Rumble at Rama IX

Last night I was again an official at Casino Rama for the Rumble at Rama IX card....and I have to say this one might have been the most action packed night yet. Four of the six fights did not reach the final bell, and the main event which went twelve...you didn't want to see end anyways!

The first fight was a little puzzling to me. It was a 4 round super middleweight bout between Stephan Boyd and Pedro DeMelo. As soon as I heard this fight was made I thought, what is DeMelo's camp thinking? Why would you take a fighter in only his second professional fight, and give him to someone like Stephan who is a slick boxer with 11 pro fights? Now I watched Pedro's pro debut at Rama's last show and he did impress me in his first fight....but I knew he had no shot against Stephan. Stephan may not be a devastating puncher but he is a very slick boxer with clever defence....and I should know I've sparred with him several times before. Stephan controlled the fight from the first bell with the left jab...which seemed to frustrate DeMelo....then Stephan picked up the pace landing good body shots and his right uppercut was deadly accurate. Pedro's left eye was starting to close as the fight progressed and Stephan sensing a KO went in for the kill in the 4th round, abandoning his usual laid back style, and the referee waved off the fight. There was no standing 8 count rule in the fight so John Wylie gave Pedro every chance to hang in there and finish the last round but he stopped it just at the right time.

The second fight was a 4 round welterweight bout between Felix Mercedes (2-0) and Dan Caron making his pro debut. Again, abit of a mismatch in my mind for a kids pro debut. Caron was overpowered in the first round and knocked out. Mercedes showed good patience in trying to get his guy out of there, and good power. The fight wasn't long enough for me to get a real good impression of him but he is one to keep your eye on in the future.

The third fight was another 4 rounder in the light middleweight division between Hamilton's Justin Fountain and London's Frank Abbiw. I was suprised in this one, to be honest before the fight I was thinking Abbiw would take a decision. I thought Abbiw was the better boxer with more power but Fountain hurt him at the end of the first round and watching Abbiw in the corner I wasn't sure if he was going to come out.....he seemed exhausted. To his credit though Abbiw did come out and won the second round in my mind when he almost dropped Fountain with a huge left hook....I don't know what kept him up. But Fountain recovered and outworked an exhausted Abbiw over the next 2 rounds to take the unanimous decision. At one point I thought Abbiw would just fall over on his own....not sure if he just didn't train very hard for this fight or what.

Next up was the heavyweights. Canadian Heavyweight champ Greg Kielsa took on American Kevin Montiy. This fight was disappointing. In the first round Kielsa was actually showing some good aggressiveness and taking the fight to Montiy. Kielsa landed some solid shots and I had a feeling it would not be going the distance but in the second round there was an accidental clash of heads which left Montity with a bad cut over his left eye. The doctor advised the fight be stopped and the fight was ruled a technical draw....which Montiy should have been pleased with since he didn't have to leave with the loss that was most likely coming.

The co-feature of the night was Steve Molitor facing Dario Azuaga from Argentina in a featherweight 8 rounder. Azuaga was a late sub which usually means it won't be a long fight. I knew it was going to be a quick one when Azuaga stepped into the ring and I saw a soft body...I don't remember the last time I've ever seen a soft featherweight.....actually I don't think I've ever seen that. His punches were awkward and he was always off balance...the guy had 92 pro fights you would have thought that somewhere along the way he would have learned some balance.....which leads me to believe the record was somewhat suspect. But to his credit he had some good defence and head movement....which is mostly what he did in this fight....fight defensively. His defence made Molitor miss alot in the first few rounds but Steve was still winning each round without question. Actually one body shot is the only real punch I can recall Azuaga landing in 5 rounds.....by the 4th and 5th Molitor had figured Azuaga out and did what you should do with that calibre of fighter, and get him out of there. In the 4th Azuaga was dropped and in the 5th he was dropped two more times and hurt with a body shot......as the referee was giving him the count his corner stepped in and threw in the towel.

The main event was a very exciting 12 round contest between WBO Junior Batamweight Champion Jose Lopez of Puerto Rico and the young 19 year old Filipino sensation Marvin Sonsona. Might have been the most exciting fight yet at Rama. The Filipino-Canadian fans were out in full force waving their flags and making it a great fight atmosphere. Sonsona who was 13-0 with 12 knockouts was looking for the KO early. I thought Lopez stole the first round while the two of them were feeling each other out but then starting in the 2nd Sonsona was showing that power he was known for with some hard counter hooks. Sonsona was starting to take over the fight with his power and dropped Lopez in the 4th. It was the kind of knockdown which made me think the fight was gonna be over very soon...Sonsona pressed him trying to finish but Lopez the warrior hung in there and survived. Sonsona controlled the middle rounds as Lopez was trying to clear his head. The power punching Filipino had never gone past 5 rounds before and it was starting to show in the later rounds as he was tiring and Lopez started to mount a comeback.
Lopez starting taking the later rounds on my card and was landing some good solid shots....to Sonsona's credit he took them all very well. There was some great exchanges in the fight with both fighters landing their power shots.....to my surprise though it was Sonsona who took the last 2 rounds of the fight as Lopez seemed to slow by then and his offence was not very effective.
Marvin Sonsona became the new champion at only 19 with a unanimous decision....the scores were 114-111, 115-110, and 116-109. The 116-109 card was way off to me....I thought the fight was alot closer than that even though Lopez had lost a point for low blows in the 8th....but Sonsona was clearly the victor. Sonsona did alot of things wrong in there but his power and toughness made up for it this time.....only time will tell if he can be the next Pacquiao but he definitely has the potential....

Catch the action tonight on TSN at 11:30pm