by Christopher P. Cook and Damon Gonzalez, at ringside, photos by Tom Sisson

Nick Iannuzzi's impressive hard-fought win highlighted an exciting night of boxing at the Tampa Westshore DoubleTree Hotel, presented by Terry Trekas and One Punch Productions.  Tampa's own Nick "The Showstopper" Iannuzzi (15-1-0, 9 KOs) won a unanimous decision victory over Victor Barragan (11-5-0, 3 KOs).  In a back-and-forth contest, both fighters gave it their all in front of a full house in Tampa, Florida.

Iannuzzi, 199.6 lbs, kept the fight at a distance to start, popping in and out with his jab in the first.  The jab continued to be the focus of Iannuzzi, as he continued to use the punch throughout the round.  Oxnard, Calif.'s Barragan, 198.0, landed a hard shot in the second, causing Iannuzzi to step back and ask for more.  Action continued as Iannuzzi stayed on the aggressive, landing a good uppercut-hook to end the second round.  Continuing to impress in the third, Iannuzzi kept the pressure on Barragan, landing cleanly with his effective jabbing.  A devastating straight right from Iannuzzi crushed into Barragan's nose in the third, spraying the commission with blood.

Iannuzzi peppered his opponent in fourth with jabs and straights, wearing down Barragan, who appeared overmatched at this point, desperately trying to turn the bout in his favor.  The tide turned a bit in the fifth, with Barragan landing more often, with the action increasingly moving inside.  Iannuzzi began to tire in the sixth, almost slipping several times.  Both fighters’ hands lowered and production fell as the sixth saw several sloppy punches.  The round finished strong for Iannuzzi with a headshot opening up Barragan's nose further.

The tempo of the match picked up a bit in the seventh, as both fighters are tasting blood.  Iannuzzi landed a nice right-left combination to the body of Barragan in the either.  Undeterred, Barragan continued to come forward.  The fighters traded punches for much of the next round, with Iannuzzi seeming to get the better of it.  Barragan hurt Iannuzzi in the ninth with a left hook and straight right landed with him against the ropes.  Barragan followed Iannuzzi for the rest of the round trying to capitalize.  With ten seconds left in the round, both fighters poured it on, trying to land the elusive knockdown blow.  The final round witnessed both fighters trying the best, trading shots several times.  An exciting end to an exciting bout, as all three judges, Michelle Hellstern, Mike Ross, and Alex Levin scored the bout 96-94 in favor of Iannuzzi.

In the co-feature bout of the evening, the elder of the undefeated Willis brothers, Quinton Willis (5-1-1, 3 KOs) tasted defeat facing off against Omar Bell (8-1-0, 5 KOs).  Bell, 155.0 lbs, kept Willis, 155.6, at a distant with solid straights during the first.  Willis was able to land several punishing left hooks to the head of Bell, but Bell handled them well, and kept to his game plan.  The second started with Willis hesitant to exchange with Bell, allowing Bell to land 1-2 combinations at will.  A right hand from Bell landed solidly in the third, followed by a brutal series of punches topped off with a left hook, dropping Willis.  Not to be outdone, Willis finally returned fire, landing several solid overhand rights hurting Bell.  Bell, luckily, made it through the round, as both finished off the round landing solid punches.

Bell opened the following round with distance punches, not allowing Willis to come in and launch an offensive of his own.  Both fighters began to tire, as their production dropped.  Bell continued his pressure throughout, opening up a cut on Willis with a jab in the fourth.  The fifth saw much of the same, as output dropped and exchanges less frequent.  The more experienced Bell dictated the pace for much of the bout, with solid jabs and straights.  The competitive fight came to a close with all three judges, Ross, Levin, and Brian Garry, scoring the bout 60-53 all in favor of Omar Bell.

Undefeated Cordaro Simpkins (4-0-0, 0 KOs) continued his unbeaten streak against Juan Luis Melendez (2-3-1, 0 KOs).  Simpkins took control in the first, landing a straight left hand which dropped an off-balance Melendez in the first.  Melendez tried to overwhelm Simpkins to start the second, throwing a barrage of punches with Simpkins on the ropes.  Another solid left shook Melendez in fourth.  All judges (Levin, Garry, and Hellstern) were in agreement, scoring it 39-36 for Simpkins.

Local favorite Charlie Serrano (9-2-0, 2 KOs), 122.0, squared off against Sammir Garcia (5-2-0, 3 KOs), 122.0, in a crowd-pleasing 6 round bout.  The match started with both fighters feeling each other out.  Serrano kept at a distance as much as possible, with Sammir landing a couple quick combinations when the fighters came in.  Both fighters picked up the pace in the second.  An accidental headbutt opened up a gash above Serrano and Garcia's left eyes.  Once Serrano opened up in the third, the bout shifted more to his favor, as Garcia began to slow down his production and resort to holding and rabbit punching.  Serrano continued to set the pace for rest of the match, winning via unanimous decision with judges Hellstern and Ross scoring the contest 58-56 and Garry scoring it 59-55.

The younger of the Willis brothers, "Magic" Marcus Willis (4-0-2, 2 KOs), 154.2, faced Odias Dumezil (3-4-0, 1 KO), 160, of Haiti, in the second match of the evening.  The first round of the overweight light middleweight contest saw both fighters trading shots in the middle of the ring.  A solid head shot by Willis caught Dumezil, with a wide grimace coming across his face.  Willis continued to press the remaining thirty seconds of the round, with Dumezil holding on.  The third saw more infighting with Dumezil holding.  Willis ended the third with two solid left hooks to Dumezil's cheek.  Willis felt the end coming, pressing the action more in the fourth with left-right combinations.  Scores for the bout were 40-36 (Judges: Hellstern, Ross, Levin) all for still undefeated Willis.

Starting off the night, heavyweights Chris Vendola (5-3-0, 5 KOs), 237.4, and Robert Turner (1-2-0, 1 KO), 204.4, met.  Turner went on the aggressive early, landing several powerful right hooks to the head of Vendola.  Turner dropped Vendola towards the end of the first with a left-right hook combination, and finished off the round with the left hook to the head of Vendola for the second and final knockdown.  The action-packed fight ended at 2:59 of the first with Turner walking away with his first victory, coming via KO.

"Ballroom Brawl" was presented by One Punch Productions along with Tampa Fight Factory and Ker's Winghouse in front of a packed house in chilly Tampa, Florida.  On hand for the night of boxing were former world champions "The Galaxxy Warrior" Nate Campbell, Hector "Macho" Camacho, Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy, Andre Berto, and Chevelle "Fists of Steel" Hallback, along with Hall of Fame boxing trainers Angelo Dundee and Jimmy Williams.  One Punch Productions returns to the Tampa Westshore DoubleTree Hotel on Friday, May 21.