This past Wednesday night in downtown Pittsburgh boxing fans were served up a pre Thanksgiving boxing feast when Roy Jones Jr and TNT promotions held what TNT Promoter Troy Ridgley stated plans to be an annual card by his promotional company.
The fight card had 6 undercards with the main event being headlined by Pittsburgh’s own Monty Meza-Clay, ranked #14 by the WBA at super featherweight.
The undercard fights were highly entertaining and evenly matched fights.
The first two fights ended in stoppage. Bryan Acaba (New York, NY) stopped Barrington Douse of (Springfield, MA) in the opening fight of the night and Acaba won with a 4th round stoppage. Acaba was aggressive through the first three round, then a minute and a half in the 4th, Acaba caught Douse with a body shot that hurt him, Acaba then came with a right to the head that sent Douse to the canvas. Douse was able to beat the count however Acaba kept the pressure on and the ref rightfully called the bout at 1:55 of the 4th.
After a minor delay in getting the fighters to the ring for the second bout of the night.w Pittsburgh bred Billy “the boilermaker” Hutchinson came into the ring backed by a loud cheering section coming out to support the local fighter who was facing Ronnie Fuentez of Culiacan Mexico. Hutchinson came out looking a little like a cross between Urijah Faber of the UFC and boxer Paulie Malignaggi, sporting braids in the front of his hair. Hutchinson came out the aggressor while Funetez was trying to use his jab to keep Hutchinson away. Most action was initiated by Hutching and his aggression paid off as he caught Fuentez with a body shot that made Fuentez wince in pain on the canvas, Fuentez would get up and tried to make it to the end of the round but Hutchinson had other plans and it come in the form of another perfectly placed body shot that put Fuentez down for good. The referee called the bout off at 2:59 of the 1st round.
The next two bouts also had local talent in the ring. The third fight feature Justin “baby boy” Johnson of Pittsburgh facing Richie Andrews of Charlottesville, VA. in a four round tilt. Andrews came out sharp and quicker than Johnson from the beginning. Johnson meanwhile kept getting caught with lefts from Andrews stayed in the fight with the help of his jab. However after the first two rounds it looked as Andrews would walk away with a 4 round decision as Andrews landed numerous combos to Johnson’s sporadic jabs. Johnson came out in the 3rd and connected a few good shots to the tired Andrews. At the end of the 3rd Johnson appeared to hurt Andrews with a right hook of his own. In the 4th Johnson the fresher of the two landed a couple good body shots that seemed to slow Andrews down. Both men continued some good back a forth action in the ring and at the end it looked as though Johnson had also won the 4th. The first fight to go to the cards was called a draw 39-37, 37-39 and 38-38. I also had it a draw and felt that it was the right call.
“Big Chief” Morgan Fitch was the next local up as he faced Randy Campbell of Canton, OH, in a 4rd bout. For the first 3 rounds, Fitch was trying to track down the elusive Campbell as Campbell used the ring to avoid being caught with the right, a punch Fitch was throwing all night. At the end of the 3rd Fitch caught and dropped Campbell as he was trying to get away from Fitch’s continuous aggressiveness. Coming out for the final round, Campbell looked as if he was still a little shaky from the previous knockdown and Fitch went on the offensive. Campbell once again tried to avoid the jab straight right from Fitch only to be caught and dropped once again. Campbell seemed to be upset that he got dropped again and got back up right away. As the ref was giving Campbell a standing 8 count, the ref felt he saw enough damage taken by Campbell and called the fight at 1:04 of the 4th. The stoppage was a little soon, but Campbell was more than likely down on the scorecards and didn’t seem to complain about the stoppage.
In a 4 round Super Lightweight clash, Dominican Republic’s Eudy Bernado stepped in the ring against Gabe Morris of Toledo, OH. This fight went the distance as Bernado displayed his superior skills against the overmatched Morris. Morris showed toughness and good ring presence, he was hurt a couple times and wisely ran from the talented Bernardo. Bernado also showed great ring smarts of the as he kept his form and stuck to his game plan all night long. Bernado methodically tracked down and out boxed Morris over 4 rounds to earn a Unanimous Decision.
The Co-Feature main event had Johnstown, local and WBF Americas Champion Andres “Taylor made” Taylor square off against Gary Gomez of Salt Lake City. Taylor outworked Gomez over the 8 round bout to secure a Unanimous Decision over the less aggressive Gomez.
The main event showcased local favorite Monty Meza-Clay against Leon Bobo of St.Louis, MO. Early on Bobo used his height and reach to stay away from the shorter Clay. Over the first two rounds Clay was having trouble finding his comfort zone against the taller Bobo who kept peppering Clay with jabs. Clay got caught coming in on Bobo in the 1st round as Bobo was able to daze Clay momentarily. Through the mid rounds, Clay was able to slowly chip away and get inside on Bobo and started taking over by the 5th. Clay was able to cut the ring off on Bobo and punish Bobo with 5-6 unanswered shots in a couple of the mid rounds. Going into the 8th, Clay seemed to have built a good lead on the scorecards but Bobo was not ready to quit as he came out in the 8th and landed a couple solid combos. The two men traded punches for the remainder of the 8th with Bobo landing the more telling shots. The fight went to the judges and Clay ending up with a closer fight on the cards, as Clay won by Split Decision. 77-75 Bobo, 79-73 Meza-Clay, 78-74 Meza-Clay.
Prior to the Main event, fans were treated to an exhibition match with the former pound for pound Roy Jones Jr. stepping in the ring for 3 rounds against West Virginia’s cruiserweight champ Bobby Thomas Jr. While the fight may have only been an exhibition with headgear, Jones Jr was still displaying a little of that swagger that he had in so many of his fights throughout the years. It was especially neat for me to see Jones Jr in the ring as he was one of the few fighters I did not get to see in his prime live. Being as close as I was, I became a fan for a moment and forgot that he is not the same fighter he was 10 years ago-for a 
moment at the fights, I was picturing Jones Jr against Ruiz and Montel Griffin; Thinking about how fast and good he was in his prime. Then I realized that no matter what I remember as a fan, Jones Jr is still fighting today. However the fights are a far cry from his heyday while choosing his fights with HBO, and Jones Jr is not the fighter many have come to know and love but he is still Roy Jones Jr. No one can tell a fighter when it’s time to truly hang them up-thats a choice that the fighter needs to make themselves. Health or not,right or wrong, fighters have earned the right to choose when and how they leave the fight game… and Roy Jones Jr. has earned that, regardless of how anyone else feels about his career or health, in the end, it’s his personal choice.
With that, If no one was aware…
Roy Jones Jr has a fight December 10th in Atlanta, Georgia. Before he entered the ring they showcased a highlight reel of some of Roy’s best fights and in the middle of the reel Jones spoke to the camera and stated his fight in December will be the “greatest comeback ever”. While that statement remains to be true, Roy Jones Jr will be back in the ring, once again fighting, for money, glory or perhaps some other personal reason. No matter the reason, I for one hope it ends well for Jones Jr.
In the end, it was a good night of boxing. It was a good turnout for the fights in downtown Pittsburgh. The event as a whole was run well. The fights were good match ups,the announcer did a great job of handling the nights events and also knowing when to let the live DJ do his job. The venue was a perfect size to house the fights and it was nice to see such a large crowd; Pittsburgh knows how to support their local sports even if it’s not the Steelers or Penguins. It’s also nice to see from a boxing fan POV that local cards are supported. It seems as though promoters are still keeping the fights in the Casinos and very rarely do fans see local talent kept locally and gain a strong local following before they go on to bigger fights. Let’s Get In On Promotions seems to do a good job in Reno with local fighters in the area and Wednesday night Roy Jones Jr and TNT Promotions proved that Pittsburgh has a good following as well and that’s always a good thing .