Three proficiency tests that will be long remembered

On Friday evening, October 23, 2015, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego, three local boxers with a great deal of potential were tested. All three, super welterweight Adrian Vargas, heavyweight Keishaun Hill and super lightweight Emanuel Robles passed their test with flying colors.

Prior to Friday’s meeting with Robles (13-0-1, 3 KOs) from Old School Boxing here in San Diego, Leon “The Third Generation” Spinks (11-2-1, 7 KOs) of Huntington Beach, Calif. had visited San Diego and Tijuana eight times to basically secure another “W” from club fighters who all told had a combined record of just 35 wins in 105 matches. These less than stellar opponents had all been hand picked. Friday evening, Spinks gazed across the ring and saw the more formidable Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles.

Now mind you, Spinks might be a great guy with his mates and family, but when he gets into the ring, he suddenly becomes this perpetual motion, mental case with a scowl on his face reminding you of those guys who hang out in dark alleys. In other words, the grandson of the venerable Leon Spinks and grand-nephew of Michael Spinks, both world champions, is noticeably different. And, if you combine Spinks with his rollicking front man, Repo Rick, you’ve got yourself one, very unusual combo. 

Photo above shows Repo Ric going through his usual schtick of chanting the monotonous “Whoop dat ass! Whoop dat ass!” After Friday’s second straight loss, he may want to consider changing the lyrics to, “Here we are again to get our ass whooped!”

Simply put, on Friday evening, Leon Spinks III  was out of his league. After controlling the bout from the outset, Robles landed this seemingly innocuous left hook to Spinks’ glass jaw in the closing seconds of round two and down went Spinks. For a while, he looked as if he was out cold and later they did end up taking him to a nearby hospital.

The more amusing remarks from patrons who watched the Robles’ destruction of Spinks:

“I heard Larry Merchant honored Spinks by adding him to his list, the “I wish I was 50 years younger, and I would kick your ass” list.”

Leon “the Tired Generation” Spinks must have a glass jaw. How could he be related to Leon and Michael? After checking his DNA, they’re going to discover he’s related to Steve Urkel.”

“Why the taller Spinks went into those low stances is mind-boggling. If he only had a jab, he could have kept Robles at bay. No matter, Robles kept pounding him and it was just a matter of time before he went down.”

Co-Main event: Adrian Vargas vs. Jorge Marquez

In the Co-main Event, a six round light welterweight match – Adrian Vargas 13-0-1 (8 KOs) of National City ko’d Jorge Marquez 4-3 (2 KOs) at the 1:54 mark of Round 4 with a combination to the head and body that sent Marquez to one knee while Hall of Fame referee Pat Russell dutifully counted to 10.

(top) Boxers Adrian Vargas (l) and Jorge Marquez (r) face off in round one. (bottom, left) Just before the bell to end round one, Vargas landed a hard shot to the head of Marquez sending him flying backwards against the ropes. Photos: J. Wyatt

(bottom, right) Vargas has his arm raised in victory by referee Pat Russell.

Unlike Robles, Vargas had to overcome an even more difficult challenge. In the previous round, Marquez hit Vargas with a devastating shot to the liver. Instead of caving in and losing the fight, Vargas grabbed Marquez, held on tightly and somehow dealt with the pain to finish out the round. In the following round, Marquez, once again had Vargas in trouble after pinning him against the ropes. Vargas reacted by spinning his opponent around and began pounding him in the head and midsection. The resulting turn of events had Marquez dropping to one knee from a punch to the midsection. Unlike Vargas, Marquez could not recover and one by one Pat Russell counted to ten.

Keishaun Hill wins in his Pro-debut   

In a heavyweight clash, the 6’3” Keishaun Hill (1-0, 1 KO), again from The Arena gym in Point Loma, leveled the 6’4” Matt Mckinney (1-1-1) to win via KO at the 2:24 mark of Round 3 of their schedule four rounder.

How many times do you see an all-action heavyweight bout? They are rare. On Friday night, San Diego’s Keishaun Hill, making his Pro-debut, scored a third round knockout of the always tough Matt “El Matador” McKinney, who hails from Escondido, in their scheduled four rounder.

It didn’t start off that well for Hill as the photos below can attest. McKinney did a great job of circling away from Hill’s power alley and used his legs to stay just out of Hill’s range. Only problem, when you and your opponent are big guys, there’s not all that much room to stay out of range for long.

Hill soon had McKinney in his sites and started lowering the boom. The first sign of trouble was the blood coming from McKinney’s nose. McKinney had his moments in the second and third rounds with some well-placed right hands but they didn’t seem to make a dent in Hill’s armor.

Then, in the third round, Hill caught McKinney early with a right hand that had him wobbly. He followed with a left hook and right hand that dropped McKinney. Tough as he is, McKinney beat the count. By this time Hill had all the confidence in the world and went full bore for the kill. In his own corner, the groggy McKinney caught another couple of punches which prompted referee Jose Cobian to jump in and save the defenseless McKinney from further damage. Time of the stoppage – 2:24 of round three.

While McKinney has had to work hard at his craft, Hill, who was making his Pro debut, seems to be a natural. After the three to four minutes it took to get acclimated, you could see how relaxed he became, how his moves and punches reminded you of a more veteran fighter, like a car that’s been driven down the same road for years. After a while, he couldn’t miss. You might say the sport fits him as snuggly as the gloves he was wearing on Friday night.

At first Matt McKinney (left) seemed quite confidant and it looked as if things were going to go his way.

(bottom, right) Then, things started getting a little crazy, especially after Matt McKinney got caught with a big overhand right that made his nose start to bleed.

Here we see Keishaun Hill (l) looking down at Matt McKinney and perhaps advising him, “Stay down fool.”

Matt McKinney waits until the count of eight before getting up.

Again, Keishaun Hill has Matt McKinney in trouble. This time referee Jose Cobian feels McKinney has had enough and calls a halt to the match. Photos: J. Wyatt

(top, left) Keishaun Hill has his arm raised in victory by referee Jose Cobian.

Misael Chacon vs. Adrian Morilla

In the opening bout, San Diego’s Adrian Morilla faced off against Chandler, Arizona’s Misael “Chico” Chacon 1-11 in a four round super featherweight match. After being an exceptional Muay Thai fighter for over seven years with a record of 15 wins and only six losses, his supporters were anxious to see how he’d fair in the sport of boxing.

Well, the expected beat down never happened as Chacon did remarkably well in matching Morilla’s output. Both took turns beating each other up. With there being no clear cut winner, the judges scored the bout a split decision draw. Final tallies, judge Max DeLuca saw it 39-37 for Morilla, while Tony Crebs had it the exact opposite way favoring Chacon. The third and deciding judge, Jose Cobian, scored the bout 38-38 even.

(top photos) Adrian Morilla (l) in his Pro Debut had himself an all out war when facing the constantly improving Misael Chacon.

At the conclusion of their four round battle, there was no consensus winner and thus, Adrian Morilla (l) and Misael Chacon (r) had themselves a split decision draw.

During a 15 minute intermission, ring announcer Benny Ricardo introduced several of the celebrities present and brought California Hall of Fame members – promoter Bobby De Philippis and judge/referee Pat Russell up into the ring. What followed was a short but heartfelt ceremony presided over by Ricardo who announced the veteran California State official Russell was refereeing his final fight card. After 35 years of refereeing, Pat Russell has decided to retire as a referee but still work as a judge. Bobby DePhilippis then mentioned that Russell had made his debut as referee on one of his fight cards and now will be doing his final fight on a Bobby D. Presents fight card.

The three gentlemen handed the microphone back and forth reminiscing about the glorious past. Ricardo asked Russell about his most memorable fight ever. Russell wasted little time and stated that was back on March 1st, 2008, when Israel Vazquez defeated Rafael Marquez in their third meeting. A split decision victory at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. to win the WBC World Super Bantamweight Title.

Ricardo also mentioned the night Russell refereed the Tony “Bazooka” DeLuca fight against Willy Salazar on August 17, 1989. “Tony went down and his eyes were rolled back in his head and Russell could only see the white of his eyes. That’s the tell sign that a fighter is totally out cold, but Pat had to count to 10. At the count of eight, Tony’s pupils returned, he got up and then told Pat, “Mr. Russell could you please step aside as I have some unfinished business to take care of.” Both Pat and all of us at ringside were stunned. Tony then went on to slug out a split decision victory and win the NABF Light Flyweight title.

“Under the “I did not know that” category: Pat Russell was also a former Marine and later worked as an investigator for the District Attorney’s office.” Fun time had by all at the latest Bobby D Presents boxing show at the Four Points By Sheraton.