Hudson Valley Explosion Proves to be an exciting Night of Fighting

By David Selwyn @ ringside

Last night, Northeast Promotions presented an excellent boxing card in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. located about 80 miles of north of New York City. The crowd filled up early with a large contingent of fans from the Bronx, N.Y. supporting three Bronx fighters. The card featured 3 nationally televised Tuesday night fights on ESPN 2.

The Main Event featured undefeated Bantamweight prospect from Puerto Rico, Jose Nieves 10-0-2 7Ko's against the more experienced Alberto Ontiveros 21-9-5 19Ko's from Mexico. Both fighters were listed at 5'6", but from my vantage point Nieves had a good 4 inches on Ontiveros. Ontiveros was supposed to be a test for Nieves, but Ontiveros proved to be no challenge for the undefeated fighter. I had Nieves easily winning every round and was the much more quicker fighter. He used his size advantage and Ontiveros was only able to land a few clean punches without any power behind them. Referee Claudio stopped the fight in the 8th round and Ontiveros looked like he was glad he did with no protest from him or his corner.

In the Co-feature Newton Villareal was scheduled to fight undefeated south paw Carlos Quintana 17-0-0-13Ko's but was replaced by tough Kermal Kolenovic 8-1-2 -4Ko's less than 48 hours before the fight. Kolenovic has had very few fights over the last few years and his ring rust was exposed. In the first round, Quintana was feeling his opponent out, while Kolenovic was trying to be the aggressor missing with a few wild hooks. The 2nd round was uneventful with Quintana throwing a few 2 punch combinations and Kolenovic missing wildly. The 3rd round saw a real momentum change in the fight with Quintana in total control of the round and hitting and hurting Kolenovic with quick combinations. Quintana kept the heat on Kolenovic and hurt him throughout the fight and easily won a unanimous decision with the score of 80-72,79-73 and 80-72. Local hero and ex-world champion Billy Costello was one of the judges. Quinatana looks like an excellent prospect who is looking to move up the ladder in the welterweight division.

The most exciting fight was a 6 round welterweight fight between undefeated 28 year old Allen Conyers 8-0-6Ko's with his picked opponent, 24 year old Delvin Rodriguez 11-1-1-6Ko's from nearby Danbury Ct. Conyers had the top trainer in the boxing game today in his corner, Ex-champ James "Buddy" McGirt. McGirt also trains Tarver and Gotti and is the most sought after trainer in the sport today. Conyers also has Hip Hop superstar "Fat Joe" as his manager. His presence had the crowd chanting "Lean Back" the title of his latest hit. The glamours corner of Conyers did not faze Rodriguez. The first three rounds were close. The 4th round was the turning point when Rodriguez started to out box Conyers and showed superb defensive skills and threw excellent scoring combinations. Conyers was leading was in with his head. Rodriguez looked like the more schooled fighter. The 5th round was the round of the night when Rodriguez knocked Conyers right through the ropes, right in front of this reporter. His feet were dangling on the ropes with his head down to the floor. He climbed up the steps and made into the ring by the count of 10. Rodriguez went on to win an unanimous decision 59-54 on all 3 cards, I chose Rodriguez as the fighter of the night and he improved his record to an impressive 12-1. I'm sure we will see a lot more from this exciting 24 year old. The 28 year old Conyers suffered his first defeat. Conyers could use a lot more training to improve his boxing techniques. I'm sure if Buddy McGirt has time to work with him, we will see some improvement.

In other fights Joey Rios beat Nelson Alexander in a 6 round Jr. Welterweight fight. Local heavyweight fighter Zuri Lawrence had a easy win over Demetric King and in a woman's Jr. Featherweight Leona Brown beat Olga Heron. All 3 fights were unanimous decisions.

Overall it was a very enjoyable night of fighting. The staff of Northeast Productions did an excellent job at a good venue for boxing. I look for Northeast to put on some more exciting shows in the region.