On Friday October 7th, Jimmy Burchfield’s CES Boxing brought boxing back to Rhode Island for a ten fight card at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln. In the main event, local favorite Vladine Biosse returned to the ring for the first time following a knockout loss in May. Matched against super middleweight John Mackey, Biosse struggled to push the pace and fought the journeyman to a majority draw.
Vladine Biosse (11-1-1, 6 KOs), former University of Rhode Island football player and CES Boxing cash cow stepped into the ring coming off a fourth round technical knockout defeat at the hands of Denis Grachev in May. Following a victory in April on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, “Mr. Providence” has amassed a passionate local following, including the Edgewood Eagles youth football team that Biosse coaches. However, the twenty nine year old now stands at the crossroads of his career.
In the opposite corner stood John Mackey (13-6-3, 6 KOs)of Montgomery, Alabama. In March, Mackey lost a unanimous decision to Tarvis Simms on the undercard of Zab Judah vs. Kaizer Mabuza at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. The thirty seven year old was hindered by a four inch height advantage for Biosse, who stands at six feet tall.
The opening round was fought at a slow, cautious manner. Halfway through the round, no power punches were landed. The combatants exchanged jabs on a couple of occasions, but the bell rang to end round one of eight with little action.
Biosse and Mackey picked up the pace in the second round, but only slightly. Biosse opened the round by landing a pair of left straights. One minute in, Mackey countered a Biosse hook, followed by a pair of lefts. Nearly halfway through the round, Biosse smacked his opponent with a left straight and on the ensuing clinch, Biosse flipped Mackey over his shoulder and onto the canvas in what could be considered one of the most exciting moments of the fight.
Round three offered increased punch production. In the first twenty seconds, Mackey popped Biosse with a right and put him against the ropes, where the fighters would swap hooks and straights. Once the action moved to the center of the ring, Mackey landed a hard right to the jaw which was countered by a left uppercut. Two minutes in, Mackey landed another thudding right hook in what was a good round for the Alabama native.
Mackey landed a crisp right uppercut thirty seconds into the fourth round, but Biosse countered with a straight to the nose. “Mr. Providence” patiently waited for a chance to counter Mackey’s punches in the first half of the round. A right hand slightly staggered Mackey and knocked his mouthpiece onto the canvas. After the fight resumed, Biosse landed a hard left hook counter shot which swiveled Mackey’s head around on its axis.
In round five, both fighters realized the necessity to increase their power punches. Each man traded blows in a neutral corner, with a pair of lefts from Biosse being the punches with the biggest impact. Once the fight returned to the center of the ring, Biosse began to utilize his jab once more, eventually using the jabs to set up power punches. Mackey was backed into the corner by a hook towards the conclusion of the round.
The sixth round began with a pair of piercing left hooks by Biosse which snapped Mackey’s head back. Midway through the round, each fighter participated in a brief but wild exchange along the ropes. Biosse’s mouthpiece jumped out once more, forcing referee Joey Lupino to pause the bout and replace the accessory. In the final ten seconds, Biosse and Mackey slugged in the center of the ring until the bell signaled the end of the round.
The penultimate round epitomized the entire fight, mixing moments of mild excitement with moments of complacency and caution. One minute in, Biosse landed a left hook to the body. Thirty seconds later, Biosse and Mackey traded a right and a left in the center of the ring. Biosse followed that exchange with a solid right, but each fighter had a low connect ratio throughout the entire round. With thirty seconds remaining, Joey Lupino stalled the bout for a short discussion with each fighter after Mackey was nearly flipped onto his back in front of the ringside photographers once again. In the final fifteen seconds, an entertaining power punch swap finally energized the crowd.
Entering the eighth and final round, the fights was close and up for grabs in the eyes of neutral observers. Biosse began with a pair of hard rights and a left hook, followed by another array of power shots in the first minute. Biosse continued to land to the head and body halfway through, but Mackey began to counter and landed a four punch combination which mixed shots to the head and ribs. Mackey was dropped to the canvas in the corner with one minute to go, but it was ruled a slip by Lupino. Each fighter jabbed until the end of the round, leaving the decision in the hands of the judges.
Jude Ed Scunzio scored the bout 77-75 for Vladine Biosse, but he was overruled by Dr. Clark Sammartino and Wayne Lima, who scored the contest 76-76, a majority draw.
Undercard results:
Benny Costantino (7-0-0, 4 KOs) def. Odias Dumezil (3-7-0, 1 KO) by Unanimous Decision
Reynaldo Rodriguez (6-2-1, 3 KOs) def. Richard Starnino (9-6-2, 2 KOs) by TKO Rd. 4 (1:07)
Chris Chatman (10-1-0, 5 KOs) def. Rahman Yusubov (11-5-0, 9 KOs) by TKO Rd. 5 (3:00)
Alex Amparo “El Fuerte” (2-0-0, 1 KO) def. Nicholas Lavin (2-2-0, 2 KOs) by Majority Decision
Bryan Abraham (5-7-0, 5 KOs) defeats Jonathan Vazquez (4-1-1, 3 KOs) by TKO Rd. 3 (2:55)
Kevin Cobbs (2-0-0, 1 KO) def. Steven Chadwick (0-2-0, 0 KOs) by Majority Decision
Shelito Vincent (1-0-0, 0 KOs) def. Karen Dulin (2-10-0, 1 KO) by Unanimous Decision
Thomas Falowo (5-0-0, 4 KOs) def. Borngod Washington (2-9-1, 0 KOs) by Unanimous Decision
Agustine Mauras (2-0-1, 2 KOs) def. Christian Rivera (0-1-0, 0 KOs) by TKO Rd. 2 (2:31)
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