Thursday night saw the return of Savarese Promotions to the Bayou City Civic Center for Rumble On The Bayou 5 in Houston, TX. This would be the first time that Savarese Promotions would put on a hybrid card, both boxing and MMA.
The venue opened the barrier that normally separates the crowd from the fighter’s dressing rooms to accommodate the increase in attendance. The influx of patrons would be for the main event; Lou Savarese (former world heavyweight boxing champ) would be making his mixed martial arts debut against 8-fight MMA vet, Tim Papp.
In the opening bout, Josue Morales and Richard Hernandez would fight to a majority draw. Morales would maintain ring generalship through out the fight, but there were times where the southpaw Richard Hernandez, would land his lead right hook as a counter to Morales’ offense.
The first MMA bout as well as the lone women’s fight on the card. Jazmin Quezada would take Tina Lynch to the end of the first round where she finished her with the rear naked choke. There was not much action to start the fight off. Half the round was spent clenching where Quezada and Lynch would throw knees at one another that didn’t seem to do any damage. Quezada would eventually get a takedown and transitioned from mount to having Lynch’s back in the matter of seconds. It was clear Lynch didn’t know what to do on the ground and was submitted. Quezada picked up her first professional win.
In the next boxing match there was Preston Kenny taking on Wilson Rodriguez. This was not the most skilled fight on the card to say the least; although Kenny was the better looking fighter. Rodriguez came out with punches and footwork that would make an “All-Comer” chuckle. Kenny would maintain the center of the ring while keeping Rodriguez on the ropes. While Rodriguez would throw flailing punches, Kenny would counter with some solid shots. Eventually, Rodriguez would seem to either run away from punches or wince at the thought of getting hit. In the final seconds of the 1st round, Kenny would land a devastating combo that only the bell could save Rodriguez from. As the bell sounded, you could see from the look on Rodriguez’s face that he didn’t want anymore. Right before the 2nd round started, the ref walked over to the corner where they told they said he wouldn’t continue.
The third boxing match ended in 31 seconds. We had two fighters both making their pro debuts, Omar Tello and Ronald Nowden. Tello came out guns blazing! Before Nowden even knew what was going on, the ref had jumped in to stop the fight.
In the second MMA bout, Alex Black would take on Randy Reyes. This fight was set to take place at 155 lbs, but with Reyes coming in seven pounds over, it was moved to a catch weight. It only took Black just over a minute to finish his opponent. There was a brief fill out period then Black secured the takedown and landed directly in side control. While Black was looking to lock up several submissions, Reyes turned and gave his back which signaled the end was near; another win by RNC on the night.
In the final boxing match of the evening, we had heavyweights Darlington Agha and Terrell Woods competing in a 6-round fight. There was a clear height disadvantage for Agha, maybe 8 in. None of that mattered to Agha as he was able to get on the inside and do serious damage to the body of Woods. There were spurts where Woods showed signs of life and ready to fight, but what I later learned was possibly a broken hand, prevented Woods from capitalizing when the opportunity was there. Agha wood end up getting the unanimous decision victory and moved to 9-0.
In the main event, Lou Savarese and Tim Papp squared off in an MMA match. Papp came out throwing several leg kicks at Savarese, none were checked. Eventually, Papp would dive in for a takedown which he finally finished. No damage was done as Savarese was quickly able to get back to his feet; Papp threw a knee that seem to graze Savarese on the head, but didn’t affect him. Papp shoots in for another takedown, this time Savarese stuffs it and they end clenched up. There is a lot of dirty boxing from both guys, but Savarese lands a flurry that eventually drops Papp. I’m guessing Savarese had a boxing relapse, and thought he would get a standing 8 count; Savarese simply walked away. Papp was able to get back to his feet and the fight continued. There was more clenching and then Savarese landed 2 right hooks, one that stunned Papp, and then another to finish the fight. Again, Savarese walked away as he looked to go to a neutral corner. This time, Papp looked out of it and the ref waived the fight off.
All in all, it was a fun night of fights. There were action packed decision, as well as TKO’s and submissions. Lou Savarese decided to venture into the world of MMA and came out victorious. I’m sure he’s glad he didn’t end up like Riddick Bowe when he decided to try out muay thai.
Quick Results:
- (MMA) Lou Savarese def. Tim Papp via TKO (Punches) – Round 1, 1:47
- (Boxing) Darlington Agha def. Terrell Woods via Unanimous Decision
- (MMA) Alex Black def. Randy Reyes via Submission (RNC) – Round 1, 1:03
- (Boxing) Omar Tello def. Ronald Nowden via TKO (Ref Stoppage) – Round 1, :31
- (Boxing) Preston Kenny def. Wilson Rodriguez via TKO (Rodriguez didn’t answer the bell) – Round 2
- (MMA) Jazmin Quezada def. Tina Lynch via Submission (RNC) – Round 1, 2:46
- (Boxing) Josue Morales vs. Richard Hernandez end via Majority Draw
Lou’s confident in his ground game as evidenced in his boxing match against Tyson where he took a dive early and had an agreement for the ref to prevent him being hurt as the ref stopped the bout after he’d been hit a couple of times.
The worst case of match fixing I’ve seen in a while. Tyson saw through it and angrily kept punching despite the ref intervening.
I imagine there are a few more ex boxers that can’t fight anymore to be drawn out of retirement for mma. The search goes on.