-1 (6), of Stratford, notched the first distance victory of his career, outpointing Anel Dudo, of Aurora, CO, over six rounds. All of his previous victories were first-round knockouts. Chisolm won by scores of 59-55 and 58-56 (twice). Chisolm had been out of the ring for five months. “I was dealing with my own personal life problems, but I’m back,” said Chisolm. His promoter, Jimmy Burchfield, was asked what he thought of the performance. “I learned he can box. That’s what he did tonight,” said Burchfield. “It’s a good experience. It’s actually better than a first-round knockout. He gained wisdom, experience and knowledge.” Dudo saw his ledger dip to 4-8-1 (1).
Lightweight Conor “The Bullet” O’Donovan, making the trip from Clonmel, Ireland, made time to see more of America by stopping Michael Douglas, 0-2, of Woburn, MA, 31 seconds into the first round with a counter right-hand. “I love it here,” said O’Donovan. “I don’t want to be anywhere else. Thank you CES. We’re going straight to the top.”
In other pro action, junior welterweight Kevante Wineglass dropped and stopped Anthony Jones in the opening round of their scheduled four-rounder. The official time was 1:13. Wineglass is now 4-0 (3) while Jones moves to 0-2.
In a catchweight bout of 152 pounds, Victor Guerra Vargas, of Norwalk, by way of Venezuela, dropped Jean Estiverne, of Stamford, in the second-round before forcing a stoppage with a vicious assault in the fourth frame. Vargas is now 2-0 with two knockouts.
Riverside Rumble also featured a slew of amateur bouts before the pro side of things. The amateur portion of the card – titled Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Invitational -comprised a total of six amateur bouts. Referee Johnny Callas, who runs the Charter Oak Boxing Academy (COBA), saw his fighter, Kevin Czarniak, notch a TKO victory over Cameron Thomas in the 143-pound novice class. It was interesting to see Callas outside the ring, as an interested observer, rather than inside the ring between pro pugilists. “He’s been with COBA for a couple of years, but in the last seven months he expressed an interest to compete and buckled down on his fundamentals,” said Callas. “I’m thrilled for him, with his second TKO [in his second fight]…He is a great kid and also a great club house presence at COBA.” Callas drove Czarniak to the venue in the gym van, along with numerous fighters to root him on.
In a beautiful moment after every amateur fight, boxers placed medals over one another’s heads. Capping off the amateur portion of the show was Daniel Hernandez, and he didn’t fail to disappoint. In his 165-pound open bout against Kameron Flynn, he threw a right to the body, which opened up Flynn for a left hook upstairs. It sent Flynn crashing to the canvas. Referee Lee Deer began a count as soon as Hernandez went to a neutral corner. Flynn attempted to rise, but fell again, forcing Deer to end matters. The sensational victory earned him Fighter of the Night honors.
“The feeling was surreal, but yet very amazing,” said Hernandez. “As a fighter I don’t go in the ring looking for the knockout but grateful to God that I was able to put my talent on display in front of my hometown (Hernandez is from nearby New Britain).”
Hernandez is definitely one to keep an eye on. He’s currently ranked #4 in the nation by USA Boxing. “Overall, I’m in awe of his commitment and discipline to the sport,” said his father, John Hernandez. “We had a plan, he stuck to the plan and it was executed flawlessly.”
“Speaking to my team, said Daniel, “The next step is to definitely turn pro. Of course the Olympics aren’t off the table. If the opportunity presents itself I will definitely go over it with my team. But as of right now, we plan on entering the pro ranks when the time is right.”
