Cresta-Griffin On The Mic!—Sanchez Upsets Gonzalez
Butler Stops McLaughlin
By: George H. Hanson Jr., Esq.
Date: June 27, 2025
Venue: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia.
Promoters: Marshall Kauffman—King’s Promotions
Ring Announcer: Margaret Cresta-Griffin
Referees: Eric Dali & Ricky Gonzalez
Ring Card: The Queens of King’s – Kiana Kareema & Jamie Murphy
Timekeeper: Tony Nardone
Ringside Doctor: Tony Al Amin
Coverage: BXNG TV
Photos: Darryl Cobb Jr.
I am always excited to sit in press-row of a King’s Promotions card simply because Marshall Kauffman and his team do an outstanding job of making certain that a Friday night spent at 2300 Arena is not only gratifying but also memorable. And tonight, was no different – an eight-bout card featuring undefeated junior-lightweight Julian Gonzalez (16 wins – 0 losses -1 draw – 12 kos) Reading, Pennsylvania versus Jason Sanchez (16 wins – 6 losses – 0 draws – 9 kos) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Equally important, tonight was my first time witnessing ring announcer Margaret Cresta-Griffin in action. She has the looks to grace any fashion show in Milan and the diplomacy and humility of the late Nelson Mandela. Allow me to paraphrase the great Michael Gerard Tyson by stating: “Margaret’s style is impetuous, her delivery is impregnable. She is Henry ‘Discombobulating’ Jones, Jimmy Lennon Jr. and Michael Buffer rolled into one!” To all three legendary ring announcers – in the words of my Jamaican Brother – two-division World Champion Chris Eubanks Sr. – “Watch out dreadlocks, Margaret a cum fi unuh!”
I am not one to pontificate, speculate, prognosticate or even hesitate – so allow me to get to the point. I am somewhat flabbergasted by two of the scorecards in the main event. Oftentimes I wonder – are my eyes lying? I am convinced that the two judges who scored the bout 76-75 for Jason Sanchez either need guide dogs or Lasik eye surgery. Me and the third judge who scored it identical 77-74 for Gonzalez should be allowed to sit in a conference room with our dissenting colleagues, review the fight round by round and allow them to rationalize their egregious mistake that cost Gonzalez his undefeated record.
With trainer Moe Morales in his Corner, Gonzalez answered the opening bell working behind his jab immediately walking Sanchez into an uppercut. To his credit, the man from Albuquerque came forward attempting to match his adversary’s pugilistic prowess. However, Gonzalez garnered the opening round on my scorecard by simply controlling the action, working behind his jab – leading a class on the art of the sweet science. He continued boxing brilliantly in the second stanza finding a home for his lead left-hook that he landed eight times – the final one at the bell that wobbled Sanchez. He dominated the round, and this is where I lay blame on him and his trainers. As the great comedian Martin Lawrence would say, “Allow this to marinate!” Julian Gonzalez ricocheted eight lead left hooks off the side of Sanchez’s head. However, Gonzalez did not throw combinations – and that was his deficiency that I am convinced cost him a knockout victory. Had he followed his lead left hook with a blistering straight right or uppercut followed by another left hook, I doubt that Sanchez would have been upright had he been hit with a barrage of power punches.
Gonzalez captured rounds three and four on my scorecard dropping Sanchez with a counter hook in the third stanza that was ruled a slip by referee Gonzalez. There was plenty of action in the round with the Reading native getting the better of the exchanges by a slight edge. In the fourth round, Gonzalez got Sanchez’s attention with his quick and accurate left hook – hurting him twice in the round. However, the indefatigable has a granite chin and returned fire – fighting gallantly to the bell.
The tide turned in the fifth round as Gonzalez was throwing a combination, Sanchez caught him in the breadbasket with a right hook – sending him to the canvas. The fallen fighter was upright at the count of three – referee Gonzalez dusted his gloves, and the action resumed. Sanchez attacked like a shark smelling blood in the water – hitting the retreating Gonzalez with everything except the referee. My imagination was running wild, I thought he picked up the referee and hurled him at the flailing fighter. Referee Gonzalez on a few occasions appeared extremely close to stopping the fight but Gonzalez would fight back despite in dire straits. Somehow, he made it to the bell ending the round and back to his corner.
Gonzalez recuperated during the one-minute respite and mounted his bicycle in round six. He was perpetual motion – jabbing and moving, never stationary – getting his bearings back with Sanchez in hot pursuit. It was a close round that I scored for Sanchez because he was the aggressor, connecting with more punches than his retreating adversary. Gonzalez recuperated and won the seventh-round on my scorecard landing the most telling blow – a left hook that had Sanchez doing the “stanky legg” dipping slightly to the canvas but somehow managing to stay upright. I gave the eighth and final round to Gonzalez who landed two beautiful left hooks. With the tape coming off Gonzalez’s left glove, the referee called a halt to rectify the situation, and the action resumed. Gonzalez boxed from a distance getting hit with a left hook with approximately ten seconds remaining in this extremely exciting bout.
I am here to proclaim that Julian Gonzalez won that fight but he did not get the decision. Hopefully, this will be a pedagogical moment for him, and he will learn from this minor setback. Combination punching appears to be a lost art. Had Gonzalez put his punches together – I doubt that the fight would have gone the distance. Then again, much respect to Jason Sanchez – despite being outboxed and hammered – his spirit was never broken, and he placed his opponent on the canvas, making the final four rounds exciting. Great fight gentlemen!
The opening bout of the night – a four-rounder – featured debuting heavyweight Sardius Simmons, Flint Michigan against Michael Shaw (0 wins – 3 losses – 0 draws) Atlanta, Georgia). I am assuming that Shaw made the trip from Atlanta by himself because Hall of Fame Cutman Joey “Eye” Intrieri was the sole individual in his corner – doing double duty. This is commonplace in our beloved sport when fighters are designated as “opponents” – ready and willing to fight under any circumstances – victory isn’t their top priority. Nevertheless, allow me to paraphrase the late, LeRoy “Bucky” Davis by stating “Shaw didn’t come to lay down, he came to get down” – performed admirably – until the ringside doctor declared that he was unfit to answer the bell for the final round. Thus, Simmons who stood between round for the entirety of the fight was declared the winner by technical knockout 3:00 of round three.
The opening round commenced with Simmons fighting from the orthodox stance, switching thirty seconds later and remaining a southpaw for the duration. Using his right jab effectively, he kept Shaw – who was unable to counter while retreating – at a distance. For the entirety of the round Sardius’ handlers could be heard yelling, “Everything off the stick” – meaning that he should start his combinations with the jab. Simmons occasionally delivered a left hook to Shaw’s body. In the second round he hurt Shaw with a “one-two” – a right jab followed by a straight left. His corner yelled in unison “Up the middle with the uppercut!” To his credit Shaw demonstrated great recuperative powers and fought back throwing combinations – refusing to wilt like a willow in the desert heat.
Simmons listened to his corner and turned up the heat in the third round, landing to the body and head of Shaw. It was evident that he wanted to close the show. Shaw fought back to the best of his abilities, but he was outgunned by his adversary who was hell-bent on not going to the final round. With approximately twenty seconds remaining in the round, Simmons hurt Shaw badly with a combination delivered to the head and body. Somehow, the man from Atlanta survived and made it back to his corner.
Doctor Tony Al Amin visited Shaw’s corner and decided that he wasn’t fit to continue and stopped the fight before the fourth and final round. Simmons was declared the winner by technical knockout at 3:00 round three. Kudos to Dr. Al Amin for his continued vigilance in ensuring the safety of our courageous combatants.
The co-main event and seventh bout – a six rounder – featured Philadelphia southpaw featherweight Shannel “The Sniper” Butler (2 wins – 0 losses – 0 draws – 1 ko) against Cara McLaughlin (2 wins – 12 losses – 0 draws – 0 kos) New York, New York. I was in press-row for Butler’s debut on January 17th when she demolished and destroyed fellow debutant Ella Duckworth with a left uppercut to the kidney, leaving her writhing in pain on the canvas – a technical knockout – 48 seconds of the opening round of the scheduled four-rounder.
Tonight we had an opportunity to witness more of Butler’s pugilistic prowess as her opponent made it out of the opening stanza all the way to the third round before being hit with a barrage of punches – reminiscent of the late, great World Junior-welterweight Champion Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor who would swoop down on his opponents with a hailstorm of punches until they were helpless and hapless – forcing the referee to rescue them from death or serious damage. Butler boxed brilliantly in the opening round, working behind her southpaw jab then going downstairs to the body with a straight left. It was a masterful display of the sweet science with everything working off the jab. To her credit, McLaughlin showed her mettle and returned fire. However, Butler has the reflexes of a cat amped up on a pint of espresso and slipped or blocked most of McLauglin’s punches.
The second round was almost identical to the first with The Sniper using her jab and straight left to the body – as we would say in colloquial terms – “softening her up.” The action resumed in the third round at basically the same pace but as a former pugilist I just knew that Butler was going to pull the trigger and close the show. With barely a minute expiring – she landed a combination and followed up like a Gatlin gun with a rapid-fire fusillade of punches – landing to the head and body of McLauglin who covered-up – both hands to her head – in an almost fetal position unable to return fire. Referee Eric Dali is an intelligent, benevolent and compassionate man – he rescued the impaired boxer from serious damage – bringing an end to this engaging bout declaring Butler the winner by technical knockout – 1:12 of round three. We are all anxiously awaiting Butler’s next fight.
The second bout – a six-rounder – featured heavyweights, Ali “The Cosmetologist” Ellis (6 wins – 0 losses – 1 draw – 3 kos) of Philadelphia against Lemir Riley (4 wins – 5 losses – 0 draws – 2 kos) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And for the second time, the judges were generous, awarding Ellis a majority decision 59-55, 58-56 with the dissenting judge scoring 58-56 for Lemir Riley – identical to my scorecard. On January 17th, I was in press-row when Colby Madison outboxed and out-punched Ellis only to have the fight declared a draw 56-56 on all three scorecards. I had Madison winning 57-55. I don’t have a dog in this fight but I oftentimes wonder are many of these ringside judges blind, biased or simply ignorant – not knowing how to properly score a boxing contest. There were no knockdowns or either fighter being hurt with referee Gonzalez tethering on the brink of a stoppage. Riley outworked Ellis and controlled the fight for most of the duration.
With his family and father Lou yelling instructions from behind press-row, Riley stood between rounds and performed admirably outdueling the hometown hero. He took the first three rounds on my scorecard by using his jab and being busier in closed quarters. I scored rounds four and five for Ellis who landed an overhand right in the fourth and appeared busier in the fifth. However, Riley rebounded and took the final round in which they fought toe-to-toe, on my scorecard. He won the fight but didn’t get the decision!
Welterweight southpaw Deatwon Young (1 win – 0 losses – 0 draws – 1 kos) of York, Pennsylvania was the personification of dominance in the third bout – a scheduled four rounder against debuting Carlos Avelar of Watertown, Connecticut. There was no doubt that a large contingent of Avelar’s fans made the trip from Connecticut to Philadelphia because their cheers were deafening from his ring-walk and throughout the bout. However, none of this dissuaded Young, who was throwing everything with bad intentions, from the opening bell. Allow me to digress for a minute by stating that Avelar should fire his entire team for placing him in his first fight with Young. When you have such an abundance of fans there is no need to debut with a lion when a house cat serves the purpose. Absent an eagle flying from the parking lot into the arena – pecking out Young’s eyes – blinding him – there was no chance of Avelar winning this fight. It was evident from the opening bell that there was a wide disparity in skills and boxing acumen! Allow me to rephrase for all to understand – regarding their abilities – Young graduated Magna cum laude from Harvard University while Avelar just entered community college!
Young worked behind his right jab following with the straight left and then blasting Avelar with uppercuts. To his credit, Avelar – oblivious to what he was facing – came forward and fought bravely. However, you can’t take a 22-caliber pistol to a gun fight against an opponent sporting a rocket launcher! The second round was similar with Young continuing his dominance as one fan yelled, “He gonna wake up in Connecticut!” – referring to the punches that were landing on Avelar’s cranium. Avelar has a cast iron chin, despite the heavy artillery landing on his body and head – he fought courageously. However, even Stevie Wonder could see that this wasn’t going to end well for him.
The man from York continued his domination in the third round, even talking to fans while working toe-to-toe at closed quarters – having fun – enjoying the spotlight. Despite Young’s supremacy, Avelar’s fans never lost hope and stood cheering for him throughout the third round. The fat lady cleared her throat and early in the fourth round Young dropped Avelar with a vicious right hook. Amazingly Avelar was up before referee Dali reached the count of three, dusted his gloves, checked his vitals and signaled for the fight to resume. Young is a gloved-assassin and wasn’t going to allow Avelar the honor of making it to the fourth and final round. He immediately connected with another right hook high on top of Avelar’s forehead that had him do a stutter step as though he was doing a tap-dancing routine with the great Bill “Bojangles” Robinson! Referee Dali immediately jumped in and stopped the fight before Young had an opportunity to land another shot. Young was declared the winner by technical knockout 47 seconds of round four. Kudos to Eric Dali – it is time for us to nominate and vote you into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame!
I am assuming that southpaw bantamweight Emmanuel Chance (1 win – 0 losses – 0 draws – 0 kos) of East Orange, New Jersey was inspired by Deatwon Young’s performance in the bout before his scheduled four-rounder against Gorwar Karyak ( 2 wins – 5 losses – 0 draws – 0 kos) of Philadelphia. Because he didn’t give his unsuspecting victim/opponent a chance! With cutman Joey “Eye” Intrieri as his sole cornerman, Karyak answered the opening bell in the southpaw stance mimicking his adversary, switching back to orthodox fifteen seconds into the match. Chance pressed the action – working behind his jab with his opponent doing likewise. The bout had the feel of a chess match with moves, counter moves and each participant setting traps. Well, Chance maneuvered Karyak into a corner and unloaded a combination laced with nitroglycerin. Somehow Karyak signaled to the referee that something was wrong, and Gonzalez stopped the action. Karyak hopped back to his corner and was examined by Doctor Tony Al Amin who stopped the fight due to an injury to his foot – which was probably a twisted ankle. Chance was declared the winner by technical knockout 1:52 round one.
I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw debuting light-heavyweight Aleksandre Dokvadze of Rustavia, Georgia enter the ring with Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Trainer Reverend Elvin Thompson and his assistant Ofa Donaldson in tow for the fifth bout against Mike Diorio (1 win – 13 losses – 2 draws – 0 kos) Cortland, New York. Dokvadze is the doppelganger for two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and three-division World Champions Vasly Lomachenko! I thought Lomachenko had grown a few inches taller and gained forty pounds! The gong sounded for the scheduled four rounder and Dokvadze came out working his jab stalking Diorio who retreated. Despite the disparity in fight experience – it was evident that the Georgian possessed a ring IQ higher than his opponent. He feinted and threw punches with precision as Diorio motored around the ring like a man with a target on his chest.
With less than a minute remaining in the opening round, the Georgian connected with a vicious left hook followed by a combination – sending Diorio to the canvas. Somehow, he made it upright as referee Dali was about to reach the count of three. Dali made the right decision and ended the fight – declaring Dokvadze the winner by technical knockout 2:04 of the opening round. He prevented Diorio from taking unnecessary punishment or getting seriously hurt.
The sixth bout featured Philadelphia middleweight Brendan “The Irish Assassin” O’Callaghan (6 wins – 4 losses – 1 draw – 2 kos) in a scheduled four-rounder against southpaw Travis Floyd (4 wins – 14 losses – 2 draws – 1 ko) Atlanta, Georgia. Listening to his corner which consisted of trainer George Gee and Joey “Eye” Intrieri – O’Callaghan boxed judiciously behind his jab, going downstairs to Floyd’s body with hooks and uppercut. Floyd engaged but he was one step behind his opponent. I scored the rounds one, two and three for the Philadelphian who was busier – landing the better punches while being defensively responsible with an unpredictable timing and rhythm that created a conundrum for Floyd.
Floyd garnered the final round on my scorecard – landing a straight left early and out-working The Irish Assassin slightly. There were no knockdown or either fighter being in trouble throughout the bout. When it was over all three judges scored it 39-37 for O’Callaghan like my scorecard. It was great seeing the Irish Assassin in action having missed his last two bouts.
It was another great night of boxing by King’s Promotions. Great job by Kiana and Jamie – “The Queen of King’s Promotions.” It is an irrebuttable presumption that King’s Promotion has the best ring-card ladies. If pulchritude were a crime – you ladies would be on death row, and I am not talking about Suge Knight’s record company!
Continue to support the sweet science, and remember, always carry your mouthpiece!
ghanson18@icloud.com
