Ronson Frank’s Uprising Promotions, in association with The New Mexican Promotions, brought another exciting night of boxing to Club Amazura on Friday, with former super featherweight titleholder Ronica Jeffrey (16-1, 1 KO) thrilling a packed house with a unanimous decision victory over Gabriella Mezei (8-15-3, 2 KOs) in the main event.
“We had a really nice show tonight, and the turnout was great as usual,” said Ronson Frank, President of Uprising Promotions. “Overall, it was a tremendous night of boxing here in New York, and that is a credit to all of the fighters on the card. A great list of celebrity boxers also came out and supported such as Peter Quillin, a close and personal friend of mine. Every one of us at Uprising Promotions is so grateful to the boxing community for their support and helping us get to where we want to be as a promotional company.”
After a two-plus year layoff, Ronica Jeffrey showed no ring rust in a superb performance against a game Gabriella Mezei. The Brooklyn native was moving very well throughout the six-round contest, slipping punches and countering with heavy numbers on her combinations. By the time the third frame arrived, Jeffrey was really in her comfort zone, and the full house at Club Amazura was loud in its appreciation. Both fighters upped their offensive aggression over the final two rounds, but Jeffrey was getting the better of the exchanges.
Mezei definitely made her earn the win, but Jeffrey remained in control throughout the bout en route to a unanimous decision by counts of 60-54 (twice) and 59-55.
In the co-feature, bantamweight Ariel Lopez (10-0, 6 KOs) picked up his 10th professional victory after running it back with a second fight against Rudolph Hedge (8-9-3, 4 KOs). The six-frame affair was a good back-and-forth contest, with both guys giving and taking. The hands of Lopez were a bit faster and crisper, which gave him the edge on the frequent exchanges that were occurring in the center of the ring.
Neither man backed down from confrontation throughout this six-round fight, but it was Lopez who emerged victorious after all was said and done. When the ringside judges were asked how they saw the action, Lopez took the unanimous decision by tallies of 59-55 on all three cards.
Junior welterweight Lawrence Gleeson (8-1, 3 KOs) completely overwhelmed Mark Szoros (5-4, 3 KOs) in their scheduled six-frame bout, dropping him four times until referee Mike Rosario was forced to call a halt to the action. The first knockdown came just before the bell in the first round, as Gleeson hammered Szoros with a body shot. Gleeson put him on the floor with another body punch midway through the second round, and he sent him back to the canvas at the end of the frame after peppering him with both hands and finishing a flurry with a right hook.
The final knockdown came in the third round at the 1:48 mark when Gleeson unloaded another flurry on Szoros and put him back on the deck, which is when Rosario had seen enough.
In a featherweight encounter, Jose Gonzalez (10-0-2, 3 KOs) remained unbeaten by stopping Jeno Tonte (8-3, 7 KOs) in a scheduled six-frame encounter. Gonzalez did a nice job of switching levels with both hands, peppering Tonte with shots from all angles. Tonte was able to withstand the onslaught until the third round when Gonzalez bullied him into the corner and started unloading a heavy dose of punches.
At the 1:53 mark of that third frame, referee Sparkle Lee decided that Tonte was in no shape to continue, calling a halt to the contest and awarding a TKO victory to Gonzalez.
In a tremendous back-and-forth battle, featherweights Harrison Barba (1-1, 1 KO) and Deron Smith (0-2) may have fought for less than five minutes, but they gave the fans in attendance a blood-filled conflict that saw multiple doctor reviews and an eventual second round stoppage.
Right after the opening bell, Smith caught Barba with a right hand that temporarily put him on the deck, but Barba immediately got back on his feet. However, blood started pouring from his nose, which made things difficult for him the rest of the way. Despite the obvious breathing issues that the bleeding had to cause him, Barba proudly wore his crimson mask and continued to come forward and willingly exchange with Smith. Both fighters were more than happy to engage all the way until the first round bell had rung, and doctors took a long look at Barba before allowing him to continue into the second frame.
Barba showed incredible perseverance by fighting all the way back and into control of that second round, eventually pushing Smith to the ropes and pounding him with a huge flurry. As Smith then tried to take a step back from the confrontation, Barba caught him with a short right hand that flattened him and sent Club Amazura into an absolute uproar.
Smith courageously climbed back onto his feet, but referee Steve Willis felt he was in no condition to continue. The official time of the stoppage came at the 1:45 mark of the second frame.
In the opening bout of the night, welterweight Paul Anthony (2-0, 1 KO) won for the second consecutive time on an Uprising Promotions card, needing one round to dispose of Demetrius Williams (1-4, 0 KOs). Anthony overwhelmed Williams in that first frame, dropping him midway through the stanza with a well-placed right hand. He eventually worked Williams into the corner before the end of the round, peppering him with heavy numbers before Williams was saved by the bell.
At the conclusion of that first frame, the corner advised that Williams would be best suited to not answer the second round bell, and Anthony was awarded a TKO victory.
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