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Lebron Defeats Corea For Featherweight Tri-State Championship Belt in Hard Hitting Promotions Bout


Hard Hitting Promotions brought a riveting night of boxing to the SugarHouse Casino (1001 N. Delaware Ave.) on Friday, December 16th as seven exciting bouts across multiple weight divisions took place in front of a packed house. The action culminated in a title fight between Luis “Popeye” Lebron and Roberto Rodriguez “Tigre” Corea for the featherweight Tri-State Championship belt, that saw Lebron emerge victorious.

About 600 people from Philadelphia and the surrounding area turned up to spectate this night of boxing. Doors opened at 6:00PM with the first bout commencing at 7PM.

Philadelphia is a city rich in boxing history with boxers such as Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston and Tommy Loughran all having graced the sport with their roots in here in Philly however, over the last few decades the boxing scene has experienced somewhat of a decline.

“I appreciate the love that the Philly fans are giving us, it’s just a blessing for us,” said Manny Rivera, boxing promoter at Hard Hitting Promotions.

“It’s [Sugar House Casino] really committed to bringing boxing back to the city of Philadelphia, how it once was in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and all the way up to the 80s. With the Blue Horizon closing down a couple of years ago, this is the new venue to come and watch professional boxing,” Rivera added.sugarhouse_boxing_1

The co-feature super featherweight bout between Philadelphia’s own Branden Pizarro (2-0, 1 KO) and 29-fight veteran Jesús Lule (9-20-1, 1 KO) ended in a one sided decision that kept 18 year-old Pizarro’s perfect record intact.

Pizarro started of very strong, unleashing a barrage of combinations in the 1st and 2nd round, looking like he was heading for his 2nd professional KO in the 3rd. However, Lule stood strong and proved his worth in the ring, as his professionalism took the fight all the way to the end. Pizarro took the decision 40-36.

“I did what I had to do and in my opinion we came out victorious. However, if I had come out in the right condition, I would have beaten him square and it wouldn’t have gone to a decision,” Lule told Spirit News upon defeat.

His coach added, “I know the pro links want him back to fight again. He only prepared for this fight for 3 or 4 days.”

Philadelphia’s Christian Carto (6-0, 6 KOs) was also looking to keep his perfect record in his bantamweight bout against Harold Reyes (2-7-1), of Puerto Rico. Reyes scraped through the first round under an intense attack from all angles delivered by Carto, before falling to his knees in the 2nd. He was unable to regain his footing and the referee declared the TKO with 1:14 left on the clock.

“My jab was working and then I was landing that. I was trying to work behind the jab,” Carto said. “I had a fight November 12th so I was already in shape. I’ve just been staying sharp in the gym and sparring, I did a lot before this fight. I enjoyed it, it was fun.”

The feature featherweight Tri-State championship title bout was scheduled to be between Luis “Popeye” Lebron (7-0-1, 3 KOs), of Puerto Rico, and Ernesto Garza (7-1), of Michigan. The Tri-State Championship comprises of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania with the winner holding the belt for all 3 states.sugarhouse_boxing_2

Though, due to a late drop out on behalf of Garza, the Hard Hitting Promotions team were called quickly into action to find a suitable replacement. This came in the form of Roberto Rodriguez “Tigre” Corea (9-12-4, 4 KOs), of Nicaragua.

As the bell went for the 1st round, the fighters looked to be pretty evenly matched, with neither emerging on top. However, the evenly matched fight that was clear to see in the first half took a U turn, as Lebron unleashed his power, dominating the final rounds and taking advantage of a tiring Corea, having him against the ropes on several occasions.

Lebron won the fight with two scores of 80-72 and 79-73, winning the Tri-State championship belt.

“The man was very strong. He was throwing a lot of over-head punches and catching me off guard. I expected a tough fight and I prepared myself well and that’s why I went the distance,” Corea told Spirit News upon defeat. “I performed well, the guy [Lebron] was bigger and stronger but at the same time I came with a lot of heart.”

Other fights included two welterweight bouts, one between Jaron Ennis (8-0, 6 KOs) and Marcus Beckford (3-5-3, 1 KO), and the other between Kevin Johnson (1-0, 1 KO) and Austin Ward (0-3); a lightweight bout between Jeremy Cuevas (2-0, 2 KOs) and Tom Mills (1-7, 1 KO); and a light heavyweight bout between David Murray (5-1-1, 4 KOs) and Kenmon Evans (3-0-1).sugarhouse_boxing_3

All the fights were broadcast by Telemundo 62, a sister station of NBC.

“People thought it was insane doing this event the week before Christmas but I think tonight was a success,” said Rivera. “Thank you to Telemundo 62 for coming out and being able to show this to the fans that can’t be here for whatever reason.”

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