Breidis Prescott v Bayan Jargal, Fight Report

Photo credit to Roger Prata of Ringnews24.com

Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, fringe top ten junior welterweight contender Breidis Prescott and highly touted middleweight prospect Demetrius Andrade made their successful, albeit anticlimactic returns to the ring on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Both fighters looked impressive individually, although much to the dismay of the crowd in attendance, their opponents offered little challenge in return. Both Prescott and Andrade , returning to the ring and the Northeast for the first time in eight months respectively, cruised to victory, paving the way for intriguing matchups in the square circle in the near future.

In the main event, Columbia’s Prescott (24-2-0, 19 KOs) faced off against tough Mongolian brawler Bayan Jargal (15-2-3, 10 KOs). Prescott, known as “The Khanqueror” due to his high profile victory over British sensation Amir Khan, and ranked #11 by the WBA, had yet to follow up the Khan knockout in 2009 with an impressive win over a big name opponent. On Friday, Prescott hoped to captivate boxing fans with a skillful showing, and begin the rise to the top to once again fight with the WBA Titleist Khan.

Mixing moments of little action followed by hard hook combinations set up by the jab of Prescott, the opening frame represented the pattern which would ensue for nearly every round in the fight. At times throughout his career, Prescott would carelessly rush in and get countered by his opponent, but from the first round onward, it was clear Prescott had learned to fight with more self-control. The Colombian picked his shots wisely, and his improved footwork limited opportunities for Jargal to connect with power punches.

After dominating the first round, Prescott went to work again in the second round with a lead jab to keep Jargal at bay. Although Jargal appeared to gain some confidence after the first round, he stayed in front of Prescott the entire fight and was there to be hit. Midway through the round, Prescott landed a pair of left hooks on the tail end of a right straight to the jaw of Jargal, backing the Mongolian to the ropes. With his opponent on the ropes, Prescott utilized restraint, continuing to pick his punches carefully while minimizing Jargal’s chances of catching Prescott with any blows.

The third round opened up with a beautiful left hook and left uppercut combination by Prescott. Jargal continued to stand flat footed in the crosshairs of Prescott, resulting in various combinations landing to both the head and the body. A right left to body momentarily stunned Jargal, and backed him up a step to the corner, where Prescott would connect with a right cross landing straight to the face.  At the conclusion of the round, Jargal stepped forward with a pair of hooks, both of which missed their mark.

Round four began with a Prescott flurry of hooks and jabs, many of which found their intended target in the initial thirty seconds. Although not all of Prescott’s blows struck with convincing authority, they still added up to a decent connect ratio and continued to score with ease. Sensing he was being shut out on the scorecards, Jargal unloaded with a foursome of power shots with Prescott in a neutral corner, but all four strikes failed to land and Prescott rode out the remained of another dominating, yet uneventful round.

In round five, Prescott’s strategy of hitting without getting hit easily won him another round. Despite Jargal’s continuance to march forward and initiate the action, Prescott landed a nice combination of hooks to begin the round. A devastating six punch combo landed flush thirty seconds into the round, and a pair of left hooks smacked Jargal back to the ropes. Each punch landed throughout the fight had a cumulative effect on Jargal, whose right eye began to show signs of swelling closed. In the waning seconds of the round, a hard right and pair of left hooks hurt Jargal, who appeared in dire danger of losing by TKO.  Referee Steve Smoger looked to halt the action as power punches mercilessly rained down upon the Mongolian, but the overmatched opponent continued to defend himself intelligently, earning himself another chance to fight in round six. Halfway through the bout, Prescott was ahead 50-45 on all three judges’ scorecards.

With his right eye nearly swollen shut, Jargal continued to soldier on in the sixth. For the first time in the fight, Jargal landed a solid combination to Prescott. However, the success would not last long, as the Colombian would counter with a pair of hooks to remove himself from the ropes and into the center of the ring. Jargal popped Prescott with a left hook and a jab, and on the ensuing attack landed a hard left hook and right cross to the body. Looking better this round than any other in the fight, Jargal exchanged right hands with his opponent at the bell to signal the end of the first competitive round of the bout.

In the beginning of the seventh round, the fighters swapped thunderous hooks to the gasp of the crowd, but neither fighter pressed the pace until Prescott countered Jargal with a right to the body seventy five seconds into the round. Once again, Prescott found success landing the jab and used it to set up his power shots. With Prescott on the ropes, Jargal landed a left hand to the chin that would be countered masterfully by Prescott with a right straight and a brilliant two punch combination to finish the round. With vision totally obstructed in his right eye, Jargal needed a knockout to win, but the Mongolian came up empty in the search for answers to stifle Prescott.

In round eight, Jargal pushed the pace and managed to back Prescott into a corner. The fighters traded hooks, and Jargal staggered back slightly following vicious blows from Prescott. The looping right hands of Prescott landed frequently between the earmuffs of Jargal, but the final two minutes of the round were filled with inactivity and an intermittent hook landed by Prescott.

Down by a hefty margin on the scorecards, Jargal rushed forward and pressed the action, but none of his punches were effective. Prescott continued to jab away, preventing Jargal from getting inside close range, where he is most effective. After being warned by Steve Smoger to keep his punches above the belt line, Prescott fired right back to the body with a right uppercut to the midsection, causing Jargal to initiate a pair of clinches. Despite having his opponent hurt, Prescott was in no hurry to deliver the finishing touch, patiently protruding the defense of Jargal repeatedly at the end of the round.

The final round began with each fighter exchanging power shots in the center of the ring. With thirty seconds elapsed in the round, Jargal forced Prescott into the corner and swung wildly. The looping haymakers were eluded with ease by Prescott, and his countering attempts were off the mark as well. At the conclusion of the fight, the crowd of approximately two thousand jeered the lack of spirited action, aggression, and competitiveness of the main event.

All three judges, Glen Feldman, Steve Weisfeld, and Don Trella ruled the contest in Prescott’s favor (99-91, 99-90, 100-90).

In the co main event, 2008 Olympian Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (13-0-0, 9 KOs) from Providence, Rhode Island, easily dispatched the Omar Bell (8-2-0, 5 KOs), brother of former WBC, WBA, and IBF Cruiserweight champion O’Neil Bell. The middleweight bout, scheduled for eight rounds, affirmed the notion by many in boxing circles that Andrade is in need of tougher opponents, and should perhaps be moved along at a quicker pace.

Montego Bay, Jamaica’s Bell was not afraid to throw first, but his sluggish hand speed set the table for Andrade to land jabs without a challenge. In the first round, the jab was the only effective weapon for Andrade, as he suffered to connect power shots. However, the slick Olympian managed to bob and weave out of harm’s way, as Bell landed nearly nothing in the opening frame.

In the beginning of the second round, each fighter traded shots on the inside, before opening up against the ropes and trading hooks. Following a clinch, a sweeping left and a short right hook sent Bell to the canvas. Bell rose to his feet, but not before referee Dick Flaherty finished the ten count at 1:31 of round number two.

On the undercard, the punching publicist from Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, Kevin Rooney Jr. (pro debut), generated the most buzz and the most action of the evening. Rooney Jr., son of legendary trainer Kevin Rooney Sr., is no stranger to boxing in the ring. The graduate of Fordham University Law School, who has worked with Star Boxing since 2008, fought in the Golden Gloves and made it to the 165 lb. quarterfinals. In front of a passionate legion of fans, Rooney Jr. made his debut against David Navarro (0-3-0).

Under thirty seconds into the first round, Rooney sent Navarro to the canvas in the corner with a left hook. Rooney proceed to go for the finish, unleashing powerful strikes before slowing the pace down in the final minute, and cruising to an easy 10-8 round.

In the second round, Navarro threw power shots of his own, but the sloppy shots were countered with perfectly placed hooks and thudding jabs from Rooney. After sending his opponent reeling to the ropes, Rooney cranked multiple combinations, culminating with a left hook which sent Navarro down in the corner once more. In the final thirty seconds of the round, each fighter traded power shots much to the delight of the crowd.

The third and fourth rounds belonged to Rooney as well, despite a decline in connect percentage.  Rooney headhunted for the remainder of the fight, but Navarro was unable to telegraph and counter the punches effectively. At the conclusion of the fight, Rooney received a raucous standing ovation, and was awarded the unanimous decision victory (40-34, 40-34, 40-34).

In a six round cruiserweight attraction, undefeated California based prospect Joe Hanks (16-0-0, 11 KOs) battled thirty nine year old journeyman Terrell Nelson (8-12-0, 5 KOs), who entered the ring winless in his last nine bouts, a dubious streak dating back to August of 2007.

Hanks, the newest addition to Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, impressed observers with a calm and calculated approach. After an uneventful first round, Hanks dropped his opponent with a right straight to the jaw. In an exciting exchange, each fighter swapped hayemakers until the bell, bringing the crowd the sought after slugfest they desired.

In rounds three and four, Hanks landed a myriad of hook combinations, and frequently used his massive size and reach advantage to keep Nelson on the defensive. After backing Nelson to the ropes on numerous occasions, Nelson was unable to continue and the bout was stopped at 3:00 of round four.

In the final bout of the card, which was fought out of order due to the card being shown live on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.com, Kevin “Kray Z Unkl” Cobbs (1-0-0, 1 KO) of Burlington, Vermont, ended the night with an authoritative display of excellency against Derby, Connecticut’s Nicholas Lavin (1-1-0, 1 KO).

In the first and only round of a bout scheduled for four rounds, both fighters unloaded heavy handed shots. Cobbs landed a thunderous right hook which staggered Lavin and sent him spiraling into the ropes, and eventually to the canvas. Referee Steve Smoger gave Lavin the mandatory standing eight count, but Cobbs followed up the knockdown with a lethal combination, concluded with a debilitating left uppercut which knocked Lavin out cold at 1:30 of the first round.

On a night marked with high expectations, headliners Breidis Prescott and Demetrius Andrade emerged victorious, despite leaving the fans with an unquenched thirst for competitiveness.  Instead of delivering breakout performances on the televised portion of the program, it was the undercard fighters that shined with superb performances. Led by Star Boxing publicist Kevin Rooney Jr.’s exciting unanimous decision, a sensational knockout by Kevin Cobbs in his pro debut, and a fourth round TKO by undefeated Joe Hanks, the crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena was ultimately presented with an enjoyable experience, but an experience that derived its entertainment from an unexpected place.