(AUGUST 14) UNCASVILLE, CT –
Chordale "The Gift" Booker (20-1, 9 KOs) turned in a masterful
performance on Saturday night, dropping Nicolas Hernandez
(27-7-3, 12 KOs) twice in round 7 for an explosive knockout at
2:41 of the round. The fight capped an 8-bout CES Boxing card
that took place in front of a capacity crowd of 4,235 who showed
up to Mohegan Sun Arena early to see the "Jimmy Burchfield
Invitational," a 10-bout amateur showcase that took place before
the pro card.
With the win, Booker retained the
WBC US Super Welterweight title that he won at the same venue in
April of this year. It was the third fight of 2023 for ‘The
Gift,’ who was sharp from the opening bell.
"This was very satisfying for me," said Booker moments after the
battle of southpaws. "I had some things I wanted to work on, and
I had a tough guy in front of me who didn’t fall from the first
shot. He was coming to win, and that’s what I wanted."
Booker took control of the fight in the opening round with sharp
right jabs to Hernandez’s head and body. His game plan was to
capitalize off the mistakes of his 39-year-old opponent with
stinging counter shots.
"He was reaching with his shots from the beginning, so I wanted
to take advantage of that" explained Booker, who threw short,
compact counter lefts hands and a sneaky right uppercut in round
2. "When he would throw his left hand, I would roll and come
back with my left hand."
The 32-year-old Booker kept Hernandez guessing in round 3,
varying his punches and speed. His Puerto Rican opponent out of
Reading, PA seemed lost, getting countered every time he mounted
an attack.
"I was changing up my shots," explains Booker. "He was ok
standing really close to me, so I started putting my punches
together, changing the pace of the shots and occasionally
sitting down on my punches. That’s what got him: I would hit him
with a number of punches, then a hard one, then a number of
punches again. He never knew which one would be hard, so it
disoriented him."
‘The Gift’ began delivering a one-sided beating in round 4,
stunning Hernandez with a right hook. The patient and composed
Booker couldn’t miss with his counter punches, and it looked
like the end was near.
The ringside doctor checked on Hernandez in between rounds, and
this seemed to give the Puerto Rican a sense of urgency.
Hernandez came out swinging in round 5, finally landing a few
punches of note, including a solid left to the body that
momentarily forced Booker to back up and regroup.
"I got a little too comfortable in front of him," admitted
Booker. "He caught me with a good left hand that knocked me off
balance. It was cool though because I heard the crowd get loud.
It created some drama. I liked that he came to fight because it
lit a fire under me. He started yelling ‘come on!’ and I thought
‘wow, this dude really believes he can win this’".
The crowd included former world champions Tony Harrison, Vinny
Paz, and ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson, as well as current undisputed super
featherweight world champion Alycia Baumgardner, an amateur
teammate of Booker’s who was invited into the ring just before
the bout began.
After a contested round 6, Booker stunned Hernandez at the end
of a combination in round 7. Hernandez fought back valiantly,
but Chordale began landing at will. Just when it seemed like
Hernandez could absorb Booker’s power, the Stamford native
finally dropped Hernandez with a furious combination punctuated
by a left hand.
"The first knockdown was an accumulation of punches," described
Booker. "Instead of going for a hard shot, I was touching him
everywhere he went. He had nowhere to feel like he was safe. He
kept running into the next shot, and his hands started to come
down. I knew he would get back up once he hit the canvas because
it wasn’t a hard shot that got him down, it was an
accumulation."
The game Hernandez beat the count, but Booker followed up with a
leaping right hook that dropped the Puerto Rican in a heap,
causing referee Johnny Callas to immediately halt the bout. The
ending was reminiscent of the left hook that ‘Sugar’ Shane
Mosely launched to end his bout against Ricardo Mayorga in 2015.
It would’ve made Roy Jones Jr. proud.
"That’s a shot I work on with my coaches," explained Booker. "I
try to work on shots that are going to surprise guys. I threw a
lot of straight shots tonight, so I didn’t think he would be
prepared for that, and he fell right into it."
With his 20th win in the bag, Booker would like to remain active
and focus on a world title shot in 2024.
"I want to stay active; it keeps me sharp," said an elated
Booker of his immediate goals. "I love Mohegan – the fans here
are so supportive. Having Tony Harrison and Alycia Baumgardner
in attendance meant a lot to me. I’m knocking on everybody’s
door. I would love to bring a title or a big fight here. We can
do Tim Tszyu, James Metcalf, Brian Mendoza, or even someone who
recently lost to those guys. Whatever I can do to get myself to
the next level."
Hall of famer Jaime "The Hurricane" Clampitt wins battle of
attrition
In the co-feature, Jaime Clampitt continued her successful
comeback, nearly shutting out tough Ecuadorian Josefina Vega
(9-6, 4 KOs) for a unanimous 8 round decision in a Super
Lightweight contest. Scores were 80-72 (2x) and 78-74 for the
4-time champion.
As promised at the final press conference, the women came to
fight, with the shorter Vega looking to flurry while the
stronger Clampitt countered with sharp overhand rights.
"I felt good, really focused," said Clampitt of her performance.
"We didn’t know what to expect with her because it was really
hard to get any film on her, so I didn’t know what I was going
to get. She definitely was in shape. She came to fight."
What the Warwick, RI resident got was an all-out brawl in round
3, with the former champion getting the best of the exchanges
and Vega beginning to breath heavily in between exchanges. An
emboldened Clampitt began to press the action in round 4,
sitting on her right hands and forcing the Quito native to
retreat.
"Early on I landed some flush right hands and I think it set her
back a bit," said Clampitt. "I was trying to go for the
knockout, but she was there to win. She’s very tough."
Clampitt began walking Vega down in round 6 behind a steady jab
and heavy right hands. The 39-year-old Vega was game, but it was
evident in round 7 that she couldn’t hurt Clampitt.
"I didn’t feel any power, and because of that I should’ve taken
a few more chances," admitted Clampitt. "I was trying to be safe
and work behind my jab and set up body shots. It was a little
difficult because she was shorter than me, but I felt like my
right hand was landing really well."
Despite being outgunned, Vega engaged Clampitt in another
non-stop exchange throughout the 8th and final round. While the
Ecuadorian didn’t have enough firepower to hurt Clampitt, she
gave a good accounting of herself, providing the 47-year-old
with an opportunity to display her skillset and the tremendous
shape she was in.
"It was a good fight for me to showcase what I was working on,"
explained Clampitt. "Next time I just need to follow through a
little bit more and throw more combinations to get the
knockout."
With another win in a hall-of-fame career, the former two
division champion improved to 25-6-2 (7) as she closes in on
another title shot.
"I want to keep going," said Clampitt. "I’m 47, but I don’t feel
like I’m 47. I feel healthy and strong, and I have the passion
for it. I have the right people behind me, so I want to see
where I can take it."
Other Action
Undefeated Super Featherweight Alejandro Paulino blitzed his
Argentine opponent Julian Aristule in one round. CES Boxing’s
newest signing showed why he was one of the most sought-after
prospects in New England, dropping Aristule with a left hook
moments into the bout. The 53-fight veteran beat the count but
was greeted by an all-out assault punctuated by a big concussive
right hand that dropped him for the count at 1:54 of the round.
New London’s Paulino improved to 15-0 (13) with the win, while
Aristule dropped to 35-18-1 (18).
New Bedford, MA’s Wilson Mascarenhas (8-1, 3 KOs) continued his
assault on the jr. welterweight division, impressively breaking
down and stopping Anthony Mora (2-1, 1 KO) in round 3 of a
scheduled 6 round bout. After a feel-out first round, Wilson
landed a short hook, right hand combination in round 2 and began
to tee off on a hurt Mora, who was covering up and looking to
survive the storm. There was a long break in between rounds as
the ringside physician checked out Mora, but ‘Ill Will’ went for
the kill as soon as the action resumed. New Britain’s Mora
seemed to be fighting off instinct but was outgunned and taking
a lot of punishment as the round came to an end. The ringside
physician had seen enough in between rounds, advising referee
Johnny Callas to stop the bout. Wilson is now 2-0 since
returning from a horrific stabbing he suffered in March 2022.
Anthony "ATV" Velasquez (13-0-1, 12 KOs) made quick work of
Argentina’s Mario Bustos (7-10, 3 KOs), launching a hellacious
body attack punctuated by left hooks that dropped Bustos twice
for a knockout at 1:48 of the very first stanza. With the win,
the junior middleweight out of Springfield, MA bounced back from
a disappointing draw in his April bout at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Mike "The Savage" Kimbel improved to 3-0 (2), winning a shutout
unanimous decision over Brockton, MA’s Stephen Davis (1-1, 1 KO)
in a 4 round super lightweight bout. Kimbel, who is trained by
former light heavyweight champion ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson, was too
strong for the game Davis. The Waterbury, CT native won the
first two rounds with sharper punches. Davis countered
effectively in round 3, but the stalking Kimbel staggered him
near the end of the round with a heavy left hook, right hand
combination. Davis stuck to his jab in round 4, but ‘The Savage’
stunned him with a left hook that caused Davis to retreat with
Kimbel in hot pursuit as the bout came to an end. Scores were
40-36 (3x).
In a welterweight bout, Jeffrey Gonzalez (4-0, 2 KOs) knocked
out Hartford native Joe Wilson Jr. (3-6) at 1:54 of round 3.
Gonzalez dropped Wilson twice in round 1 with crushing right
hands. "Jabbing Joe" survived the assault, but it was evident
that Gonzalez was hurting Wilson with every clean shot that he
landed. The East Haven native caught Wilson with a sneaky right
uppercut in round 2 that dropped Wilson for a third time.
Despite being completely outgunned, Wilson fought back valiantly
in round 3, but Gonzalez landed a counter right hand near the
end of the round that caused Joe’s glove to touch the canvas.
Rather than allowing Wilson to take anymore punishment, Referee
Harvey Dock wisely stopped the bout.
In the opening pro bout of the evening, Slawomir Bohdziewicz
improved to 2-0 (2) with an impressive knockout of Gabriel Costa
(2-5). The Polish prospect continuously caught the Woburn, MA
resident in round 1, first with left hooks and later with right
hands as Costa moved straight back. Costa pressured the Stamford
resident in round 2, looking to disrupt Bohdziewicz by switching
from orthodox to southpaw and even spinning after missing a
punch. The Polish prospect was unnerved, however, going to the
body before launching a series of stinging uppercuts that
dropped Costa hard. Referee Harvey Dock reached a count of 10
with Costa on his knees at 2:40 of round 2.
WBAN / IWBHF
WBAN Instagram
WBAN Facebook
WBAN / IWBHF
WEBSITES
www.womensboxing.org
www.womenboxingrecords.com
www.wban2012.com
www.wbanmember.com
www.floridaboxing.com
www.iwbhf.com
www.wban.tv
WBAN's
Group Facebook
