Baker Blasts Johnson!

Cruiserweight Craig Baker of Baytown, Texas looked solid and showed impressive power against the journeyman "Gentleman" James Johnson of Dallas!

 Baker maintained composure against the more experienced fighter who came out landing a few solid body and head shots.

Baker brought a record of 6-0 with 5 KO's and he was coming off a six-round unanimous decision win over Billy Thompson in Dallas on July 25th. Johnson's record was 23-34-3 with 13 KO's.

Baker drilled Johnson with a right hand near the end of round one and Johnson did not answer the bell for the second round.

But the match demonstrated that Baker could use a little work on his mobility and his defense.

Candelo Pounds Perez!

Light middleweight J.C. "Blacktino" Candelo of Baytown, Texas took some solid shots but simply had too much speed and accuracy for Julio "El Cubano" Perez of Mission, Texas in a bout scheduled for six rounds.

The bout was the first leg of Candelo's comeback journey. Candelo brought a record of 27-10-4 with 18 KO's, and is making a comeback after taking an 18-month layoff.

Candelo's last fight was a ten-round unanimous decision loss to James Moore in New York in March of 2008. Candelo also went 12 rounds with Winky Wright in challenging for the IBF Light Middleweight title in March of 2003.

 Perez came into the fight with a record of 6-12-5 with 6 KO's. Candelo opened up with a couple of jabs and a straight right hand that landed, but the game Perez launched and landed some bombs.   

 See video of round two below!

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Perez continued to land some solid shots in round three but Candelo endured them and pressed forward, beginning to take the clear advantage in round four.

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The stoppage came at 2:40 of round four!

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"Beast" Devours "Cat"

    Light Heavyweight Cornelius "The Beast" White had too much power for "Cat" Williams.

 See video of round one below!

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      The stoppage came at 1:15 of the 1st round. White came in at 9-0 with 8 KO's while Williams, who usually fights at light middleweight, brought a record of 8-22-4 with 3 KO's. White needs to step up in competition. His last fight prior to Williams was a 1st round TKO over Shannon Miller(24-42-8) in Houston on April 24th. Williams had lost his last four fights, although he did win a ten-round unanimous decision over then 17-1-1 Juan de la Rosa in Louisiana in May of 2007.

On a note regarding the card as a whole, promoter Chris Henard may have put together a winning formula in combining boxing and mixed martial arts, as the event was well attended with several hundred fans packing a ballroom at the Hobby Marriott Hotel in southeast Houston.

 

Flores Wins Debut! Bantamweight Miguel Flores of Houston easily won his pro debut against Cody Gardner of Holliday, Tennessee, who was also making his pro debut.    Flores had a long and distinguished amateur career and the outcome of this match was never in doubt. Flores is the younger brother of Benjamin Flores, who died from injuries he suffered during a match in Dallas in April. See round one below!  .. The stoppage came at just :31 seconds of the first round!

Taylor Takes Miser! In the main mixed martial arts event of the evening, Danny Taylor of Houston (right, above) faced Kenton Miser of Fort Worth at 179 lbs.! See video of round one below! .. This was actually a fairly even match throughout, with each fighter landing several shots and kicks, and executing various jiu-jitsu maneuvers. Taylor seemed to be the stronger of the two fighters. Taylor achieved full mount for a time in round two. See video of round three below! .. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Taylor!

"Hulk" Batters "Badass"! Jonathan "The Hulk" Harris of Houston made short work of Brandon "Badass" Berkey of Sherman at 179 lbs. in a mixed martial arts contest. Harris was making his pro debut while Berkey came in at 3-3. See the post fight video below! ..