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Frederick Knocks Wind Out Of Fleming

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By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON

arichardson@tampatrib.com

Published: February 14, 2009

TAMPA - Wauchula welterweight Dillet Frederick and LaQuell Fleming seemed to be evenly matched until one punch changed the fight on Friday night at the A La Carte Event Pavilion.

Frederick (6-2-3) landed a fierce body shot in the first round, and it sucked the wind out of Fleming (1-2-2). He landed several more blows to the body before winning the fight by technical knockout 2:05 minutes into the bout.

In the main event, Tampa featherweight Carlos Rivera (15-3-2) withstood an early attack by veteran Johnnie Edwards (14-4-1) to defeat his opponent by unanimous decision.

Edwards controlled the tempo early and was more aggressive than Rivera, despite being knocked down in the second round.

Rivera began to wear down Edwards with his jab and hard punches to pull off the victory.

St. Petersburg middleweight Ashandi Gibbs faced Atlanta's Mark Sanders, who was at least five inches taller than the 5-foot-8 local fighter. Sanders successfully worked his jab in the first round, but Gibbs began cutting him down with body shots and jabs of his own.

In the third round, Gibbs (10-0) caught Sanders (3-2-1) with a right uppercut, instantly knocking out his opponent.

In addition, Tampa featherweight Charlie Serrano (7-2) scored a unanimous decision against Sarasota's Adrian Perez (4-2-1) in a four-round fight.

St. Petersburg light heavyweight Adam Hubinger (12-0) and Texas' Terrance Smith (5-10-2) battered each other for six rounds before the area fighter, trained by Dan Birmingham, pulled off a unanimous decision.

Campbell Will Fight Funeka

Nearly a year after dominating then-unbeaten lightweight champion Juan Diaz - taking his IBF, WBA and WBO belts - longtime Tampa resident and Jacksonville native Nate Campbell was supposed to be making his first title defense tonight.

Instead, Campbell lost his IBF and WBO titles without stepping into the ring. Campbell, who vacated the WBA belt in January, failed to make the 135-pound weight on Friday and forfeited his crowns.

Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KOs) will still face South Africa's Ali Funeka (30-1-2, 25 KOs), the IBF title's top contender.

Campbell is taking on a much taller fighter.

"Funeka doesn't think I can beat him," said the 5-foot-7 Campbell of the 6-1 Funeka. "He thinks he's too tall, he thinks he's this, he's that. All that stuff. But when the bell rings, he's got to show me something."

The two will face off as the main event on HBO's "Boxing After Dark" tonight at 10 from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise.

Eddie Daniels

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