Brick City Boxing

By: Christopher Roche, Ringside
Last night, in Union City, NJ, Henry Crawford threw every punch in the dictionary. When the fight was over, Thomas Davis needed a thesaurus to find out what hit him.

The 26 year-old Crawford, of Paterson, NJ, landed a hard straight-right midway through the first round, and the tone was set for what would be a very one-sided affair. Crawford’s right hand stunned Davis, and Crawford jumped on him as Davis covered up on the ropes. This scenario was repeated in rounds two, three and four, as the storyline never shifted. The bout became a lesson in survival for the 35 year-old Davis.

The suspense that developed in this bout settled around whether or not Crawford could finish Davis off. By the sixth round, Crawford appeared a little sluggish, after all, he had thrown hundreds of punches in bunches. However, in the seventh round, the beating resumed and in the eighth, Crawford put the fight on ice and went on to win a lopsided decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-71 and 79-73. Crawford improved to 18-0-1, 8 KO’s, and Davis, of Knoxville, TN, fell to 12-7-2, 7 KO’s. The bout took place in the welterweight division.

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Co-Feature

Promising light-middleweight prospect Ronny Vargas, of the Bronx, stopped a confused William Armstead at 58 seconds of round one. Armstead initially rushed Vargas and then turned his back on him several times. Vargas was slightly confused by this tactic, and he did not want to hit Armstead in the back and incur a foul. Armstead, of Columbus, OH, eventually faced Vargas and took a clean shot that earned him a ten count. Vargas looked stunned and disappointed by his opponents’ actions, but his hand was raised for his fifth victory in a row. Vargas moved to 5-0, 4 KO’s, and Armstead dropped to 2-5, 1 KO.

Undercard Results

Jeremy “Hollywood” Bryan, also of Paterson, NJ, continued his winning ways when Adam Salas’ corner threw in the towel in round three. Bryan pounded Salas for most of the bout, as Salas was content to lean on the ropes and absorb punishment. The 21 year-old Bryan, who campaigns at light welterweight, moved to 3-0, 2 KO’s. Salas dropped to 10-11, 2 KO’s.

In his pro debut, Union City light-heavyweight Jason Escalera thrilled the crowd with a smashing first round knockout of Jeff Gross. Escalera landed almost at will, and after two knockdowns, he closed the show with an uppercut. The night’s action had to be halted as the medical team attended to Gross. Escalera moved to 1-0, 1 KO, while Gross, of Indiana, fell to 0-1.

In other action, New Brunswick, NJ bantamweight prospect Jorge Diaz stopped the well traveled Arthur Parker in the second round. The twenty year-old Diaz moved to 3-0, 3 KO’s while Parker fell to 1-6, 1 KO.

Last night’s card was held at the historic Park Theater in Union City. The area, known by locals as North Hudson, is a traditional boxing hotbed, and it was refreshing to see the pro-boxing game make a return to the neighborhood. The crowd was boisterous, and rookie promoter John Lynch of Pound for Pound Promotions was likely pleased with his initial effort.