Thanks to Makina Promotions and Ray Frye Boxing, boxing has returned to Washington with a vengeance. In one of the best fight cards in the state, Makina outdid themselves by staging a night of competitive and entertaining bouts featuring bangers, boxers, with plenty of thrills and a few upsets.

 

Almost all the bouts were first class and competitive and not the usual blather of mismatches usually found on such shows. Keith Weir did a fine job arranging the matches in such a way that either boxer in a bout could emerge the winner.

 

There was standing room only at the Meydenbauer Center on March 12 for the Battle of Bellevue. The show sold out before the event and people clamored to buy the standing room tickets to witness a great night of fights. Unlike many slipshod events that bumble their way through an evening, the show was totally professional with one fight following on the heels of another. The absence of long delays between fights was greatly appreciated and the action never tipped. Sonny, the announcer, sharp, articulate, bilingual, and a sharp dresser, had a great association with the audience.

 

The main event between undefeated fighters Jesus Saracho and Deonte Brown started quickly then settled into a more quiet professional and careful fight. Saracho missed the weight by 4 pounds and for a while the fight was in danger of falling out. There is no excuse for a boxer to miss weight. Four pounds is ridiculous. Brown’s team accepted the fight if Saracho unofficially made weight prior to the fight. He did and it showed. Slower than usual, he fought as best he could but Brown continued to move ahead finally knocking Saracho out with a body shot in the 9th round.

 

Jonathan Fierro always brings action to his fights. He put his undefeated record against  Daniel Bailey. Bailey had been advised to box for the first two rounds and not mix it up with Fierro. Only one of 12 Fierro’s fights has gone past the 2nd round and boxing experts claim he is totally exhausted by the 3rd and easily defeated afterward. Bailey refused to listen, decided to mix it up, and he paid the price. Fierro put him away in round 2.

 

The best fight of the night goes to Richard VanSiclen and Cameron Sevilla Rivera. VanSiclen had beaten Cameron Sevilla Rivera before and Rivera was out to even the score. He trained at the Wild Card Gym for the fight. The fight came down to style and heart. They did not fight toe-to-toe but chest to chest. This was VanSiclen’s first real fight after building his record on the faces of silly opponents and he proved he is ready to start up the ladder to bigger things, better opponents, and more money. The 8-round fight swayed back and forth nonstop with VanSiclen throwing more punches, many missing, and Rivera throwing fewer, but harder and more accurate punches. Several times VanSiclen appeared to be hurt but each time his tremendous heart brought him back. Like a zit on a teenager he would not go away. Rivera also caught a few, but remained in the fight. The other boxers continued later to talk about the fight, some disputing the decision depending upon the style they preferred.

 

William Hernandez was put into an unfortunate fight against Jacob George, a man with absolutely NO boxing skills. He might have been put into this fight to restore his confidence after suffering a 1st round TKO against 3-0 Quadir Albright. This is a common practice for fighters who have just lost although why anyone’s confidence would be raised by fighting anyone’s grandmother remains a mystery. Hernandez appeared to carry George for a while before mercifully putting him away.

 

Gessuri Brito stepped into the ring against Yakama’s Gilberto Duran (3-5-0). He was determined to feature his skills and to get back on track after his first loss. He is a much better skilled boxer than Duran. Duran is the harder puncher. His three wins were all by knockout. Unfortunately for Gessuri, the puncher won out putting him away in the second round.

 

James Browning and William Parra Smith staged a nice technical fight until the 5th round when Smith went down from a body shot and decided to retire rather than continue to get beaten up.

 

Jose Cervantes went down in round 2 of his bout against Margarito Hernandez. That sealed his fate since there is no way to come back in a 4-round fight unless you win every other round. Hernandez took the fight by unanimous decision.

 

Alarenz Reynolds had his hands full against Juan Jackson as the two pummeled one another around the ring for 4 rounds. Reynolds received a slight edge and took home the split decision keeping him undefeated.