Oaktree Knockout West in Battle
at Salem New Jersey
June 23, 2008
Courtesy Photos: PR
Mark ‘Oak Tree’ Brown put on an impressive
show for his hometown fans at the Fight Night Productions 'History In Our
City' event in Salem, New Jersey on Saturday night, culminating in a second
round knockout of Ralph ‘Wild Wild’ West of Louisville, Kentucky.
Brown, who weighed in at a lean
223 pounds, was clearly fired up and determined to add to his already
excellent 12-1 (5 KOs) record. Right from the start he charged at his much
larger opponent taking control throwing punch after punch without seeming to
have much effect on the 254 pound
Kentucky behemoth who just shrugged them off like they were annoying bugs.
Halfway through the round West countered with a massive right hand which
clearly rocked Brown, but not enough as ‘Oak Tree’ soon came back again
and just before the bell almost put West down with a classy combination of
shots.
In the second round, again Brown
went on the attack straight from the bell, this time preferring to work more
on the inside, wrestling with West until the opportunity arose where he
could unload a massive flurry of punches culminating in a hard right that
propelled West into the corner. Brown followed in and let rip again
unloading a left followed by a clubbing right that dispatched West to the
canvas with just 1 minute 46 seconds of the round gone.
The co-feature was no less
exciting as Willie ‘For Real’ Williams of Baltimore, Maryland, 10-2 (2
K0’s), took on Alfred ‘AK-47’ Kinsey from Atlantic City, New Jersey. 6-2-1
(3 KO’s) in a frantic light heavyweight battle royale.
Kinsey seemed to have the upper hand in the first two rounds but from then
on it was Williams. Right from the bell of the third he took control through
some tasty combinations, working the body hard. In the fourth
Williams continued in the same vain. In the fifth Kinsey was countering
beautifully, bringing him back into contention, but in the sixth all his
hard work was undone when Williams again began attacking the body hard and
with just a minute to go in the round landed a beautiful body shot that
sent Kinsey down on one knee in order to get his breath back and then just
before the bell a powerful right had him down again. Kinsey was not to
return to the fray for the seventh round as the ringside doctor advised the
officials that he should not continue.
In the featherweight battle of the ‘Jersey Boys’, Victor Valenzuela of
Passaic, New Jersey, 2-0 (1 KO), scored a unanimous decision over Byrne
Green of Vineyard, New Jersey, 3-0 (2 KO) after a very entertaining bout
which saw both give their all as they battled to retain their unblemished
records. It seemed that they were heading for a draw of two rounds apiece
when just seconds from the end Valenzuela landed a peach of a left hook that
dropped Green, who managed to get back up on his feet just as the
final bell rang.
The junior welterweight contest that preceded the ‘Jersey Boys’ was a
frantic, wild affair that lasted just two of the scheduled four rounds as
Mike Denby of Felton, Delaware, 1-1-2 (1 KO), floored Shavaris Buie from
Brooklyn, New York, 0-4, in the second round with two powerful body shots
followed by a scintilating combination. Buie did make it back to his feet,
but too late as the referee had reached the ten count.
The opening, junior middleweight, fight pitted Eberto Median of Irvington,
New Jersey 3-3 (1 KO) against Ashantie Hendrickson of Medford. New York 1-1.
This magnificent contest between two very well matched opponents set the
standard for the whole evening and from early on it was
clear it would be a hard one to call as both fighters battled for supremecy
throughout, but at the end of the bout the majority decision went to Medina.
The score cards read 39-37 (twice) for Medina and 38-38.
Jarvis Robinson and his Fight Night Productions team did Salem, New Jersey
and boxing proud with this, his maiden, event. It was a very entertaining
evening of quality boxing, which was clearly enjoyed by one and all in
attendance.
