Desmond Jarmon Moves To 7-0 In Hometown Main Event; Several Prospects Shine At ‘The Next Generation 2’

Desmond Jarmon earned a tough UD over Mexico’s Ruis Lizarraga in main event of Wyatt Promotions’ ‘The Next Generation 2’ 

Georgia’s Carlos Monroe showed that skills matter most in an impressive KO2 outing
Puerto Rico’s Jeffrey Flaz all business in his visit to Cincinnati, and Angel LaGrandier looked sharp in his pro debut

CINCINNATI, OH (Oct. 20, 2018) – Wyatt Promotions delivered another deep, highly entertaining and action-packed card Saturday evening with its The Next Generation 2 Pro Am event. In the night’s opening action several amateur fighters plied their trade in front of a packed house, and the display of effort and sportsmanship set the tone for the night’s prize fighters. Undefeated Super Featherweight Desmond Jarmon – About Billions Promotions’ promising prospect – stayed sharp and composed for four rounds to turn back a rugged challenge from Yucatan, Mexico’s upset-minded Luis Ruiz Lizarraga, Jr. in the event’s main event.

Jarmon (7-0, 4 KOs) fought a smart fight as he relied on his jab and movement in the first round while Lizarraga (6-12-1, 2 KOs) press forward looking to mitigate the hometown fighter’s hand-speed advantage – as well as the range he was looking to establish. Despite the attempts to rush in, Jarmon remained poised and patiently placed his jab, mixing it up with shots to both the head and the body. He added some lead left hooks in spots as he turned the charging Lizarraga to create some angles and re-establish the space he needed to rip off some combinations.

In the second round Jarmon unleashed a series of powerful straight right hands as Lizarraga continued to attempt to apply pressure and move the fight inside of the jab. However, by the middle of the round the effects of Jarmon’s left hooks began to show as Lizarraga’s right eye began to swell.

Lizarraga continued to press forward through round three and the fourth and final round. Along the ropes, Jarmon briefly sat down on some shots to trade with Lizarraga after the Mexican fighter successfully scored some shots to the body. The fighter’s instincts took over for a moment before heeding the wise instruction from his lead trainer Mike Stafford – and an attentive Adrien Broner rooting him on ringside.

Jarmon used his footwork, countered when necessary and tied up Lizarraga when he charged in, walking the increasingly desperate opponent to the ropes until the referee broke the two fighters apart to resume the action. Afterwards, Jarmon said that it was difficult to hold back and stick to coach Stafford’s in-fight adjustments to the game plan because only the fighter has a true feel for the nature of the fight as it’s unfolding.

The 21-year-old prospect wasn’t able to turn loose and entertain the hometown crowd like he may have wanted, but he earned a unanimous decision with the judges scoring the bout 39-37 twice, and 40-36 on one judge’s card. Jarmon added that he hopes to make one more appearance in the ring before the end of 2018.

Undefeated Super Middleweight Carlos Monroe (8-0, 6 KOs) of Conyers, GA delivered one of the night’s most impressive performances. The stark contrast between Monroe’s fit boxer build versus the wide, sculpted muscular back of Bronx, New York’s Juan Zapata (6-13-2, 4 KOs) visibly suggested a lot to the crowd who knew nothing of either fighter.

From the bell Zapata moved inside to impose his strength on the 6-foot 1-inch 24-year-old fighter with the younger looking face. The New Yorker’s punches were wide, looping shots that Monroe easily slipped and within seconds Zapata appeared to run completely out of gas. Monroe never wavered and quickly moved in to tactically take Zapata apart with calculated combinations of power punches. Monroe’s measured attack sent Zapata to the canvas twice in the first round, and after a right hook sent Zapata face-down on the canvas for a second knock down it looked like he wouldn’t make it to round two.

Even more confident, Monroe stalked the reeling Zapata before scoring another knock down in round two with a right cross. Later in the round, as Zapata continued to throw wide telegraphed hooks Monroe connected with a counter right hook for a second knock down that also knocked out Zapata’s mouth guard a second time. Monroe’s corner was hopeful their fighter would get a third round of action but Zapata smartly retired at the end of the second.

Super Welterweight Mikail Traymar Jones suffered his first loss in front of a large hometown group of friends and family gathered less than 15-feet from his corner, and the boisterous following may have undermined coach Stafford’s ability to guide his young fighter through a tough contest versus Vega Alta, Puerto Rico’s Jeffrey Flaz (2-0, 2 KOs). After a first round of fairly even exchanges, Flaz knocked Jones down in the second round. Jones beat the count and managed to finish the round by moving and avoiding anymore heavy exchanges with the Puerto Rican.

Jones opened the third round looking to re-establish himself in the fight, as the encouragement and energy of his following urged him to quickly make up for the 10-8 round, but before he was fully recovered Flaz landed a devastating right hand that ended the fight immediately. Jones was down for several minutes while he was attended to properly, and as the Flaz corner quietly celebrated its show-stopping victory, the moment served as a sobering reminder that boxing is a serious and dangerous sport – at all levels. And, that all opponents should be respected and never underestimated, regardless of the circumstances of the fight.

In other undercard action:

Chicago’s undefeated Destyne Butler moved to two wins by stunning John Edwards, of Americus, Georgia, with a pair of left hooks. Trainer and Olympic Heavyweight bronze medal winner Nate Jones admonished Butler for being “too cute” walking down Edwards with his chin out and both hands pulling up his trunks before snapping off the two left hands, from his trunk’s waistline, that badly hurt Edwards. Butler finished his opponent off with a well-placed right hook to the body.

For die-hard fans tuning into boxing regularly on a variety of available streaming services, an enhanced aspect of following the game right now is being able to connect the dots with regards to seeing fighters in action on the under cards of events. Follow along.

Fans – either those in attendance or those who tuned in via Fite TV’s coverage – might be able to go back and gauge the abilities of Akron, Ohio Middleweight Jose Rodriguez, Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs) as he faced the tough and savvy Javier Frazier (8-6-1, 4 KOs) of Aiken, SC in a four-rounder. Rodriguez started quickly, and controlled the action behind his volume punching, aggression and superior ring generalship. Frazier fought under-fire for all four rounds but was still standing there at the end of the fight – even standing in to connect with a beautiful right uppercut in the final seconds of the bout.

For those connecting the dots, Frazier dropped a pedestrian six-round UD to Leon Lawson III in Detroit on the Shields-Gabriels undercard in June, but in July he was stopped in two rounds versus Tyler Howard in Louisiana at Prograis-Velasco. Figure out the streaming providers and infer what you want concerning the differences in levels between young Lawson, Rodriguez (24) and Howard as they share this mutual opponent in Frazier.

Cincinnati’s Angel LaGrandier, a 122-pounder, easily prevailed and entertained in his pro debut as he out-pointed a determined Emilio Rivera (0-5)  of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. LaGrandier’s hands stayed busy in well-executed combinations as he overwhelmed Rivera early, and scored a knock down in the middle of the first round. Rivera competed well over the next two rounds despite being caught with multiple shots from LaGrandier’s left hand – primarily left hooks. Rivera attempted to stay close to LaGrandier, looking to mix it up inside where LaGrandier’s hand speed was less problematic, and managed to catch the newcomer with a shot that knocked out his mouth guard at the bell. LaGrandier proved that he could take a good shot, he looked very comfortable in the ring and landed another big left hook that sent Rivera to the canvas in the fourth round. Unfortunately, LaGrandier punched himself in a subsequent extended flurry, and he was unable to get the stoppage to put a memorable stamp on an impressive debut performance.

A little bit more connecting the dots. Cruiserweight Muhammad Abdullah (3-1-1, 1 KO) rebounded from a TKO1 loss to Joshua Temple in Louisville back in April on the undercard of Real Deal Boxing’s opening round of its Jose Sulaiman WBC World Invitational Welterweight tournament. Abdullah defeated southpaw Carlos Reyes (7-10-1, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision with cards of 40-36 and 39-37 according to two judges. Reyes’ last fight was three years and 11 days ago, so while Abdullah dominated the fight with his patient and skilled attack, his tendency to wait a little too much could invite the early rush he experienced in the Temple bout from hungrier opponents.

 

RL Woodson

I'm all over the place, literally. Click on something and I'll explain it all. A Tribe Called Quest fan, Good Will Hunting, HTTR and Michigan athletics... #DLTCYO

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