Shelito Vincent captures first title‏

In a night of epic finishes, Providence’s Shelito Vincent left Twin River Casino with her first championship belt wrapped around her waist.

Fighting for a title for the first time in her career, Vincent (9-0) responded with her most impressive performance to date Friday night, dominating tough challenger Angel Gladney (8-8-1) in an 80-71, 79-72, 79-72 unanimous-decision victory to capture the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) International super bantamweight title in the main event of “The New Era,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports.

“Non-Stop” Gladney lived up to her nickname, trading blows with Vincent throughout the night, but Vincent landed the cleaner shots with more authority, eventually dropping Gladney in the opening seconds of the seventh round with a hard left hook. Gladney, a Columbia, S.C., native, looed sharp early, especially at the end of the opening round when she landed a clean, four-punch combo that stunned Vincent, but Vincent’s relentless pressure was the difference as she eventually wore down her opponent in the later rounds.

In the co-feature, “Mr. Providence” Vladine Biosse (15-2-1) returned to Twin River for the first time in a year with a strong win over Philadelphia super middleweight Latif Mundy (10-6). Working with new trainer Paul Andrade for the first time, Biosse picked up the pace in the second and third rounds, continuously backing Mundy against the ropes. Biosse scored most of his points by landing the power punches, specifically his left hook mixed with a series of uppercuts.

The work with Andrade, including a brief trip to Oakland to train at world champion Andre Ward’s gym, paid off as Biosse rebounded from his loss to Marcus Upshaw in January with an effective, methodical win over the tough Mundy.

Two of the most highly-anticipated undercard bouts lived up to expectations as Rich Gingras (13-3) won a close split decision against Joe Gardner (11-6-1) and star middleweight Thomas Falowo (10-1) impressed with a convincing 59-54, 59-54, 60-53 win over the hard-hitting Tylon Burris (5-1).

Gardner, of Woonsocket, R.I., started strong in his six-round super middleweight showdown as Gingras, the Attleboro, Mass., native, came out wild from the opening round, but Gingras eventually his strength to overpower and, at times, wear out Gardner in the middle rounds. Gingras also mixed in his jab, which peppered Gardner, and began to apply more pressure by backing Gardner into the corner. The result was a 58-56, 56-58, 58-56 win for Gingras, which snapped Gardner’s three-fight win streak.

Facing an unbeaten foe from nearby Hartford, Conn., Falowo turned in what may have been his most impressive performance. The Pawtucket, R.I., native shook off a few strong body blows by Burris and eventually dominated the pace with his typical output, peppering Burris with jabs and landing solid combinations in the later rounds that eventually forced Burris to clinch. With Burris being deducted a point for hitting in the back of the head, Falowo dominated the scorecards, 59-54, 59-54, 60-53, for his fourth consecutive win.

In what might’ve been the most thrilling fight of the night aside from the main event, Cranston, R.I., welterweight Nick DeLomba (1-0) won his professional debut against Portland, Maine’s Jimmy Smith (0-1) in a 59-53, 60-52, 60-52 unanimous decision. The action was much more tense than the scores indicated. Smith pushed the pace early, but DeLomba began landing at will in the middle rounds and eventually battered Smith’s right eye to the point where it swelled late in the fight. Still, Smith battled as the two took turns landing flurries in the center of the ring and exchanged clean hooks in the closing seconds of the sixth and final round to end the bout triumphantly.

Also on the undercard, Cranston welterweight Jon Smith (2-0, 1 KO) earned the first knockout win of his career, stopping Hartford’s Oscar Diaz (0-1) at the 1:24 mark of the opening round. Smith backed Diaz into a corner with a hard left and a follow-up right and finished the fight with a flurry, forcing referee Joey Lupino to stop the fight. Harwich, Mass., super middleweight Paul Gonsalves (5-3) bounced back from a loss in March with a hard-fought win over Roxbury, Mass., veteran Maceo Crowder (2-1), who returned to the ring for the first time in three years. Gonsalves controlled the pace early and won unanimously, 39-37, on all three scorecards 

Hyannis, Mass., heavyweight Jesse Barboza (6-1-1, 3 KOs) stopped New York’s Phil Triantafillo (2-3) at the 1:19 mark of the opening round and welterweight Zack Ramsey (4-0) of Springfield, Mass., outlasted veteran Bryan Abraham (6-17-2) of Schenectady, N.Y., in the toughest fight of his young career to earn a 38-36, 38-36, 37-37 majority decision. Ramsey dropped Abraham with a hard right early in the third round and then rebounded from a flash knockdown in the fourth in which Abraham hit him with a looping right

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 All photos other than those specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Impress Photo-Studios♔ and KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Blog-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Williams makes debut with heavy heart‏; Following his heart Four years after his mother’s murder, Williams embarks on new journey in boxing

Jimmy Williams knows he was born for this. His mother knew, too.

She won’t be there to watch him make his professional boxing debut Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 at Mohegan Sun Casino, but she’ll guide him every step of the way.

“I take her spirit with me every time I step in the ring,” Williams said. “I fear nothing.”

Williams’ mother, Belinda Jordan Williams, died in November of 2008, the victim of a homicide police in Williams’ hometown of Plainfield, N.J., have yet to solve. Her partially-clothed body was found strangled to death behind an abandoned building with signs of a struggle evident by the cuts and scratches on her face. The case remains unsolved. No leads. No motives. No answers.

Though the trail has gone cold, Williams remains in hot pursuit of the truth while chasing his dream of becoming a world champion, a dream his mother always knew he’d follow, even if he didn’t quite know it at the time.

“We were tight. She knew me well,” said Williams, a 26-year-old welterweight prospect now fighting out of New Haven, Conn., where he once starred as a defensive back for the Southern Connecticut State University football team.

“Even during my football days, she told me to never rule out boxing. She told me football was just a phase. We used to argue sometimes. I’d tell her, ‘I’m going to play football!’ but she always kept boxing in the back of my mind.”

Williams actually began boxing with his uncle when he was just 8 years old, but stopped during high school as he became more involved with football. After a standout career at Plainfield High in which he was named one of the nation’s Top 100 players as a senior, Williams was recruited by several Division I colleges, including Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Penn State. He fully committed to Western Michigan until the entire coaching staff that had originally recruited him was abruptly fired; by then, the only school still interested was Southern Connecticut State, leaving him with no options.

“I committed without even visiting,” Williams said.

As a three-year starter, Williams blossomed as one of the nation’s premier defensive backs in college, but everything changed in 2008 when he learned of his mother’s death during a team meeting.

“My sister kept blowing up my phone,” Williams said. “She never really called that much, so I knew something was wrong. I still remember the words she said to me – ‘Don’t stop doing what you’re doing. Keep working hard.’

“My whole life changed.”

After college, Williams entertained thoughts of playing in the NFL. He wasn’t drafted, but he was invited to several post-draft workouts, starting in Oakland with the Raiders. Similar workouts followed with the Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts, but after tweaking a groin muscle while training with the Raiders, Williams wasn’t quite the same physically, and his dream of playing professional football came to a sudden end.

“A lot of teams told me to go play in Canada,” he said. “I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to. I just lost my spirit. I got discouraged.”

Enter boxing, which was always Williams’ first love. Back in New Jersey, he resumed training with his uncle and competed in the state’s Diamond Gloves Tournament, but lost in the opening round, his nine-year layoff a contributing factor.

“I was too stiff,” Williams recalled. “I couldn’t move around the ring.”

Those who had watched Williams in the gym knew there was reason for optimism despite his performance. Underneath his football physique – he bulked up to 180 pounds as a college defensive back – he still had the body of a slick-punching, welterweight capable of out-boxing anyone in his class. Once he shed the extra pounds, he began turning heads in local gyms, including New Haven Boxing, where he made enough of an impression to earn a permanent spot on the roster.

“I used to spar one of their top guys, and they saw day in, day out how I used to bring it to him,” Williams recalled, “so they asked me to join their gym. That’s all she wrote.”

With a new team behind him, including promoter Jimmy Burchfield, who recently signed him to a promotional contract, Williams will make his highly-anticipated debut Jan. 19 on the undercard of NBC Sports’ nationally-televised Fight Night series, co-promoted by Main Events and Classic Entertainment & Sports.

“When I got back into the ring, I didn’t know it would come to this,” he said. “This is my goal. I want to become a world champion, and this is the first step.

“Signing with CES, I think they’ll give me my chance. I’m excited. I’m fired up. I’m ready to go. Words can’t express how I feel. Whoever they put in front of me, I’m willing to beat. I’ve made it this far and been through so much already. Nothing is going to stop me now."

Unbeaten Russian light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev (19-0, 17 KOs) will face Spanish southpaw Gabriel Campillo (21-4-1, 8 KOs) in the 10-round main event while New Haven middleweight Elvin Ayala (26-5-1, 12 KOs) will battle Curtis Stevens (22-3, 16 KOs) of Brownsville, N.Y., in the 10-round co-feature. The undercard includes an eight-round super middleweight showdown between Vladine Biosse (14-1-1, 7 KOs) of Providence, R.I., and Marcus Upshaw (14-8-2, 6 KOs) of Jacksonville, Fla., and a six-round female bantamweight bout between undefeated Shelito Vincent (6-0) of Providence (New London, Conn.) and Bronx native Nydia Feliciano (5-3-3).

Hartford, Conn., super featherweight Joseph “Chip” Perez (10-3, 1 KO) will face Jason Sosa (7-1-3, 3 KOs) of Camden, N.J., in a six-round bout; Brooklyn’s Ian James (2-4-1, 1 KO) will battle newcomer Edwin Cotto of Willimantic, Conn., in a four-round lightweight bout; and unbeaten heavyweight Jarrell Miller (4-0, 4 KOs) of New York will face Philadelphia’s Joey Dawejko (7-1-1, 3 KOs) in a four-round bout. 

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

High Voltage Double Header Tops Off NBSN Fight Night Season Opener Jan 19‏

High Voltage Double Header Tops Off NBSN Fight Night Season Opener Jan 19‏

NBC Sports Network's Fight Night boxing series kicks off its second season on Saturday, January 19th, with a high-voltage double header. The nationally televised event will be shown live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, beginning 9PM ET.

In the Internationally flavored main event, light heavyweights Gabriel Campillo, 21-4-1, 7 KOs, of Madrid, Spain, meets Sergey Kovalev, 18-0-1, 15 KOs, Chelyabinsk, Russia, in an compelling 10-rounder. The bout looks like a classic boxer-puncher match up, with Kovalev bringing the power while Campillo provides the finesse.

Campillo is a former WBA light heavyweight champion, who came within a whisker of winning the IBF crown against Tavoris Cloud last year. Cloud retained his title by controversial decision, but most believed slick southpaw Campillo deserved the victory. "The Handsome Man" will look to bounce back by schooling the hard-punching "Krusher", but this main event is a toss-up.

Kovalev has been on the rise, knocking out almost everyone put in his path. He hasn't been extended to the final bell in more than two years, and will certainly be looking to add another KO to his resume, especially one with a name as distinguished as Campillo's.

In the 10-round co-feature, Elvin Ayala, 26-5-1, 12 KOs, takes on Curtis Stevens, 22-3, 16 KOs, in a battle between two middleweights hungry for the spotlight. Their clash before a nationally televised audience should provide them with the perfect opportunity to shine.

Ayala, of New Haven, CT, is a well-travelled vet with six straight wins, three of them by KO. He stopped John Mackey at the Mohegan Sun in his last fight, and before that, pitched a near shutout on national TV against Eric Mitchell at Foxwoods, also in CT. Against Stevens, Ayala will again have the home-state advantage.

Curtis Stevens, of Brownsville, Brooklyn, is a rising star who's kayoed four of his last six opponents. His most recent foe, Romaro Johnson, didn't make it out of the first round. Another of his KO victims was then-undefeated Pitor Wilczewski, whom Stevens starched in three rounds.

Ayala and Stevens are both boxer-punchers with something to prove, and should provide each other with a serious test.

With these two excellent bouts on tap, and their likelihood to produce knockouts, boxing fans are certain to be the big winners on this busy night of televised boxing. With other cable boxing shows scheduled for later in the evening, these excellent Fight Night wars should be settled long before the other programs even begin.

Seven bouts are planned for the January 19 card to be held at Mohegan Sun Arena, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard Uncasville, CT. Sergey Kovalev, 19-0-1, 17 KOs, takes on Gabriel Campillo, 21-4-1, 8 KOs, in an international 10-round light heavyweight main event. In the co-feature, Elvin Ayala, 26-5-1, 12 KO's, battles Curtis Stevens, 22-3, 16 KO's, in a 10-round middleweight contest. The card is promoted by Main Events and Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment Sports in association with Peltz Boxing, Sampson Boxing, and Dovolani Boxing.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.

Lettin’ it all out!; Vincent breaking out of her shell‏; With three fights under her belt, Vincent looking to take her career to the next level

Believe it or not, the Shelito Vincent who won each of her first three professional fights in dominant fashion was actually a toned-down version of the one we might see Saturday night.

“I’m starting to feel more comfortable in the ring,” said Vincent (3-0), who will put her undefeated record on the line Saturday, July 21st, 2012 against Ivana Coleman of Slidell, La., in a four-round bantamweight bout on the undercard of Jimmy Burchfield’s “The Fire Within” professional boxing show, presented by Classic Entertainment & Sports at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

“Everything is starting to come together. Expect to see a lot of great things coming.”

For Vincent – raised in New London, Conn., and now training in Providence, R.I. – one of the biggest hurdles was adjusting to her new life as a professional boxer, which began in October with a win over Karen Dulin.

Now she’s in search of her fourth consecutive victory under the promotional guidance of Burchfield, who is no stranger to the intricacies of women’s boxing; he helped guide Jaime Clampitt to two world titles during her 10-year career.

“[Signing a long-term contract] is something all of us girls want,” Vincent said. “I’ve always wanted Jimmy to support me. This is the team I’m going to be with for my whole career.”

Burchfield and the rest of the viewing audience next Saturday might witness Vincent’s best performance to date. Her comfort level has increased dramatically within the past nine months, and she’s finally broken out of her shell both in and outside of the ring, which could be bad news for Coleman.

“My last fight was my best fight,” said Vincent, who beat Carmen Cruz unanimously in March to improve to 3-0. “I just felt as though I was in a certain rhythm and everything came together. My combinations were good, I was coming up underneath – all the training and work I put into that fight brought out the best in me.

“Boxing is like anything else; the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. It was like that in the amateurs, too, and now I’m starting to get that same feeling as a pro.”

Coleman has never boxed professionally, but she has a 1-2 record in professional mixed martial arts, so Vincent is expecting the unexpected next weekend, something she’s prepared for in camp by sparring other mixed martial arts fighters.

“The thing I’ve noticed about them is everything they do is wide, whether it’s the way they punch, or their footwork – everything is wide, more so than boxers,” Vincent said. “I’ll try to use my jab and work off that, and just move around more.

“She has a good right hand and hits hard. A lot of times when I spar other MMA girls their feet are all over the place. They’re actually harder to spar with than someone who has boxing skills. They’re more awkward. That’s what I’m expecting.”

Vincent is also expecting tremendous fan support, which has become a theme at each of her professional fights. With a captivating background stemming from her rough childhood, she’s become an ally for troubled youth both in Connecticut and Rhode Island. After this fight, she’ll continue her tour of Connecticut schools, relaying her story to children to help make sure they don’t go through the same thing she went through growing up. She’s also participating in the World Boxing Council’s WBC Cares anti-bullying campaign.

“I love doing this in my spare time. I think it’s my calling,” she said. “I just love working with kids. I think it would’ve been such a big difference in my life I had someone to talk to growing up.”

Part of Vincent’s message is the need for discipline and structure, which she developed later in life through boxing. She turned the corner for good in 2008 and won a national Golden Gloves title before making her pro debut at the age of 32.

“The boxing kept me on track. It made me not afraid. It made me feel strong,” Vincent said. “It brings a lot of stuff out of me. Hitting the bag is like running. If you’re having a bad day, go to the gym, hit the bag and let it all out.

“It’s definitely been the most positive thing for me in my life. Like I always tell people, boxing saved my life.”

Vincent’s new life inside the ring is off to a tremendous start, and with Burchfield in her corner, the sky’s the limit. The female bantamweight division is wide open, and Vincent’s rise to the top could continue Saturday with another impressive performance.

“The ultimate goal is to get some belts and bring them back to CES and New London,” she said. “I want to make everyone in my city proud. To be the best, who doesn’t want that? That’ll be the best feeling in my life. I think I’ll get it – I know I will. I’ll make sure no one else works harder than I do.”

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time.EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.