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== PROMO ==
YUSAF MACK TO TAKE ON SABOU BALLOGOU ON JULY 7TH
BoxingNews24.com June 21st, 2012[http://www.boxingnews24.com/2012/06/yusaf-mack-to-take-on-sabou-ballogou-on-july-7th/]
PHILADELPHIA, PA (June 20, 2012)—On Saturday night July 7th at the beautiful Pennsylvania Convention Center,
James Shuler Gym Promotions presents a night of boxing that will feature some of the best boxers in Philadelphia.
In the main event, Yusaf Mack will take on upset minded Sabou Ballogou in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.
Ballogou of Paris, France has a record of 8-5 with three knockouts. He is a former IBC International and IBF Pan
African Middleweight champion and is coming off a performance when he dropped an eight round unanimous decision
to highly regarded and undefeated Derrick Webster in what was Ballogou’s American debut. In that bout, Ballogou
dropped Webster twice in round seven and Webster seemed seconds away from being knocked out before the bell rang
to signal the end of the round. Webster was able to compose himself and hang on for the victory.
six round co-feature, Dhafir Smith (26-22-7, 4 KO’s) of Philadelphia will take on Bobby Jordan (8-3-1, 4 KO’s) of Norfolk, VA.
All below bouts are four rounders:
Eric Hunter (15-2, 8 KO’s) of Philadelphia takes on Jason Rorie (6-15-2, 3 KO’s) of Winston-Salem, NCIn a Featherweight bout
Tim Witherspoon Jr. (6-2-1, 2 KO’s) of Philadelphia will take on Cassius Clay (0-3) in a Lightweight bout
Alex Barbosa (3-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia takes on an opponent to be announced in a Bantamweight bout.
Tyrone Crawley Jr. (2-0) of Philadelphia takes on an opponent to be announced in a Welterweight bout
Wahid Raheem (3-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia takes on Isaac Suarez (7-1, 3 KO’s) of Lancaster, PA
Kareem Macfarland (1-0, 1 KO) takes on Saud Clark (1-0, 1 KO) in a battle of Philadelphia based Welterweights.
Terrell James will make his pro debut against Terrell Boggs (0-4) of Philadelphia in a Jr. Middleweight bout.
Greg Jackson will make his pro debut against Vaughn Anderson (0-2) of Philadelphia in a Jr. Middleweight bout.
Corey Morley will make his pro debut against Randy Easton (0-0-1) of Williamsport, PA in a Heavyweight bout.
Orlando Lewis (4-2, 4 KO’s) of Vineland, New Jersey will make his return after a four year hiatus in a Jr. Middleweight bout.
There will also be appearances by some of the best amateur fighters in Philadelphia such as
2011-2012 National champion Rasheen Brown, Tony DuBose and Isiah Gibbons
Tickets are $100, $65, and $35 and can be purchased at James Shuler Gym (750 North Brooklyn Street)
Spencer’s Barber Shop (4045 Lancaster, Ave) Buster Custus at 215 416 1282
== REPORT ==
MACK WEATHERS BALLOGOU[http://www.phillyboxinghistory.com/fight_stories/stories/2012/20120707_convention_01.htm]
John DiSanto - Center City Philadelphia - phillyboxinghistory.com July 07, 2012
Yusaf Mack returned to a Philadelphia ring for the first time since 2008 and won his main event with Sabou Ballogou
at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Saturday night. Mack captured a 6-round unanimous decision, but had to weather
a mid-fight storm from the West African slugger before registering his 31st victory. Ballogou's rally wasn't as
dramatic as in his last fight (against Derrick Webster), but anyone who saw that near-KO braced themselves for a
possible repeat.
Mack started the fight in complete control, using a long jab against the pressing southpaw, who now fights out of
France. When Mack would miss with the left or needed to reset his position after one of Ballogou's charges, Mack
would stutter-step his way to the side where his jab could pick at the free-swinging French-based fighter.
Mack took the first round and kept it going in the second until Ballogou whacked the West Philadelphian with a solid
low blow. Mack tumbled to the canvas from the foul, near a neutral corner. A wincing Yusaf popped right up and hopped
around, trying to recover from the shot. Once the action resumed, Ballogou ran right in, but Mack remained in charge.
The incident however, changed the fight's direction - at least for a while.
In round three, Ballogou went for the upset, pinning Mack against the ropes and looping wide bombs toward him. A few
found home and rattled the favorite. It was more of the same in round four, with Ballogou charging in and going for
broke. At one point Sabou tagged Mack with a hard left that hurt him. Yusaf sagged against the pad in his own corner
while Ballogou let the punches fly. The Frenchman did his best to one-up his last performance, but Mack kept his
guard tight enough to avoid further danger. But this was a great round for Sabou. After four rounds, the fight was
even on my card.
Beginning in round five, Mack used his deeper experience to stay out of trouble. Ballogou kept coming, but may have
been slightly gassed from all the punching he'd done in the two prior rounds. Mack pushed his difficult foe further
toward fatigue with an excellent body attack. Going downstairs also helped to lower Ballogou's guard, creating some
nice opening upstairs. Mack slammed a few hard rights to the head, but couldn't really hurt the rolling rock before
him. He did pull ahead on the cards however.
When referee Blair Talmadge brought the fighters together at ring center for the start of the sixth and final round,
Ballogou did not want to engage in the traditional glove-tapping. Tal-madge forced the issue, and the fighters
finally tapped. After this, you had the feeling round six would be a war. Ballogou charged at Mack swinging wildly,
but Yusaf was all warmed up and in the zone by then. He stutter-stepped his way off of Sabou's train tracks and
fired the jab at him. For the entire round, Mack looked like an old pro, picking, moving, and firing power shots.
By the end of the round, Mack was landing at will and hurting Ballogou with right hands. The seasoned old pro closed
the show, and nailed down the fight on points. All three judges scored the fight for Mack. Richard Hopkins Jr. and
Dewey LaRosa had it 59-55, while Lynn Carter scored it 58-56. The win raised Mack's record to 31-4-2 with 17 KOs,
and kept him in the hunt for another run toward the title. Prior to the fight, Yusaf said that his goal was to land a
fight that would help return him to the number one spot among the light heavyweights, a position he held last summer.
Ballogou, fighting for just the second time in the US, slipped to 8-6 with 4 KOs, but once again proved himself a
tough and dangerous opponent.
In the evening's main supporting bout, West Philly featherweight Eric "Outlaw" Hunter made a resounding comeback after
a 19-month layoff. His opponent was Jason Rorie, the owner of a long losing streak, but the kind of fighter who is
making his career as a test for young talent or fighters at the crossroads, like Hunter.
Before probably the biggest cheering section in the house, Hunter, clearly anxious to fight again, stepped right in
and went to work. From the start, he looked fast, sharp, powerful and cocky. He smiled to himself as his punches found
their mark, knowing he
was nearing the finish line. However, Rorie, of NC, was not a shrinking violet against Hunter. He pressed forward from
the opening bell and threw tons of punches. Once in a while, he'd land on Hunter, but most of the time the
Philadelphian managed to slip, block or lean away from everything coming his way.
In round two, Rorie continued to be the aggressor. About halfway through the round, he trapped Hunter on the ropes and
unloaded. Once again, Hunter slipped most of it, but a few of the shots trickled through his defense.
Finally Hunter worked his way off the ropes and maneuvered the action to the other side of the ring. Rorie landed a
clubbing left hook a moment before Hunter ripped a right-left combination to Jason's body that buckled his knees. An
instant later, a sharp Hunter left hook landed and Rorie crashed to the canvas. He climbed to his feet and headed back
into the slaughter. Hunter went right in for the kill, landing a withering right hand and followed with two crushing
left hooks. Rorie crumbled to the floor on his back, and referee Shawn Clark didn't bother to count. The time was 2:38
of the second round.
Before the fight Hunter, 16-2 (9 KO), said he hoped the fight with Rorie would jump start his erratic career. The
showy KO was definitely a good start. Rorie continued his slump, with this his ninth straight loss, and fell to 6-16-2
(3 KO) overall.
The remaining four professional bouts offered were all scheduled for four rounds.
A busy and accurate Tim Witherspoon Jr. rebounded from his loss in January with a nice unanimous decision victory over
a weary Cassius Clay. Tim Jr., son of the former two-time heavyweight champ, breezed through the first three rounds
before Clay showed some signs of life in the final three minutes. But Clay's rally was little more than a blip, never
threatening to change the course of the junior welterweight bout. Although Witherspoon lost the final round on my card
(and two of the judges), he was still the clear winner when the bell sounded to end the fight.
Judges Richard Hopkins and Lynn Carter scored 39-37; Dewey LaRosa saw it a 40-36 shutout for Witherspoon, 7-2-1 (2 KO),
who is already scheduled to fight again on July 28th in Georgia. Clay remained winless at 0-5.
Philadelphia junior middle-weights Vaughn Anderson, Philadelphia (red trunks), and Greg Jackson, Vineland, NJ (black
trunks), brawled for four entertaining rounds in their preliminary contest. Jackson was having a pretty good round one
before Anderson, looking for his first pro victory, floored him with a long right hand. The punch won Anderson the
round, but Jackson got up and won the remaining rounds in my opinion. However, the fight was a war and went back and
forth between the two.
Jackson, making his pro debut, threw wide sweeping shots at Anderson. In the second Greg landed hard with both his
left hook and right hand, but Anderson fought back well. The fight was close, but Jackson sealed it in round four when
he hurt Anderson late in the round. The question was whether Jackson had done enough in the minds of the judges to
overcome the knockdown. Two of them felt he had. Hopkins and Carter scored 38-37 for Jackson, while LaRosa favored
Anderson, 38-37. The decision made Jackson 1-0, and Anderson 0-3.
In a wild battle of junior middleweights Orlando Lewis took a four round unanimous decision over a debuting John
Frazier of Ohio. Lewis, Vineland, NJ, dropped Frazier, once in round two and again in the third, and pounded his
opponent's body all night long. But still the fight was a slugfest, with Frazier fighting and swinging hard between
trips to the canvas. Lewis won all four rounds on my card of 40-34. Lynn Carter agreed with my score, while LaRosa
tallied 40-35. Hopkins had it the closest at 39-35. Lewis improved to 5-2 (4 KO); Frazier went home 0-1.
The pro portion of the show began with major fireworks as Saud Clark pounced on Kareem McFarland immediately. Clark
dropped McFarland three times for an automatic stoppage in round one. The time was 2:42. Both Philadelphian's came
into the fight with identical records of 1-0 (1 KO).
The evening started with three amateur bouts sanctioned by USA Boxing. Shuler Gym's little phenom, Rasheen Brown won
a 3-round decision over Jarmarni Scott, Baltimore, in their 75-pound bout. Brown improved to 20-2. Maurice Harris,
Shuler Gym, topped Milton Santiago, Philadelphia, by decision in their 3-round 140-pound fight.
The card was promoted by James Shuler Boxing Promotions, Buster Custus, promoter, and was the just the fifth
in-Philly show of 2012. A crowd of about 400 attended.

Show:646699 - Revision history

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