On Friday, March 18, 2016, a pair of undefeated Top Rank rising prospects headlined a night of boxing from a sold-out 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The fight card was promoted by Top Rank, Peltz Boxing, Joe Hand Promotions and BAM Boxing.
Undefeated super middleweight contender Jesse Hart (20-0, 16 KOs) headlined the “Hart of the City” night of action in his backyard against hard-nosed opponent, Dashon Johnson (19-19-3, 6 KOs) in a bout that had the NABO & USBA Super Middleweight titles on the line.
Hart came out to a massive ovation from the Philly faithful as he looked to emphatically throw his name into title contention.
Hart started the fight intent on firing the jab at Johnson, all while showing off some swift mobility.
Johnson, who seemed satisfied with following Hart around while eating hard combinations, tried to close the gap and work the 6’2″ Hart on the inside, but he wasn’t able to offer much in the form offense early on
The first half of the fight was dominated by Hart who did a good job of mixing up his punches behind the jab, firing double left hooks to Johnson’s head and uppercuts to his midsection.
Hart displayed a wide array of punch combinations in his repertoire, none better then the double left hook that consistently found a home on Johnson’s face.
Hart working upstairs and downstairs. Johnson shows a good beard. #HOTC #boxing
— PeltzBoxing (@PeltzBoxing) March 19, 2016
But in Round 6, just as the commentators noted that Hart looked to be slowing down and breathing with an open mouth, Johnson turned the tables.
As the round came to a close, a wild exchange ended with Hart getting clipped with a power shot and hitting the deck.
Though the fall wasn’t officially ruled a knockdown, Johnson made it clear that wasn’t folding and and that things would be difficult for Hart going down the stretch.
In Round 7, an all-out slugfest broke out as Johnson crowded Hart on the ropes and landed clean power punches. Hart was visibly gassed and definitely lost the round as he looked to muster up enough energy to finish the fight.
The tables turned again in the following round as Hart got a second wind in Round 8 and continued to pound Johnson with numerous hooks and uppercuts.
The final round started off the same way as Round 1, with Hart circling and Johnson aimlessly stalking.
It looked as though the accumulation of punches that Johnson had taken all night had finally caught up with him.
But things changed in the final 20 seconds as Hart was forced to dig deeper than ever before.
Johnson cracked Hart with a big overhand right that sent the tired hometown fighter reeling into the ropes. After eating another flush shot, Hart crashed to the deck.
Perfect right hand sent Hart down.
— Raging Babe (@RagingBabe) March 19, 2016
Unfortunately for Johnson–and fortunately for Hart–the round ended a few seconds later and the fight went to the scorecards.
Jesse Hart defeats Dashon Johnson 97-92, 95-94 and 98-91. #Boxing #HOTC pic.twitter.com/U04Ebl8PkS
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) March 19, 2016
Who knows if Hart would have been able to hold off Johnson’s assault if the bout had another minute left, but it was definitely a learning experience against a tough-as-nails opponent for the Philly fighter.
Hart got the job done in his homecoming bout, but he may need a few more fights to get prepared for a world title shot against the winner of the April 9 fight between WBO champion Arthur Abraham and Gilberto Ramirez.
In the co-main event of the evening, Waldorf, MD’s Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed (18-0, 10 KOs) took on the battled tested Accra, Ghana native, Samuel Amoako (21-9, 15 KOs) in a Lightweight tilt.
After numerous setbacks with opponents falling through, it was good for Reed to get in the ring as he cruised to a sixth-round decision victory.
Amoako, who was a last-minute replacement, was two steps behind Reed all night.
To the delight of the commentators, Reed mixed up his offense with shots to the head and body as Amoako retreated for the better part of six rounds.
Amoako was reluctant to throw many punches, probably because Reed repeatedly ripped him to the body.
Reed remained undefeated and looks to stay busy with bigger fights in 2016.
@YesIndeed_Reed wins one-sided UD in Philly. #Boxing #HOTC pic.twitter.com/JgVm78i51j
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) March 19, 2016
