[mikehoudini]

BINK GAZETTE December 14, 2008

After opening Season 2 with two wins in a row (a new personal best), the Binks hosted Romy and his tough Muckboys on December 5. Fired up by this unexpected beginning, the fans poured into the Baltimore Civic Center to cheer on their local heroes! Romy had felt his team was up to the challenge, Chris Conn of the mighty Hebron Haymakers had indicated that his ring card girl believed the Binks weren’t up to the task (which infuriated Amina Sade), and no less a personage than Skip Bailey predicted that it would be a real battle.

Amina and her friends worked the capacity crowd before the fights commenced, and the beer was flowing as the crowd noise grew in anticipation of this contest! And the fighters didn’t disappoint, waging a monumental war. The Muckboys won 9 of the 16 fights in the first half and led, 30-22.5. Were the Binks ready to throw in the towel? No way, and they stormed back in the second half, going 8-6-2, garnering a 27-22.5 advantage in points. Alas, for those out there that are good at the math, the end result was the Muckboys winning on points, 52.5-49.5, while the won-loss record was a 15-15-2 dead heat! One fight in particular proved to be the difference.

Johnny Hill, fresh from the shores of Scotland, has been a bonny addition to date. The pesky flyweight won against Hugo Soto, then battled the favored Candido Tellez to a draw. At 2-3-1, he has been a welcome addition since replacing Jackie Brown. Chocky Chockvivat was stopped on a TKO in the 8th against Tellez, in a fight that was a donnybrook. Chocky hammered out a convincing win against Soto to soothe his ego.

Jose Medel, now 19-7-1, proved to be too much for bantams Boots Monroe, who was stopped in the 11th, and Danny O’Sullivan, who was KOd in the 8th. Boots, now 8-18, did KO Pete Frissina in 6, while Danny (8-17-1) came out of his slump in stopping him on cuts in the 9th! Boots is 3-3 this season, and needs to do better fast!

Jose Badillo was overmatched by the fine Muckboy feathers, being KOd in 4 by the 24-5 Vicente Saldivar and in 2 by Chalky Wright! The Bink stopper for the first 2 weeks, Young Corbett II, lost a close decision to Chalky, and the mascot Jubilee showed his fans while the crowd booed the decision. Corbett was also KOd in the 7th by Saldivar, but fought well up to that point. This poor showing against the cream of the Muckboys hurt.

Lightweight Buzzsaw Yamabe stopped Sergei Artemiev on cuts in the 10th after giving him a savage beating, but Bummy Davis was upset as Cesar Orta KOd him in 9! Bummy, fighting mad, redeemed himself with a nice upset win over Artemiev, but Buzzsaw, now 15-9-2, was held to a draw by Orta, the fans again booing the verdict!

Welterweight champion Cocoa Kid took on the precocious Henry Armstrong, and was sizzling in giving a boxing exhibition in the 1st round. Alas, the Kid had been cut last week, and Armstrong ripped it open again with a sweet hook in the 2nd. The corner men couldn’t stop the cut, and Armstrong won a TKO in the 3rd on cuts, taking the Cocoa Kid’s belt in only his fifth fight! Mack Lewis’ worst fears in fact occurred, as he’d considered holding the Kid out of action until his eye healed. Tommy West rocked David Cervantes with a cross, getting a round 1 KO, then fought a doozy of a fight against Armstrong before Henry’s swarming attack did him in on a TKO in the 9th! Protecting his eye all the way, the Cocoa Kid easily beat Cervantes, but the damage had already been done.

Max Resch and Henry Hank were both KOd in the 5th in the 1st half, Max by Andrew Lewis in a fight he was dominating, and Hank being upset by Charles Turner. Max was KOd in 6 by Turner in the nightcap, while Hank salvaged some pride by clocking Lewis in 2, and is now 5-1 this season after going 8-9-3 last season! Max had been fighting so far over his level, but it hurt to drop 3 of 4 at this weight level.

Melio Bettina beat up a game Battling Siki, but couldn’t put him away, and his sidekick Oakland Billy Smith stopped an overmatched Ali Sanchez in 4. Siki snatched a victory away in the 2nd half, KOing Smith in 9, in a fight that was very close. That KO was crucial, as the Binks had been rallying big time in the 2nd half! Bettina punished Sanchez, but somehow couldn’t put him away. He is 16-10 now, and Oakland Billy a gaudy 16-9-2, a solid twosome often known as Batman and Robin!

Captain Hasim “the Rock” Rahman put poor Santo Amonti to sleep in 2, but Buster Douglas was schooled by tough Nino Valdez, being KOd in 3. A quick learner, Buster came back to notch his record at 3-3 with an impressive KO of Amonti in Round 6, while the Rock pounded away and beat Valdez handily to close out the action, raising his record to 19-6-2 in the process!

All in all, it was an exciting contest between two very competitive teams. The Cocoa Kid’s prior injury may have played a factor, but he refused to use it as an alibi, saying he was determined to fight for his teammates! Mack Lewis shook his head in admiration, also refusing to use the prior cut as an alibi.

Melio Bettina and the Rock shared Fighter of the Week honors. They both went 2-0, helping fuel the late Bink rally. Chocky and Buzzsaw Yamabe also both fought well, continuing to be crowd-pleasers, and Johnny Hill was impressive.

In terms of the Bum of the Week award, featherweights Jose Badillo and Young Corbett II pulled in the honors. Jose was just overmatched, while Corbett, who actually fought decently, was counted on for a win after his strong performances the prior 2 weeks.

The Binks took the Muckboys out for beer and a night of revelry to celebrate the close match. Mack Lewis spoke with me after the match, saying “The Muckboys fought well tonight! But there are areas in which we still can and must improve to be competitive. We tend to get of to a slow start each match, then come roaring back in the 2nd half. We need to be more competitive from the get-go and not dig ourselves these holes.

“Still, I am pleased at our performance. If any of several matches had gone the other way, we’d have been the winners. Cocoa Kid got a bad break, and that hurt. Man, that young Armstrong lad is a comer! He sure looks like the real deal to me!

“Now we’ve got to get ready for Diggstown, and they are tough to beat. I’m hoping that we’ll learn from this defeat and be ready to host the Ringers! We benefited from working out in the off-season with the Toronto Tornados. Now we need to capitalize on it!”

The Rock grabbed the mike and said “We want to win for Mister Mack here! I think we’ve got two great newcomers. Johnny Hill and my man Buster have been good contributors. Diggstown is tough, real tough, but who is in first place? Check it out, dude!”

I did and it was the Binks, though Diggstown is closing fast. Can the Binks turn the tables on Thunder’s mighty warriors? Will they ever get respect from the Haymaker owner, Chris? Will they run the table for the rest of the season?

The short answers, maybe, doubtful and impossible. One thing is for sure. The Civic Center will be packed for the next set of matches, as the fans will pour in to watch the first place Binks! Also, Amina Sade has promised some special entertainment and inducements! Rumor has it that Jubilee the mascot has been sharpening his saber-toothed fangs!

Bink fever, catch it! You’ll only wish you died!