By Kyle Kinder (in association with 15rounds.com)
Golden Boy prospect Danny “Swift” Garcia of Philadelphia, PA stayed undefeated and improved his professional record to 19-0, 13 KO after an impressive TKO victory over Atlantic City's “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis, who fell to 22-7-2, 10 KO.
In the first round, both fighters seemed content with feeling one another out. Arnaoutis didn’t provide much offense, but was able to deflect most of Garcia’s attacks. Garcia found some success in the bout’s opening round with sweeping rights to the body, which was a trend that continued throughout the three-plus rounds of the fight.
In round two, it was Arnaoutis who landed the cleaner punches, delivering a left-right combo that split Garcia’s gloves. Arnaoutis was able to land punches around Garcia’s defense, as well, opening up a small cut over his opponent’s left eye.
In round three, Garcia was more efficient with his punches, as his punches were finding their target more often than not. Although Garcia was able to penetrate “Mighty” Mike’s defense better than he was in the previous two rounds, Arnaoutis fired back and landed a sharp 1,2 combination on Garcia. In the closing moments of round three, Garcia landed a devastating straight right-left hook combination that sent Arnaoutis to the floor as the bell sounded. Arnaoutis struggled to get to his feet and collapsed midway through referee Gary Rosato’s 10 count, but was able to scramble back to his feet and convince Rosato he was capable of continuing.
In round four, Garcia came out aggressive smelling blood in the water. The pro-Garcia crowd was up on their feet as their fighter unloaded on Arnaoutis. For the immediate time being, Arnaoutis was able to weather Garcia’s initial attack. However, at about the one minute mark into round four, Garcia caught Arnaoutis with a violent left hook that resulted in Arnaoutis collapsing to the canvas with a loud thud. Rosato began to administer a ten-count, but “Mighty” Mike’s corner smartly stepped in and threw in the towel. The official time of the stoppage was 1:05 of round four.
In perhaps the most entertaining bout from a theatrical standpoint, Newark's Wanzel Ellison defeated Knoxville, Tennessee’s Aaron Anderson in a four round contest.
Ellison (3-0, 2 KO) won 40-36 on all three judges scorecards, but it was Anderson (1-8) who won over the crowd.
Anderson, a late addition to the card, entertained the crowd — and himself — by exposing his entire arsenal of taunts. Throughout the fight, Anderson took requests from the fans, who were suggesting different taunts, and interestingly enough, he listened.
The “Ali shuffle”, the Hulk Hogan “flex”, and the popular new dance move, “the Dougie” were all on display. These taunts were in addition to Anderson’s touching his glove to the heel of his shoe before throwing a punch, sticking his neck out with his hands behind his back, and yelling to Ellison’s corner that their fighter was “too slow.”
Unfortunately for Anderson, the judges were not scoring his dance moves and taunting skills, as they awarded all four rounds to Ellison.
Fan favorite Victor Vasquez improved his record to 12-4-1, 6 KO with a hard-earned split decision victory over Vineland, New Jersey’s Bryne Green (5-4, 3 KO).
The tipping point in this split decision bout came about two-thirds into the inaugural round when Vasquez landed a clean and punishing left hook on Green, who was thrown off balance. Vasquez smartly followed up and sent Green for the canvas, earning a 10-8 score in the opening round.
Green showed a lot of character and resilience as he battled back, winning the next two rounds on 15Rounds.com’s scorecard. Working behind a strong and powerful jab, Green let his right hand follow to inflict damage to both Vasquez’s body and face. Ultimately, it was Green’s commitment to working Vasquez’s tattooed body that led to his success during the bouts middle rounds.
Heading into the sixth and final round, the match was still up for grabs, but it was undoubtedly Vasquez who earned the 10-9 this round, throwing countless combinations and often scoring with them.
Two judges scored the bout 57-56 in Vasquez’s favor, while the dissenting judge scored the fight, 57-56 for Green.
