Saturday, February 12, 2011

Cuban defector wins debut in two rounds

Posted on Saturday, 02.12.11

Boxing
Cuban defector wins debut in two rounds
By Santos A. Perez
sperez@MiamiHerald.com

Like a cheerful schoolboy who just gained another hour of recess, Leduan
Barthelemy let out a huge grin as he reflected on the outcome of his
first professional fight.

"I cannot fully describe my emotions right now," Barthelemy said. "I
just feel very happy."

Barthelemy had reason for his joy. Two years since defecting from his
native Cuba, Barthelemy made a successful debut with a second-round
technical knockout over Shane Tenney in an undercard bout of Friday
night's show at Magic City Casino.

Using his 6-1 frame, Barthelemy kept Tenney at a distance in the first
round with a lead right jab.

Late in the round, Barthelemy pressed Tenney (3-1) to the ropes and
scored with combinations to the head.

Barthelemy quickly realized the potency of his shots in the second
round, sending Tenney to the canvas with a right to the head. Tenney
struggled to reach his feet before the 10-count, forcing referee Sam
Burgos to stop the super-bantamweight bout at 2:23 of the round.

"After the first round, I knew he wasn't stronger than me," Barthelemy
said. "I wanted to win by knockout so I went after him."

Barthelemy, 21, said sparring with middleweight Eromeseme Albert helped
him prepare for the bout.

Albert fought in the card's main event late Friday, defending his
regional middleweight title against Lester Gonzalez.

Another of the card's late Friday bouts featured Barthelemy's older
brother, Rances, against Anthony Woods.

In another bout, Miami resident Chris Velez won a hard-fought and
entertaining majority decision against Cutler Bay's Jessy Cruz.

Returning to the sport after a two-year absence, Cruz hurt Hernandez
(5-0) late in the first round with a left to the head.

But Hernandez fought back in the following rounds with effective
combinations the head from short range. Cruz (3-3) also landed short
combinations to the head as both fighters maintained a busy pace
throughout the bantamweight bout's four-round distance.

Judges Jack Woodburn and Ralph Vidal had Hernandez winning, 40-36 and
39-37, and judge Ric Bays scored it 38-38.

"Jessy is a hell of a fighter and a good friend; we have sparred
together," Hernandez said. "But in the ring you can't think about
friendships. I had a job to do."

In other bouts: heavyweight Glendy Hernandez won by unanimous decision
over Jerry Butler; light-heavyweight Yuniesky Gonzalez knocked out Chris
Kahn at 2:30 of the second round; junior-welterweight Puro Pairol won by
unanimous decision over Jean Petit-Homme; and welterweight Chris Velez
scored a TKO over Alejandro Artola at 1:54 of the second round.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/11/2063117/cuban-defector-wins-debut-in-two.html

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