Paterson’s Ossie “Ghanaian Gladiator” Duran has shared the squared circle with a number of top fighters, but last night's victory over Matt Vanda will likely be one of the most memorable moments of his career when it is all said and done.
Duran was rewarded with something that many fighters who like him, spend much of their career in their opponents’ backyard, never will; a hometown showcase.
“I used to go people’s backyards, beat them and (get robbed),” Duran said in regards to many of his losses. “It is nice to have people supporting (me).”
Duran made the most of his hometown bout, dominating rugged veteran Matt Vanda in the main event of the Gulf Stream Group’s “Rumble at the Park” from North Bergen’s Schuetzen Park.
From the opening tick to the final bell, Duran dictated the pace of this middleweight bout with well timed jabs and solid straight right hands. On a number of occasions, Vanda threw multi-punch combinations, but generally struggled to break through Duran’s high guard.
Duran landed many clean and crisp punches but his Saint Paul, MN based opponent was game throughout the contest and wasn't in danger of being stopped.
Scores were 100-90 twice, matching GSFS' final tally, and 99-91.
With Vanda out of the way, the Ghanaian is eager to share the squared circle with any top middleweight.
“I am ready for anybody at 160. I am hungry, need to feed my family and am ready to (fight) anybody out there.”
In the co-feature, North Bergen based Peruvian junior welterweight Juan “JZ” Zegarra scored a second round TKO against Bryan “The Brick” Abraham of Schenectady, NY.
Both men traded hard blows and neglected any type of defense in the opening round, with Zegarra scoring a knockdown after Abraham’s gloves touched the canvas following a crisp straight left hand. Zegarra and Abraham continued to trade in the second stanza until a huge right hand seemed to have the latter out on his feet. A follow up barrage from Zegarra forced Referee Earl Morton to stop the contest at 1:46.
Although Zegarra once again displayed his impressive power, Abraham and many ringsiders believed Morton pulled the plug too quickly.
“I was a little dazed but I wasn’t out,” said Abraham. “It’s not like I wasn’t punching back. We traded some good shots and the referee let him recoup but I didn’t have the chance to (recover).”
Zegarra is now 6-0 with 6 knockouts. Abraham slips to 2-4-2 with 2 KO’s.
Todd “The Viking” Eriksson shut out Philadelphia’s Joe Dunn in a four round super middleweight affair. Eriksson, who like Duran has spent much of his career on his opponents' turf, did his best impersonation of Paul Williams throughout the contest, The Dover native kept his hands moving at all times and never gave the defensive minded Dunn a chance to get in the fight.
Eriksson is now 2-4-1 with 1 knockout. Dunn remains winless at 0-3.
Less than a month after an entertaining majority decision victory over Marquis Jackson, Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez Jr. returned to the ring with an impressive first round KO over chronically inactive Salim “The Dream” Al Quaadir. Zegarra was a bit more calm than usual and found his mark quickly. The popular Union City welterweight dropped Al Quaadir with a hard left hook and then put him down for good shortly thereafter with a hard body shot at 2:57.
“I went into the fight (much calmer) this time,” said the former amateur standout. “Even though (Al Quaadir) has a 12 year layoff you never know how long he has been training for so I took this fight very seriously.
Rodriguez, who according to Promoter Andre Kut will fight again in early 2011, is now 5-0 with 3 knockouts. Al Quaadir returns to Akron, OH with a 1-3 record.
Lightweight Deano “Bad News” Burrell entered the paid ranks in spectacular fashion, stopping John Passantino inside of two rounds. Burrell, who according to Manager Rich Komissar had a 78-5 amateur record, displayed an outstanding offensive arsenal in the opening round, dropping his Selden, NY based opponent at the bell with a straight left hand.
Passantino, a fighter who can be best described as too tough for his own good, ate many more punches in the second before an impressive combination gave Referee Eddie Cotton no choice but to end his night at 1:44 of the second round.
Burrell, a Brooklyn resident originally from the UK, is 1-0 with 1 KO. Passantino slides to 0-2.
In the opening bout of the evening, Paterson’s Donald “Stone Face” Bernard had a tougher time than expected with Fort Wayne, IN’s Rogelio Sanchez. Bernard, a junior welterweight who fought at 150 lbs in this bout, was the far smaller man and struggled with Sanchez’ size. Both fighters landed cleanly, with Bernard doing just enough to pull out a four round split decision.
Scores were 39-37 twice for Bernard and 39-37 for Sanchez.
Bernard is now 2-0. Sanchez remains winless at 0-2.
Notable ringsiders included former junior welterweight champion Kendall Holt of Paterson, former junior flyweight champion and North Bergen native Carlos Tamara, 2008 National Golden Gloves and unbeaten prospect Michael Angelo "The Artist" Perez, Carlos "Mina" Zambrano and Jonathan Maicelo, both of North Bergen, and champion NABF Featherweight champion Maureen Shea.
PHOTO CREDITS FOR BERNARD, ERIKSSON, BURRELL AND RODRIGUEZ: ALAINA GITTER
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