Let me be the first to christen him, Matt “the Fat Head” Godfrey
Lateef "Power" Kayode of Hollywood, CA by way of Lagos, Nigeria.
The main event of Friday night’s Showtime Showbox presentation at the Chumash Resort & Casino in Santa Ynez, CA featured a battle between two top cruiserweights, 28 year-old Lateef Kayode of Hollywood, CA by way of Lagos, Nigeria and 30 year-old Matt “Too Smooth” Godfrey from Providence, Rhode Island.
Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey
The celebrated Godfrey, a former National Amateur Champion in two weight classes, a former National Golden Gloves Champion was none too smooth on this night. From the outset, the more powerful Kayode was able to set the pace and dropped the less than enthusiastic Godfrey at the end of round one with an overhand right. Godfrey also went down in rounds five and nine. The only thing smooth about the out-of-shape Godfrey was how he was able to slip punches and take so much punishment while remaining on his feet.
Then, in a later round, Godfrey disgraced himself and the sport by spitting directly in the face of the more principled Kayode. With the unconscionable act, Godfrey now joins ignoramuses like Roberto Alomar who spat on umpire John Hirschbeck, basketball player Charles Barkley who spat on an eight-year-old girl, Terrell Owens who hocked one in the face of Atlanta’s DeAngelo Hall, and Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski who spat in the face of San Francisco 49ers receiver J. J. Stokes.
The scores of 98-90, 97-90, 98-89, all for Kayode, only tell part of the story. Godfrey now falls to while Kayode moves up to (17-0, 14 KOs).
Art Hovhannesyan (l) and Archie Ray Marquez pose for a photo after their weigh-in for Friday night's boxing show on Showtime.
Showtime’s lead off bout, featured a lightweight battle between Archie Ray Marquez of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Art “Lion Heart” Hovhannesyan of Glendale, CA by way of Gyumri, Armenia,
The power-punching Hovhannesyan dominated from the outset dropping Marquez a total of four times. Marquez, ranked #11 by the WBA, went down in the first, third, fifth, and then finally in the sixth round. In that sixth round he was finished off by the customary right-left combination to the head. Hovhannesyan’s record now goes to (14-0-1 with 8 KOs), while Marquez drops to (11-1-0-1 NC, 7 KOs).
In the next featured bout super bantamweight Chris Avalos won an unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Khabir Suleymanov of Los Angeles, CA by way of Chelyabinsk, Russia. This one wasn’t even close.
Chris Avalos (r) and Khabir Suleymanov (l) pose for a photo at their weigh-in for Friday night's bout.
Avalos dropped Suleymanov with a left hook in the first round and then added another knockdown in the third. After Suleymanov went down to one knee, he got up in a flash. Avalos’ natural reaction was to continue throwing punches as if Suleymanov had never gone down. The venerable referee Dr. Lou Moret regained control of the fighters and issued the standard standing eight-count to Suleymanov and then deducted a point from Avalos for punching Suleymanov after he went down.
For the majority of the fight Suleymanov’s strategy involved shooting in and out trying to land the big right hand, while Avalos was the more methodical of the two countering with powerful combinations. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Avalos with scores of 95-92, 96-91, and 97-90. With the win, Avalos goes to (19-1-0, 15 KOs), while Suleymanov drops to (11-1-0, 5 KOs)
On the undercard
Featherweight Roman Morales remained unbeaten with a fourth round stoppage of Jaime Villa in a scheduled six rounder. Morales (4-0, 3 KO’s) landed the more effective blows throughout the fight. In the fourth round, he dropped Villa (8-9-2, 3 KOs) with a left hand to the head. After Villa stood up, Morales dropped him again, this time with a left hook to the body to give referee Dr. Lou Moret cause to stop the bout.
Welterweight Rashad Holloway won an eight round unanimous decision over Jhon Berrio. Holloway (13-2-2, 5 KOs) was most effective when he laid back to counter with hooks and right crosses each time Berrio pressed forward. Berrio (15-10, 11 KOs) did well on the inside, but as the pace slowed, so did he and the holding started. Holloway scored a knockdown in the seventh round, but was unable to finish the tired Berrio. All three judges scored the bout 79-72, 79-72, and 78-73 in favor of Holloway.
Junior middleweight Marcus Robinson won a four round unanimous decision over Raul Rodriguez. Robinson dominated throughout the first three rounds, scoring repeatedly with left hands to the head. As they entered the fourth round, Robinson had little left in the tank and had to hold on as Rodriguez (2-5-1, 1 KO) stunned him with big right hands to the head. After surviving that final round, all three judges scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Robinson.
