On Friday, August 28, 2015, Marshall Kauffman’s King’s Promotions in association with Keystone Boxing, presented an exciting 11-bout card at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.
The main event featured two fighters–Brandon Bennett (19-2, 8 KOs) and Jonathan Maicelo (22-2, 12 KOs)–who were looking to rise in the ranks of the Lightweight division in hopes of scoring a title shot in the near future.
In his last bout, Maicelo dropped a decision to Darleys Perez on ESPN in January of this year, but he took it as a learning experience and felt that he had improvements to show against Bennett.
Bennett–whose lone loss came against top contender Francisco Vargas–was looking to prove that he is ready to get back in title contention and on television in front of a larger audience.
Maicelo wasted no time getting things started as he came out aggressive in Round 1, winging power shots to the head and body, in hopes of earning Bennett’s respect.
Maicelo has been known to start quickly in the past, but in fights against Rustam Nugaev and the aforementioned Perez, Maicelo seemed to get extremely fatigued as the fights wore on. That would not be the case against Bennett.
One thing Maicelo has never been shy about is taking two punches to deliver one. Almost to a fault, Maicelo stands and trades at will, always looking to land a power shot.
On Friday night, Maicelo was matched with the perfect dance partner–one who was willing to trade, but lacked serious pop. Bennett can succeed by using his athleticism and by being a slick, crafty boxer, but he spent a lot of the fight trading in close quarters with Maicelo, perhaps trying to earn some respect of his own.
Because Bennett doesn’t hit very hard, Maicelo saw no issue with opening up and trading throughout the 10-round bout, even though he ate some leather in the process.
Although Bennett came forward and pressed the action for most of the fight, Maicelo spent the better part of each round pounding the body and controlling the exchanges with cleaner shots.
At times throughout the fight, a more disciplined referee could have come in handy as both men went through spurts of holding and hitting. But, overall, Maicelo and Bennett provided fans with an entertaining onslaught of action.
Bennett–who was cheered on at ringside by a host of friends and fighters such as Adrien Broner–was beat to the punch throughout the night and was never able to muster up enough offense to fully change the tide.
In the end, the judges scored the bout unanimously for Maicelo, 99-91 and 97-93 twice. The victory was a step in the right direction for Maicelo who, although he won by wide scores, was forced to dig deep and use all of the tools in his shed–particularly his stamina.
Bennett dropped the second bout of his career and must reevaluate the type of fighter he wants to be before taking on another top contender.
Click here to view results from all of the other bouts.
