Friday, April 17, 2015, Greg Cohen Promotions in association with Adam Wilcock’s Fight Card Promotions presented a night of Championship Boxing on CBS Sports Network.
The night was headlined by Dennis Hogan (21-0-1, 7 KOs) and Tyrone Brunson (22-5-1, 21 KOs) who fought an entertain bout which was scheduled for 10 rounds with the vacant WBA-NABA USA super welterweight title on the line.
Going into the bout, Brunson was known for having big knockout power–albeit against lesser known opponents–but it was Hogan who came forward early on and dictated the pace in Round 1.
Brunson was patient and measured with his offense, boxing off his back foot, seemingly looking to extend Hogan into the later rounds.
The middle rounds were tough to call with both men finding success in different spots.
In Round 4, Brunson began to open up his offensive attack and landed two hard right hands flush on Hogan’s chin–his best punches up to that point. The difference in hand speed was apparent as Brunson boxed masterfully throughout the stanza, continually beating Hogan to the punch.
In between rounds, Brunson’s corner confidently instructed their man to walk Hogan down because they felt he could not fight backing up. In Round 5, Hogan turned the tables and began to find a home for his own overhand right as he walked Brunson down.
Brunson continued to work his jab and box, but Hogan had more success pressuring and trapping Brunson on the ropes.
Hogan was clocked by a good left hook in Round 8, which seemed to buckle him momentarily, but showing his toughness and grit he continued pushing forward trying to get Brunson against the ropes.
By the last round, the fight seemingly hung in the balance. Brunson’s corner implored their fighter to throw two and three punch combinations and finish the fight convincingly. For the better part of two minutes, Brunson put sharp combinations together and was in control. Hogan did land a solid right hand, but it was Brunson’s combo’s and movement that seemed to carry the round.
In the end, the final round didn’t matter. The fight went to the scorecards and in a bit of a surprise, Hogan won a unanimous decision with scores of 96-94, 98-92 and 97-93.
The fight was certainly closer than the two wide margin cards and during the post-fight interview, Hogan acknowledged how tough it was.
“I felt a little power in the third round. Even though I was okay with that power, I still wanted to avoid it for the rest of the fight. I boxed cagey enough, but Tyrone demanded respect with his power.”
In the opening televised bout of the evening, amateur standout Robert Brant took on Dionisio Miranda in a scheduled eight-round bout.
After an uneventful Round 1, Brant turned up the heat in the second round, clocking his opponent with every punch in the book.
Brant’s athleticism and punching accuracy were on display as he nailed Miranda with lead left hooks and straight rights at will.
Brant knocked Miranda down and although it appeared Miranda could have gotten up, he was counted out, giving Brant a TKO victory and his 15th career win.
Ismael Barroso took on Ira Terry in the second bout of the night in a fight that was an utter mismatch. Originally, Barroso was scheduled to head to the UK to fight, while Terry was supposed to Tony Luis. But, visa issues threw a wrench in those plans so the promotional team sent Luis off to the UK and set up Barroso to take on Terry.
Barroso imposed his will early on, landing hard shots which shook Terry from pillar to post. It didn’t take long for Barroso to land the money shot–a straight left hand–which put Terry on his back.
The official end came at 2:49 of Round 1. With the loss, Barroso improves to 18-0-2, 17 KOs, while Terry drops to 26-14, 16 KOs.
Brooklyn’s own Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller was featured in the third televised bout of the night as he took on Raymond Ochieng in a Heavyweight bout.
Miller–who fights out of the famed Gleasons Gym–has an extensive combat sports background and came in undefeated as a professional boxer.
Ochieng opened up the fight on the offensive, winging sloppy hooks and uppercuts while Miller easily blocked them with a tight guard.
Once Ochieng threw his best couple of punches, Miller unloaded and dropped Ochieng with a combination that was started by a big uppercut.
After eating eight consecutive punches, Ochieng nearly fell through the ropes, and instead of giving him a chance to beat the count, the referee waived off the bout.
Big Baby improves to 12-0-1, 10 KOs while Ochieng falls to 26-19-3, 21 KOs.
