By Rick Scharmberg at Ringside
Photos: Darryl Cobb

fightnews.com

Roy Jones Jr. (65-9, 47 KOs) carried a star-struck Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn (21-7-1, 18 KOs) for the better part of seven rounds, before seriously rocking him with a right hand, left hook combination near the end of the 7th round of the scheduled 12 round cruiserweight match last night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The bell to begin round 8 rang, but Gunn’s corner wisely stopped the bout seven seconds into the round. The win gave Jones the WBF cruiserweight belt. In the co-feature, WBA #4, WBO #5, IBF #15 junior middleweight Kanat Islam (23-0, 19 KOs) overcame a gruesome cut over his right eye to dramatically stop Robson Assis (16-4, 9 KOs) with a clean one-punch KO at 2:12 of the opening round of a scheduled 10-rounder. The card was promoted by David Feldman Promotions, Kings Promotions, and Nelson Promotions, in conjunction with The Casino at Delaware Park.

A slow, feeling-out opening round saw Bobby Gunn slowly inch forward behind a high guard while Roy Jones measured him with a quick jab. There wasn’t much action, but the tension and anticipation was high. The stage was set. Gunn was trying to pressure Jones to the ropes or into a corner, where he could land his heavy shots, and Jones waited to counter, while popping his jab.

Jones opened round two again behind the jab, and midway through, Gunn was able to maneuver Jones into a corner, where he landed a right to the body and a left hook to the head. These shots woke Jones up, and he went to work with his left hook. Even at age 48, Roy’s hands remain very fast, and he would later prove that speed kills. Jones dug the first of several left hooks to Gunn’s body, before switching to the head. He closed the round with a hard left-right combination to Gunn’s head.

Bobby Gunn, 43, came into the bout carrying 3-years worth of ring rust, which really started to show in round 3. Jones began toying with Gunn, popping his jab and playing the crowd. It is obvious that Roy loves his fans and still has his love for the sport. That’s why he still fights, plain and simple. Other than a jab to the body early in the round, and a missed left hook, Gunn’s punch output was nil.

Round 4 was more of the same. Whenever Gunn would get Jones into a corner, which may have been by design by Jones, it was painfully obvious that Gunn could not pull the trigger. Roy would tie Gunn up and play to the crowd, before nailing him with a series of left hooks. A big left hook to the body hurt Gunn, and Jones knew it.

It was all Roy Jones once more in round 5. Mixing jabs and left hooks, Jones began adding more power to his shots. His jabs became power jabs that snapped Gunn’s head back, and he dug even more left hooks to Bobby’s body. Jones lowered his hands, before fired a left hook from the hip and catching Gunn in the final seconds.

Early in round 6, Gunn was able to trap Jones in the corner and land a nice overhand right that brought concern to the pro-Jones crowd, but Gunn was unable to follow up. Getting Jones on the ropes or into a corner and catching him like Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson did, seemed to be Gunn’s only chance of winning, but when he did, it was always one and done from Gunn. He just couldn’t move his hands. As for Jones, he landed a big right hand followed by a left uppercut midway through the round, and closed it out with a solid 3-punch combination to the head.

Gunn landed a left hook to open round 7, but could not land anything else. Roy’s speed and body shots had taken their toll. Near the end of the round, Jones landed a right hand followed by a left hook that nearly sent Gunn down. Jones elected not to follow up, and let the round end as a spent Bobby Gunn made his way to his corner.

There was commotion in Gunn’s corner as the bell tolled for the start on the 8th round. Before the fighters could engage, Gunn’s corner signaled surrender to referee Bill Clancy, and the bout was stopped 7 seconds into the round. The crowd was initially disappointed, but the corner did the right thing by stopping the fight.

Immediately after the fight, Roy stated, “Bobby Gunn is one tough competitor. He is a real bare knuckles champ. I could have turned it up and try to take him out earlier, but I wanted to give the crowd a show. If I keep feeling good like I feel now, I will make the best of the situation.”

Earlier in the day, former IBF cruiserweight champion Imamu Mayfield issued a challenge to the winner of this bout. When informed of this, Jones responded, “Where does he want to fight, and at what weight? I am Roy “Don’t Give a Damn” Jones! I’m 48 yeas old. If it’s worth my time, I’ll fight him, why not?”

Bobby Gunn stated, “To get in the ring with Roy Jones Jr. was a shining moment in my life. No more for me. I thank Jesus for my health. Roy, you’re a great and heck of a man. I enjoyed him beating me up! He is the greatest man I ever fought in my life. His power shook me to my spine. I think he took it easy on me. I have no excuses. I didn’t get knocked out, and I went out on my shield.”

Islam KO 1 Assis

While the main event was anti-climactic and somewhat disappointing after a 5 year buildup, to co-feature was a thriller while it lasted. The scheduled ten round junior middleweight bout between world-rated Kanat “The Kazak” Islam and Robson Assis contained everything a fight fan could want. There was blood, there were guts, and there was a brutal knockout, all in less than three minutes.

Islam, of Kazakhstan, came right out trying to land his lead right hand against his southpaw opponent. Assis, of Brazil, did not retreat. After Islam came inside with two body shots, he emerged with a deep, diagonal gash over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads. Referee Vic de Wysocki had the wound inspected by the ringside physician, who allowed the action to continue.

Seconds later, the right side of Islam’s face was a crimson mask. It was a classic “fight or flight” moment, and Islam proved that he is for real by stepping up his attack. Out of desperation, Islam threw caution to the wind and fired lead rights followed by hard lefts in combination. Assis tried his best to fend him off with lead left hands. After Assis landed a hard right-left combination to his head, Islam stepped up his attack even further.

Islam rocked Assis back into the ropes twice with big lead right hands. The action moved to the center of the ring, where Islam exploded a crushing lead right hand on the chin of Assis. The blow sent the Brazilian down for referee deWysocki’s full count.

After thanking his coach and his country, Islam stated, “Give me Canelo! Give me Cotto! Give me a big fight. I die in this ring. I am number 4 WBA. I am number 5 WBO. I am a two-time Olympian and my time is coming.”

De Alba UD 6 Emeraz

Frank De Alba (21-2-2, 9 KOs) took a unanimous decision over 98-fight veteran German Emeraz (55-42-1) in a 6 round junior lightweight contest. De Alba controlled the action with a southpaw jab, and by mixing his attack to the body and head of his awkward, more experienced opponent.

After throwing virtually nothing in round 2, Emeraz was warned for leading with his head by referee Bill Clancy at the end of the 3rd round. Rounds 4 and 5 were big ones for De Alba, as he landed lead left hands to the head, coupled with rights to the body.

Emeraz finally came alive in round 6, landing an overhand right. After cracking heads while trading punches, Emeraz was able to land several lead rights from awkward angles. It appeared that Emeraz had finally taken a round, but the judges didn’t think so. The final scores were all 60-54 in favor of De Alba.

Tiberi TKO 4 Timmons

Fan favorite Joltin’ Joey Tiberi (14-2, 7 KOs) sent his fans home happy with a 4th round stoppage win over Bryan Timmons (5-9, 5 KOs) in a 4 round lightweight bout. Trained by his father Joe and cheered on by his Uncle Dave, both former pro fighters, Joey wasted little time shaking off 2-years on inactivity.

The opening round saw both fighters having their moments, with Tiberi landing a 5-punch combination and a double left hook, while Timmons scored with a counter right, and then with a solid right and right uppercut later in the round.

Tiberi and Timmons opened round 2 by exchanging in a corner. Joey established his jab, and landed a big left hook midway through the round. Timmons landed a hard right at the bell, but Tiberi took the round.

Round 3 saw Tiberi dig to Timmons’ body with right hands, while landing two nice left hooks to the head as Timmons appeared to be tiring. Tiberi went right to work to the body again in round 4. A big right hand downstairs clearly hurt Timmons, who tried to hold. Tiberi was having none of it, and landed a hard left hook and then a right-left-right combination that left Timmons nearly defenseless. Ref de Wysocki stepped in and made a timely stoppage at 2:04 of the 4th and final round.

Nazarov MD 6 Aguero

In the opening bout of the evening, Dagoberto Aguero (11-0, 8 KOs) took a majority decision over Olimjon Nazarov (14-5, 8 KOs) in a 6 round super bantamweight bout. Nazarov, short and muscular bored his way in, while the smooth-boxing Aguero jabbed, often with his hands at his sides, and moved.

In round two, Aguero, who was warned for hitting on the break, began measuring Nazarov with his left, then throwing his right. Nazarov was able to slip many of these shots, and appeared to win round 3 with some good body work. The final 3 rounds had some good two-way action, with Aguero having the edge overall. Two of the three judges agreed, awarding Aguero the majority decision by the scores of 59-55, 58-56, and 57-57.

Singletary KO 1 Biddle

With this bout scheduled to go on before the 9PM televised portion of the show, Dan “Bada Bing” Biddle (9-6, 5 KOs) was all warmed up and ready to go. But delays and confusion with the scheduling of the non-televised bouts, Biddle ended up in the ring after midnight, and appeared dry as a bone and cold as ice. Lamont “The Problem Solver” Singletary (8-1, 5 KOs) entered primed and ready to go in this all-Delaware, scheduled 4 round cruiserweight bout.

Biddle, whose bouts are highly entertaining, but resemble a typical bar-room brawl, came out bombing with every punch. Singletary, on the other hand, is more schooled in his technique. Singletary countered a Biddle bomb with a big right of his own, and Biddle was hurt. Singletary followed up with an overhand right that dropped Biddle for the count and ended matters. With the win, Singletary picked up the Delaware State cruiserweight title.

Kerwat UD 4 Hart

In an entertaining women’s bout, Roy Jones’ protégé Ikram Kerwat (7-1, 5 KOs), of Frankfurt, Germany won a unanimous decision over Britain “Blonde Bomber” Hart (2-1, 2 KOs) in a 4-round lightweight bout.

Toned and fit, and with Roy Jones Jr. in her corner, Kerwat had the harder punch and the better technique than Hart. Kerwat even had the jab from the hip style perfected by her mentor Jones. Kerwat took every round over her game opponent, winning by the score of 40-36 on all three cards.

Stewart MD 4 Williamson

In the walkout bout, Henry Stewart (3-0, 1 KO), of Canada took a majority decision over late-sub Martez Williamson (2-16) in a 4 round light heavyweight contest. Stewart used a jab and a chopping right hand to take the first 3 rounds, before the long armed and awkward Williamson got on track and landed nice body shots in the final round. By then, it was too late, and Stewart took the win by majority decision. The scores were 39-37, 39-37, and 37-37.