In a battle of undefeated boxers, Steve “The Savage” Sumpter used his athleticism to defeat James “Pitbull” Perkins in the main event of last night’s “Pandemonium at The Palladium,” presented by Granite Chin Promotions (GCP), at the famed Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. (photo by Emily Harney)
Sumpter never stopped moving, Perkins kept charging forward. Sumpter (9-0, 7 KOs), fighting out of Pittsfield (MA), Sumpter won an eight-round majority decision, albeit it on contrasting judges’ scoring – two judges had Sumpter winning every round (80-72) but the other had it a draw, 76-76 – for the vacant IBA Americas super middleweight championship.
“The plan was for me to keep moving to tire him out,” Sumpter said after the fight. “My footwork was key because he couldn’t keep up with me. I’m bringing this belt home like I said I would.”
Styles make fights and last night’s main event was a perfect example. The first round found the athletic Sumpter moving circularly, the powerfully built Perkins going forward and applying pressure as he attempted to cut off the ring. There was a lot of feinting and little connecting from both fighters in the second or third rounds in the strategic match-up.
Sumpter went down right after the bell ending the third, ruled so by the referee, and both fighters started mixing it up in the fourth as Sumpter used his jab more effectively.
The fighters went toe to toe in fifth as the action accelerated, but neither was injured, and their boxing chess match continued into the sixth. Sumpter kept the hard charging Perkins off balance in the seventh, setting up a critical eighth and final round with the outcome still up in the air. Sumpter and Perkins let their hands go in the eighth round, leaving everything they had in the ring.
“I thought I had a pretty good performance,” Sumpter added. “It could have been a little more offensive. I started moving and he couldn’t keep up with me. When I was on the ropes, I spun off like I always do. I kept throwing my jab and moving. He was getting tired, and his hands started coming down. I want to keep fighting, keep progressing, and I’ll be right back in the gym.”
In the co-featured event, undefeated Massachusetts welterweight champion Denzel “Double Impact” Whitley (12-0, 7 KOs), of Holyoke (MA), added another title belt to his collection, defeating his Mexican opponent, Hector “El Gatito” Esnar Bobadilla (9-15-1, 4 KOs), for the vacant USBF Atlantic Welterweight Championship. A notoriously slow starter, Whitley needed only one punch – left hook to the body – to stop Bobadilla only 25 seconds into the opening round.
Springfield lightweight Carlos “El Gallo” Gonzalez (7-0, 7 KOs) extended his undefeated knockout streak to 7-0 with his seventh stoppage against transitioning mixed-martial-arts fighter Johnny “Cupcakes” Campbell (0-1) in the sixth round. Campbell was entertaining and tough, as usual, but Gonzalez was patient, finally catching Campbell in the last scheduled round. Campbell was trapped in his own corner as Cruz exploded with a barrage of punches. Campbell went down and the referee ruled that he was unable to continue.
The only hometown fighter on the card, Worcester junior middleweight Eslih Owusu (10-1, 5 KOs), simply brought too much into the ring for Texas journeyman Larry “Slo Mo” Smith (13-55-2, 9 KOs). A past World Boxing Council (WBC) World Youth title challenger, left-handed Owusu threw punches in bunches, sending Smith down in the fourth via a left hook. Owusu finished off Smith in the following round, trapping the Texan in the corner until Smith went down for the final time.
In his stiffest test to date, three-time New England Golden Gloves champion Felix Parrilla (8-0, 7 KOs), of New Haven (CT), faced 2008 Ecuador Olympian Luis Porozo (16-8, 9 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round featherweight match. Parrilla displayed every punch in his vast arsenal, after breaking down Porozo with a steady diet of body shots, picking up the pace in the third round as the clear aggressor. At this point Parrilla was in complete control of the action, battering Porozo who suffered a flash knockdown in the fourth, and Porozo was penalized a point in the fifth for holding. The punishment Porozo had suffered showed in the sixth and when he unwisely turned his back to Parilla in a neutral corner, the referee had seen enough, and he quickly stopped the fight.
Cuban amateur star Dany Lafos Poll (1-0, 1 KOs), a 2021 AIBA Youth Champion, had an encouraging pro debut, blasting overmatched Jeremy Gregory (0-8-1) all around the ring until a vicious left to the body dropped Gregory. The referee waved off the fight at the 2:46 mark of round one.