Narh Destroys Green to Win NABC Title
by
BD Gerard
11/26 - Ray Narh scored a spectacular first-round knockout over Jadacshi Green to capture the NABC lightweight title in the feature bout of a card in Pittsburgh Wednesday. The Iron City Professional Boxing promotion featured four Pittsburgh-based fighters and four spectacular knockouts in a good boxing venue underneath the “Terrible Tent” across from Heinz Field.
There was little question that the main event would provide fireworks. Narh, a native of Ghana and a member of the 2000 Olympic team, is widely considered a KO artist, scoring knockouts in ten of his eleven victories coming into the fight. This included an eye-opening beating of Rogelio Barron on Telefutura. Green is also no stranger to putting his opponent away, with knockouts accounting for nine of his 11 wins.
Even with these resumes did not prepare the crowd for what was about to take place.
Both men came out throwing big, big punches from the opening bell – little jabbing, little movement, but plenty of power shots. As a result, each contestant was open and Green appeared to score first by stunning Narh with a flush left thirty seconds into the fight. Narh’s pace abated only momentarily and both fighters continued throwing big punches.
Narh followed up a lead right uppercut with a combination that sent Green into the corner. Narh then threw twenty to thirty unanswered punches before Green collapsed. Green got up at the nine count and staggered to the adjacent neutral corner where he stood erect in an approximate fighting position, but referee Ernie Shareef had seen enough and put a stop to the bout at 1:44 of the first.
The fight certainly puts the two fighters on different career trajectories. Since suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Almazbek ‘Kid Diamond’ Raimkulov in July of 2003, Narh has reeled off three-straight KO victories. There is no question that he has devastating power, but it remains to be seen whether his frenzied style will be effective as he moves up the ranks of the division.
Green does not seem to be able to beat decent prospects, as he was also knocked out in the first round by Edner Cherry and dropped a six-round decision Paul Malignaggi. With his power he should be a handful for many opponents, but he needs a plan B if he wants to compete with better competition.
Saunders-Williams
NABC cruiserweight champ Rayco ‘War’ Saunders of Pittsburgh took on a visibly overmatched Anthony Williams of Whitesville, West Virginia in a non-title bout scheduled for eight rounds. Williams came out in a southpaw stance pawing a left jab and a left hook, while Saunders threw much crisper punches, including a flush left hook to the head that sent Williams back to orthodox. Saunders has a beautiful habit of attacking the body, and by the last minute of the first round an apparently fit Williams was visibly tired.
Saunders took charge in the second round, fending off an early flurry and then landing counter after counter. On three straight occasions Saunders countered Williams’ right hand with a left hook. This basically set the tone for the remainder of the fight, as Williams decided to stay on the outside and avoid Saunders altogether. Saunders did not do a good job of cutting off the ring, but he did win virtually every exchange with hard, effective punches to the body.
By the end of the third round Williams seemed to have nothing left in the tank, as he walked the perimeter of the ring with his hands at his sides, occasionally spitting. Round four saw more of the same, with Williams throwing pitty-pat punches and Saunders continuing to follow him around the ring. In some respects, however, this was one of the more competitive rounds, as Williams managed to land some touches, while Saunders was ineffective at cutting off the ring. Near the end of the round, Williams stepped in and appeared to intentionally butt Saunders, leading the referee to assess a point penalty. To add injury to insult, Williams managed to open a gash on his own head that led to an egg-shaped welt in the middle of his skull.
Saunders continued to dominate the sixth and seventh rounds, but did not seem to have the power to stop Williams with a single shot, nor did he have the activity rate to overwhelm the exhausted Williams. But in the last round, Williams reengaged by attempting to establish a jab, and Saunders capitalized with effective counters. Saunders repeatedly won exchanges before landing a right cross that put Williams down and out at 2:31 of the round.
Saunders improves to 12-3 with 8 KOs and was completely dominant in the fight. Though I do not have the final Compustat numbers, I estimate that Williams landed more expectoration than punches during the course of the fight (indeed, I cannot remember more than one or two clean shots that Williams landed all night). Williams drops to 3-4-1 and will probably need the full holiday weekend (and then some) to recover from the beating.
To be effective at 190 against opposition with better boxing skills, however, Saunders will probably need to increase his work rate. In a recent fight against James Walton, Saunders looked great when he forced the action inside, but Walton was able to win rounds with movement and a jab. We should find out more in January when Saunders will put his NABC belt on the line as the headliner of another Iron City Pro Boxing promotion at Heinz.
The Undercard
Undefeated heavyweight Abraham ‘the African Assassin’ O’Kine, another Pittsburgh prospect by way of Ghana, took on cagey southpaw Corey Gregory of Cleveland in a bout scheduled for six rounds. The fight began looked like it was going to be a frustrating night for both men, as the first round was punctuated by ineffective jabbing and excessive clinching. The second round started with more of the same before O’Kine landed a body shot that hurt Gregory, and then followed up with a number of punches at short range that put Gregory down.
After tasting the power of O’Kine, Gregory attempted to stay outside. However, O’Kine closed the distance and closed the show with a series of vicious body shots, with Gregory finally crumpling to the mat at 2:55 of the round. Gregory got up at the count of nine and made his way back to his corner but thought better of answering the bell for the third round, giving the O’Kine his fourteenth victory and eighth knockout.
In the opening bout of the evening Broderick Harper of Columbus, Ohio took on Pittsburgh’s Mario Acusta. After a brief feeling-out period, Harper hurt Acusta with a left hook followed by a short right a minute into the round. Acusta recovered and retaliated with a straight right that doubled Harper over, and Acusta followed up with a left hook that sent Harper through the ropes and onto the ring apron. Although the referee did not begin counting until at least six seconds had elapsed, he still managed to make it to a count of ten before Harper could get back on his feet. The time of the stoppage was 2:01. Acusta picks up his first professional win and improves to 1-0-1, while Harper extends his losing streak to five and now stands at 3-11.
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