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ATLANTIC CITY (September 10, 2018)–DeCarlo Perez and Antowyan Aikens lived up to the pre-fight hype of a knockdown- dragout war that eventually saw Perez eek out an eight-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at The Bourbon Room inside the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City.
The bout between Atlantic City rivals, which gave Perez the New Jersey State Super Middleweight title, headlined an terrific 10-bout card promoted by Rising Star Promotions.
The fight saw Perez push the action early as he buckled Aikens into the ropes in the 2nd round. Not only did Aikens stem the tide, but came back emphatically, as he landed a perfect right that sent Perez to the canvas.
Now with Aikens seemingly in control. Perez came back the very next round to land a perfect left hook that put Aikens on the canvas. It looked like Perez would be able to end the fight, but Aikens came back and stood toe-to-tow with Perez, and gave as good he received.
With a cut over his left eye, Perez was able to box his way down the stretch of the fight, which thrilled the capacity crowd and the Showboat Hotel.
Perez of Atlantic City won by scores of 77-72, 76-74 and 75-74 to improve to 17-6-1. Aikens of Atlantic City is 13-5-1.
“Antowyan surprised me on how he was able to be so consistent. When he did knock me down, I was able to stay calm, and keep my composure. I said to myself was to stay calm, I still have rounds and I tasted his power. I knocked him down, and I knew we were even, and I just wanted to win the last few rounds. He started out the rounds strong, but my pressure not only influenced the judges, but began to break him down. He started punching out of fear instead of skill,” said Perez. “As long as I stayed consistent and kept my pressure, I knew that I would prevail.”
Said Aikens, “It was a good fight. It was an action packed fight. We both landed some good shots. They gave it to him based off of his knockdown,” said Aikens. “After I knocked him down, I should have slowed up and took my time. In the next round, he caught me with a good shot. There were a lot of things said in the build up to this fight, and I fought off of a lot of anger. I will be back. I am a real fighter. All champions don’t win belts.”
In a battle of New Jersey based junior welterweights, John Bauza remained undefeated with a six-round unanimous decision over Rashad Bogar
In round three, Bauza dropped Bogar with a straight left hand.
Bauza cruised home with the victory by scores of 60-53 on all cards.
Bauza, 139 lbs of North Bergen, NJ is 11-0. Bogar, 139 lbs of Newark, NJ is 4-8-1.
Omar Salem stopped Mike Anderson at the end of round one of their scheduled four round middleweight bout.
Salem dominated the only frame, and Anderson said he could not continue due to an arm injury.
Salem, 165 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is 4-0 with one knockout. Anderson, 165.5 lbs of Philadelphia is 0-3.
Isaiah Hart made a thrilling pro debut with a 2nd round stoppage of Dillon Kasprzak in a middleweight bout.
In round one, Hart knocked Kasprzak with a hard left hook. Hart came out in round two by landing two hard lefts and a flusg right, and the fight was stopped at 16 seconds.
Hart, 160.7 lbs of Atlantic City is 1-0 with one knockout. Kasprzak, 159 lbs of Philadelphia is 0-2.
Nahir Albright pounded out a four-round unanimous decision over Glenford Nickey in a junior welterweight bout.
Albright, 140 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 40-36 twice and 40-35 to raise his record to 4-1. Nickey, 140 lbs of Brooklyn is 4-2.
Jahmal Dyer stopped Marco Lugo in the final round of their scheduled four-round lightweight bout.
In round one, Dyer dropped Lugo with a left hook to the head. Dyer sealed the fight in round four, when he dropped Lugo with a hard right hand. Dyer ended things when he landed a huge right that sent Lugo back that opened up a barrage of hard punches, and the fight was stopped at 1:29.
Dyer, 132.9 lbs of Baltimore is now 6-1 with four knockouts. Lugo, 131 lbs of Vineland, NJ is 0-2.
Ryan Wilczak remained undefeated with a four-round unanimous decision over Alberto Delgado in a middleweight fight.
Wilczak, 158 lbs of Scranton, PA won by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice and is now 7-0. Delgado, 160.9 lbs of Roanoke, VA is 0-4-3.
Ry’Shine Collins made an emphatic pro debut by stopping Lucky Holt in the 1st round of their scheduled four-round super bantamweight bout.
Collins landed a series of hard body shots that put Holt down, and the fight was stopped at
Collins, 122.3 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-0 with one knockout. Holt, 120.8 lbs of Hannibal, MO is 0-3.
Kashon Hutchinson won a four-round unanimous decision over Steve Moore in a welterweight bout.
Hutchinson, 145.3 lbs of Reading, PA won by scores of 40-36 twice and 39-37 to raise his mark to 4-5. Moore, 144.1 lbs of Orange, NJ is 1-5.
Travis Toledo remained undefeated by stopping Tahlik Taylor in round two of their scheduled four-round light-heavyweight bout.
In round two, Toledo dropped Taylor with a big left hook. Seconds later, it was a body shot that sent Taylor to the canvas, and the fight was halted at 2:02.
Toledo, 172,3 lbs of Baltimore, MD is 2-0 with two knockouts. Taylor, 175.3 lbs of Greensboro, NC is 3-12-1.
Rising Star Promotions will be back at The Showboat on Saturday, November 3rd with the return of world ranked Thomas LaManna appearing in the main event. Also announced for the card will be a battle for the New Jersey State Middleweight title as Chris Thomas defends his title against Eddie Edmonds.
