Skender Halili (l) lands to Nicholas Cadena.

Halili vs. Cadena
The action started with a welterweight four rounder between Nicholas Cadena, (1-4, 1KO), from Dallas, and the very impressive debut of Skender Halili of Fort Worth. As soon as the bell rang, Halili attacked and landed a vicious right to the head of Cadena and it put him on the canvas. After the eight count, Halili overwhelmed his opponent against the ropes and the fight was stopped at 1:16 of the first round. An interesting side note to this fight, Cadena has lost his last four fights, and by a strange coincidence, three of the losses were against debut fighters.

Dunmoodie vs. Washington
The next fight of the night was between Corey Washington (2-3-1, 1KO), and Joey Dunmoodie (4-1-2, 2 KO’s), both of Fort Worth. In the first round, Washington appeared very calm in his movement around the ring, throwing clean jabs and landing several good body punches. Although Dunmoodie appeared a little slower, he was able to get in a good combination and landed some hard punches of his own.

Joey Dummodie (r) rips into Core Washington.

In the second, Washington started as the aggressor, and began to connect good left hooks and body punches to the physically fit Dunmoodie. Dunmoodie also connected with very hard counter punches. This round appeared even.

The third round started with a slugfest in the middle of the ring with both fighters landing heavy punches; Washington looked a bit tired going back to his corner.

As the fourth round started, Dunmoodie was on his toes as Washington pursued him around the ring. Although Washington was landing some good punches, Dunmoodie seemed to be getting the best of it, with hard counter-punches.

Dunmoodie won by a unanimous decision, and then it was announced that he had lost his brother Franco, a tough professional boxer in his own right, in a motorcycle accident that morning. Dunmoodie must be more than commended for his professional effort, although he had every right to cancel the fight. North Texas Boxing expresses our deepest condolences to the Dunmoodie family.

Kita Watkins (l) in the process of destroying Lecretia Meachem.

Vick vs. Abrams - Kickboxing
The boxing event then showcased a four round kickboxing bout between hometown boy James Vick and Derek Abrams of Minnesota. When Abrams entered the ring, he wasn’t hard to pick out because of his hot pink hair. Unfortunately, this was the only outstanding trait he had, because his kickboxing skills were no match for Vick.

James Vick (l) deflects a Derek Abrams kick.

Ramos vs. Rodriguez
The last bout before the main event was between Fernando Rodriquez (4-0), of Dallas, Texas, and Milton Ramos (2-2-2) of Waco, Texas. I had last seen Rodriguez at the Marina fights in Rockwall, Texas, and I was expecting a good showing by him. In that fight, he was a body punching maniac. In this fight, he started with the same approach, but his opponent Milton Ramos, was able to slip and slide away from the punches. In the first and second rounds, Rodriguez was the aggressor, although Ramos was able to connect with a multitude of counter punches. This continued in the third round, as Ramos again seemed to be getting the best of it, with more counter punches. The final round continued with Rodriguez as the aggressor, and ended with Ramos finishing the round again with sharper punches. As the unanimous decision was being announced for Ramos, a frustrated Rodriguez attempted to leave the ring, but his trainers pushed him back through the ropes.

Rafael Casias (r) digs to the body of Edsen Renteria.

When the bell rang for the first round, I noticed an all-business mean look on the face of Renteria, and he came out punching with hard straight right hands. The more experienced Casias quickly protected himself and connected with punches of his own. Casias was the pursuer in the first and second rounds, evenly moving around the ring and landing punches to his opponent. Yet, Renteria was still connecting with both hands to Casias.

Still the pursuer in the third, Casias was connecting with hard body punches, but still being caught with quick counter punches from Renteria. In the middle of the round, the referee briefly warned Renteria for using his head. Both fighters had good exchanges in the round, yet Renteria seemed just a little quicker. Renteria finished the round with Casias in the corner and he connected with hard punches to the head and body of Casias.

In the final round, Casias continued to move forward, although it appeared that Renteria had the best of it, with his quick counter punches. It ended with Renteria prematurely rejoicing the win, which the crowd agreed with, but to no avail. Casias was announced the victor by a very close split decision.

Paulie Ayala
In a brief conversation with Paulie Ayala, former NABF, WBA, and IBO bantamweight champion of the world, he announced he will be promoting a boxing event at Pequeno Mexico Flea Market in Fort Worth. It will be held on September 17, 2010, commemorating Mexican independence from Spain. He is contemplating putting on a second match between Casias and Renteria on that show, “because of the very close decision that ended tonight’s fight”. When asked about a possible match between Yanez and Casias, he said that would be a good time to showcase Yanez’s talents, for a possible match up between him and Casias, on a future date. He said it could possibly create interest in the boxing community for Dallas/Fort Worth adversaries such as Yanez and Casias. Finally, he wanted to commend boxer Joshua Dunmoodie for his professionalism by appearing on the card, and send his condolences to him and his family.