Those of you who made the ride to Mobile Saturday night to see the best and brightest in Alabama professional boxing definitely got your money’s worth.
In Mobile’s first nationally televised professional boxing event in 30 years, Tuscaloosa heavyweight Deontay Wilder improved to 24-0 by knocking out Kerston Manswell 2:10 into the first round. The bout, which was televised on FOX Sports Net, was scheduled for 10 rounds.
Wilder, aka “The Bronze Bomber,” was far and away the better of the two fighters and much was made of a perceived death threat that Manswell made against Wilder earlier in the week. During the lead up to the fight, Manswell said he was going to “kill” Wilder in the ring, and Wilder didn’t take too kindly to the remark. Wilder, who won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics, put Manswell on the mat three times in the opening round with a series of devastating punches that killed Manswell’s chances of giving Wilder his first pro loss. Manswell’s pro record dropped to 22-6.
Saturday night’s event, which took place at the Mobile Civic Center’s Expo Hall, also included six other professional fights and featured four other professional boxers from Alabama.
The night opened with a four-round, super middleweight bout that went the distance between Gundrick King of Tuscaloosa and Mikel Williams of Monroe, La. King won a unanimous decision and improved his record to 18-8 overall.
The second fight of the night was a heavyweight bout between Keith Thompson of Birmingham and Anthony Greeley of Monroe, La. This fight was scheduled for four rounds, but was halted by the referee 1:04 into the third round when Greeley went to the mat grabbing his left arm. He’d taken a devastating blow to the arm and couldn’t continue, which prompted the referee to end the bout. I never did hear exactly what happened to Greeley’s arm, but you could tell he was hurt.
The thing that was interesting about this fight was that it was a rematch of a fight between these two boxers from a month ago. In that fight, Greeley handed Thompson his first professional loss, dropping him to 5-1 overall. Thompson returned the favor Saturday night.
The next fight was a four-round, welterweight bout between Ray Ray Bryant of Tuscaloosa and Anthony Middlebrook of Holt. Middlebrook appeared to be a clear underdog, but seemed to be the crowd favorite. Bryant won a unanimous decision, but the announcement was followed by a round of boos from the sizeable crowd at the event.
In what was arguably the best fight of the night, the Co-Main Event featured featherweights Jayson Velez of Caguas, Puerto Rico and Leivi Brea of Miami. Brea, at 126.5 pounds, was the smallest fighter on the entire fight card Saturday night, but he could throw a punch like nobody’s business. The fight was scheduled for eight rounds, but the 18-0 Velez knocked out Brea 1:47 into the sixth round.
In the first of two TV swing bouts, Dmitriy Salita of Brooklyn, N.Y. recorded a TKO against Roberto Valenzuela of Nogales, Arizona. The junior middleweight fight was scheduled for eight rounds, but ended 26 seconds into the fourth round. Valenzuela was the most experienced fighter at the event. Saturday night’s fight was his 104th professional fight.
In the final fight of the night, the second of the two TV swing bouts, Thomas Williams of Fort Washington, Md. demolished Harley Kilfian of Menominee, Wis. This light heavyweight fight was scheduled for six rounds, but was called by the ref 1:41 into the first round when Kilfian hit the mat twice, once without even being touched by Williams.
In the end, if you ever get a chance to attend a professional boxing event like this close to home, I highly recommend that you go. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll have a good time, and it’ll be worth the short ride to see some of the best athletes in our state.
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