Show:695986

PROMO

Weights from Saratoga Springs, New York [1]
By Boxing Bob Newman; FightNews August 14th, 2014
Shawn Miller 174.4 vs. Frankie Filippone 173(For Miller’s WBF North American title)
Vincent Miranda 182.6 vs. Rayford Johnson 182.2
Michael Pryor 143.6 vs. Aaron Williamson 149
Kimdo Bethel Boykin 226.8 vs. Aaron Kinch 253
Joe Gbolo 136 vs. Phil Nazario 134.6
Will Madera 137 vs. Victor Vazquez 133.4
Louis King 176 vs. 173.8
Promoter: Take It Light Promotions (Linda Miller)Match Maker: Diana Rodriguez
Venue: Saratoga Springs City Center Doors Open: 6 p.m., First Bell: 7:30

REPORT

Miller defeats Filippone
By Boxing Bob Newman; FightNews August 16th, 2014[2]
A packed Saratoga Springs City Center hosted Take It Light Promotions’ latest installment of boxing as 
WBF North American light heavyweight champ Shawn Miller held off crafty southpaw Frankie Filippone over 
ten rounds to retain his title. In a shocking upset, unsung Rayford Johnson stunned cruiserweight 
prospect Vincent Miranda, by way of a come-from-behind, vicious knockout in the sixth round of a 
scheduled eight.
Hometown favorite Shawn Miller of Troy, New York solved tricky Southpaw Frankie Filippone over ten 
tough rounds to retain his WBF North American light heavyweight title. It didn’t look good for Miller 
in the first couple rounds as Filippone mixed light body and head shots to score points on the hometown 
fighter. In the third, Miller landed a hard right low blow which doubled Filippone over. After a brief 
recovery period, it happened at least once more, promoting another warning from referee Johnny Callas, 
followed by a lot of jawing from each fighter to the other. Filippone seemed relaxed in his low held 
Southpaw guard, controlling the tempo against the tight Miller. Several of the middle rounds were close 
with two contrasting styles to choose from- busy light combination punching by Filippone versus fewer, 
yet more accurate, harder landed shots by Miller. The tide turned dramatically in the eighth as Miller 
landed a looping lead right to the temple of Filippone, depositing him on the canvas. Up at six, 
Filippone got out of the round further unscathed. Miller kept the pressure on in the last two rounds, 
though not wanting to get carelessly caught with a lucky punch. Had Miller not scored the knockdown in 
the otherwise close eighth round, it could’ve been a different result. The final scores were as follows: 
Don Ackerman tabbed it 97-92, Eric Marlinski saw it 96-93 and Tom Schreck had it closest at 95-94. 
Miller moves to 14-1-1, 5 KOs while Filippone slides to 16-5-1, 3 KOs. Miller said afterward, “I felt I 
won the fight. Filippone’s team even told me I won by three rounds. I was effective with my jab and I 
landed the harder punches.”

In the semi-main event, Vincent Miranda of Albany, New York by way of Bayamon, PR took on tough-as-nails 
Rayford Johnson of Longview, TX in a scheduled eight round cruiserweight contest. Johnson was a study in 
perpetual motion, whether it be throwing punches, or just plain moving his head to frustrate Miranda- 
the type of opponent against whom it is impossible to look good. Miranda kept his composure though, 
remaining focused throughout Johnson’s herky jerky tactics. Cuts opened over Johnson’s left eye and under 
his right almost simultaneously in the fourth. A chopping Miranda right deposited Johnson on his rear end 
in the fifth, but he battled back to finish the round. In an incredible turnaround in the sixth, Johnson 
caught Miranda with a three punch combination along the ropes and dropped him in his own corner. Miranda 
rose on unsteady legs and referee Danny Schiavone waved the action onward after giving Miranda a good look. 
It looked for a moment as if Miranda would battle his way out of trouble, landing a good one-two combo of 
his own on Johnson’s head. Thirty seconds later a crushing right hand to Miranda’s head ended it for good 
as Miranda went down, his head slamming on the canvas. As Miranda gamely tried to rise, he flopped over on 
his back again, giving referee Schiavone no choice but to stop matters at 2:38 of round six. In a shocking 
upset, spoiler Johnson goes to 10-16, 5 KOs, while Miranda drops to 16-2, 9 KOs. At the time of the 
stoppage, Miranda was ahead 49-45 twice and 48-46.

Albany, New York’s Will Madera made quick work of the Bronx’ Victor Vasquez in a scheduled four round 
lightweight bout. Madera sized up the lean midsection of the lanky “El Flaco” and tore it up from the get 
go. As Vasquez visibly softened, Madera went to the head, rocking his foe quickly and often, prompting 
referee Danny Schiavone to jump in and save the slumping Vasquez along the ropes at 1:45 of the opening 
stanza. Madera gets his first KO in moving to 3-0, 1 KO while Vasquez evens out at 1-1.

The lightweight bout between Albany’s Joe Gbolo and the Bronx’ Phil Nazario ended in an unsatisfactory No 
Contest at 1:01 of the very first round. An accidental clash of heads opened an ugly vertical gash over the 
right eyebrow of Nazario, rendering him unable to continue. Gbolo remains at 3-0-2, 1 KO, while Nazario 
stays at 0-3.

Greenwich, New York’s Michael Pryor looked for his first win against New Rochelle, New York’s Anton 
Williamson in a four round welterweight tilt. Each man had their moments in each round, with the elongated 
Pryor landing long bombs and Williamson going to Pryor’s slender body. In a squeaker, Williamson pulled it 
out via a majority decision by scores of 39-37 twice and 38-38 to win his pro debut at 1-0. The hard luck 
Pryor was looking to get his first win after starting out 0-0-2, and now goes to 0-1-2.

Albany, New York’s Kimdo Bethel Boykin took on Newark, New Jersey’s Aaron Kinch in a plodding battle of 
heavyweights. While it looked as if Boykin won the first by way of staggering Kinch near the end of that 
session, Kinch appeared busier in round two. Both went at it on even terms in the third. While Boykin 
seemed the more technically efficient in the fourth and final round, Kinch never stopped throwing heavy, 
if inaccurate bombs. The judges were in agreement at 38-38 for a unanimous draw. Boykin is now 7-1-1, 5 
KOs while Kinch goes to 5-3-2, 1 KO.
Louis King of Amsterdam, NY outworked debuting Donovan Scott, Patterson, NJ over four rounds in a light 
heavyweight go to start the evening off. A final round knockdown cemented the deal for King via scores 
of 39-36, 39-37 and 38-37 who moves to 2-1, 1 KO while Scott starts out at 0-1.

Miller Outpoints Filippone In Saratoga
J. R. Jowett reporting from ringside: Seconds Out.com [3]
Boxing returned to hot & cold Saratoga Springs, NY, on 8/15/14. 
For a small town, this was a comparative hotspot when Lisa Elovich promoted here a few years back. 
Lisa was in attendance at the usual venue, the City Center, when promoter Lisa Miller, wife of 
trainer/manager Bob Miller, brought boxing back to a nice crowd but not a full house of maybe 800.
The Miller family was much in evidence, as Bob’s son Shawn headlined. Bob Miller has been at times 
a one-man-show holding boxing in Upstate NY together for decades. Diana Rodriguez made the matches. 
As usual, the show came during the relatively short but highly touted racing season.

The top 10, between Shawn Miller, 174 1/2, Troy, 14-1-1 (5), and Frankie Filippone, 173, Virginia 
Beach, 16-5-1 (3), wasn’t a barn burner for wide open action, but held the fans’ attention with a 
tense contest of skills and wills. Most of the rounds followed a similar pattern, the much bigger 
local favorite advancing cautiously but relentlessly and carefully picking his punches while the 
southpaw underdog faded back and popped counters. Both fighters were flat on their feet and 
conservative with movement, but Filippone constantly edged away while Miller dogged him.
Most of the rounds were close, but Miller was controlling the action with more authoritative 
punches and the bane of lefties, the right lead. In the third, he added the low blow, a blatant 
shot, and referee Johnny Callas gave Frankie a rest. Then Shawn hit him low again, sending 
Filippone into protest. Several times Miller jolted Filippone with rights, but not until the eighth 
did he catch the elusive Frankie on the ropes with a swiping right that sent him to the canvas.

Filippone fought back well and got out of trouble, then continued to pop away through two more good 
rounds to the decision. Shawn kept his guard up high and tight throughout and blocked many of the 
punches. There seemed little doubt about the verdict, and Miller won 97-92 from Don Ackerman, 96-93 
from Eric Marlinski, and a bare 95-94 from Tom Schreck.
"I go anywhere and fight anybody," said Frankie, a good fighter stuck in a boxing backwater in 
Virginia, of the daring venture into Miller’s home area. "He throws wild punches and I prepared to 
box him. It was a close fight."
Shawn commented, "I threw the stronger punches and scored the knockdown. It was a good fight, and 
my hat’s off to him." 

The semi eight was nothing short of sensational and produced the most dramatic of three upsets. 
Rayford Johnson, 182 1/4, 10-16 (4), came in from Longview, TX, against Vincent Miranda, 182 1/2, 
Albany, 16-2 (9). The decidedly smaller, compact visitor fought out of a squared stance and just 
tried to swarm Miranda with both hands pumping in hectic action throughout. The much bigger local 
used the jab and jarring rights, putting the two together from round three to land solid one-twos 
that seemed to have the fight under control. Johnson appeared to be fading by the fourth and it 
looked to be all over in round five when Rayford tried a weak right and Vincent crashed him onto 
the seat of his trunks with a beauty of a right counter.
The underdog was under heavy pressure but fought back without letup to get out of a punishing 
round. Then in round six, Rayford came out amazingly fresh, swarmed all over Miranda and smashed 
over a short right that buckled Vincent’s knees and made him hold desperately.
The fired up underdog was having none of that and shook him off for a knockdown. Vincent was just 
as game as the Texan had been a round earlier, but was woozy and fighting back on pure grit in 
sensational action. Johnson never gave him an extra breath, and the looming question was whether 
the favorite could survive the round and regroup to hang onto what should have been a narrow lead. 
But that ended with a bang as he stumbled straight into a screaming right that crashed him face 
first to canvas. With no quit, Miranda still tried to get up, but floundered under his own weight 
and fell back down, with referee Danny Schiavone calling a KO at 2:38. Rayford was beside himself 
with the huge win, fell to his knees and pounded the canvas with one glove, then remained on his 
knees looking up as if in supplication.

A less dramatic upset occurred in a four between Michael Pryor, 143 1/2, Greenwich, NY, 0-1-2, and 
debuting Anton Williamson, 149 1/2, Brooklyn, in a crisp and well-boxed four. Williamson jolted 
the local favorite with a right in the first, then the two exchanged rallies. Pryor paid him back 
in round two, then it was Anton’s turn to fight back. Williamson was coming cautiously forward and 
setting the pace, while Pryor looked for the big one to turn it around, and brought up his fans 
whenever he landed a clean right. By the fourth, both were still trying, but there was little to 
choose between them. Schreck scored 38-38, but Anton had forced the fight and Matt Ruggero and 
Marlinski both scored 39-37 for Williamson.
 
Aaron Kinch, 253 1/2, Newark, 5-3-2 (1), got some help from the judges in a rare unanimous draw 
with lefty Kimdo Bethel-Boykin, 226 3/4, Albany, 7-1-1 (5), in a crude, sloppy, but bitterly 
contested four. The sharper favorite was outworking the out-of-shape underdog with short, inside 
punches in a bruising first round, rocking Aaron with a left and having him shaken again at the bell. 
Kinch gamely willed himself back into the fight in the second with an undisciplined but vigorous 
attack that made Boykin look bad as he faded back under the pressure. The tiring Kinch was swinging 
wide with arm punches in the third while Boykin hardly looked sharp but still managed the shorter, 
cleaner blows. Both were spent but still trying in a fizzle fourth, and again the local at least 
dropped in some clean counters. The judges went for the body language, though, as Ackerman, Ruggero 
and Schreck all had 38-38.

It was a good contest while it lasted between William Madera, 135 3/4, Albany, 3-0 (2), and Victor 
Vasquez, 133 1/2, Bronx, 1-1, in a scheduled four. The rangy Vasquez came out with a sharp jab and 
established his game quickly. But Madera put the kibosh on that by upping the pressure and digging 
in with a booming two-handed body attack. Vasquez was draped on the ropes and rocked by a sweeping 
left when referee Schiavone rescued him, at 1:45 of the opening round.

Louis King, 174 1/2, Amsterdam, NY, 2-1 (1), scored a knockdown in the fourth and final round to 
gain a unanimous decision over debuting Donovan Scott, 173 3/4, Paterson, in a good four. Both 
alternately boxed and slugged in a close contest, with Scott getting off to a quick start and King 
coming on. A right dropped Donovan to open some daylight. Schreck scored 38-37, Marlinski 39-37, 
and Ackerman 39-36.

Nothing much had time to happen in a scheduled four between Joe Gbolo, 136, Albany, 3-0-2-1 (1), 
and Phil Nazario, 134 1/2, Bronx, 0-3-0-1. Nazario showed why he’s winless but at least came away 
without another loss. The two were feeling each other out when they lunged the wrong way and conked 
noggins. Nazario suffered a cut right eye and allegedly told the ringside doctor that he couldn’t 
continue. The ruling was No Contest, at 1:01. Dick Pakozdi refereed.