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 Good evening and welcome to the Liberty Dome in New York City to witness SPNY 130 where we will see the 2nd Light Heavyweight Title defence of Toby Le Rone against Haloti Gnata. The undercard is packed with interesting fights such as Light Heavyweight contender Oscar Salcedo against the aging legend Belin Billet, and Kenny Monday and Robert Van Winkle engaging in a Middleweight eliminator series. Perhaps most interesting for me is to see how former Welterweight champion handles parting company with his long term manager on the back of a 3 fight losing streak when he clashes with Ogami Itto. The Bantamweight encounter between Doherty and Troyer is going to be intriguing given that both were pound for pound legends a few years ago but are well past their best now, it could be either one of the best or one of the worst fights SPNY has ever witnessed. Don’t forget for those of you who love a punt Steel Penn NY Bookmaker has odds on all of tonight’s 10 fights.
Main Event: Light Heavyweight Title
Toby Le Rone (c) 20-5 (6-2 SPNY) vs Haloti Gnata 17-5 (14-5 SPNY)
Le Rone comes into his second title defence knowing that as a boxer and kick boxer he probably has the edge in terms of total skills against boxer Gnata. Coming off 5 straight wins and his last 3 by knockout, not only is Le Rone at peak form but he is quickly becoming one of the outright crowd favourites here at SPNY. Whilst he lacks the one punch knockout power that makes some stand up fighters so dangerous, there are few Light Heavyweights in the world who can match his work rate over 3 rounds let alone the 5 rounds of tonight’s title fight.
It is a mark of how hard he has worked and how much he has improved that Gnata is finally in a position to be a title challenger in his 20th fight with SPNY. Gnata made an early impression upon turning pro winning his first 6 fights by knockout, but as the competition he faced got tougher he struggled to adapt and find consistency. There are no complaints about his consistency now however as he enters this title challenge on the back of 4 straight wins over top level opponents. Whilst he lacks the versatile offence of Le Rone, Gnata has arguably one of the best striking defence techniques in SPNY and will enjoy a healthy 2 inch reach advantage tonight.
Le Rone enters this fight a deserved short priced favourite, but I’m feeling nostalgic and will be cheering my heart out for the SPNY old boy Gnata. Gnata by KO in the 3rd in one of the upsets of the year.
2: Light Heavyweight
Oscar Salcedo 25-16 (7-4 SPNY) vs Belin Billet 31-22-2 (3-2 SPNY)
Whether its on his feet or from mount Salcedo swings hard, not the most accurate puncher in the world or well rounded in his technique he managed to knockout 20 opponents at Heavyweight before finally trimming down to fight at 205 where he looks far fitter and more comfortable. Whilst consistency has been a struggle over the course of his career, he will know that bouncing back with a win tonight after losing an eliminator to Haloti Gnata at last start may go a long way to installing him as the No. 1 contender for the winner of tonight’s title fight.
Billet may not be the dominant force he was earlier in his career, Billet has proven that his experience and versatility make him a tough prospect for the younger opponents he has faced recently. Billet may be up against it tonight given his earlier career was remarkable for the number of late stoppages he recorded and more recently his fights have increasingly been going the distance, a grinding point scoring strategy tonight will leave him open to the sort of big shot that will make Billet reconsider his decision not to retire.
I’ve got to back Salcedo by KO in the 1st here.
3: Middleweight
Robert Van Winkle 19-9 (2-1 SPNY) vs Kenny Monday 24-13-2 (12-4-1 SPNY)
Van Winkle and former champ Monday are the two most recent unsuccessful title challengers in the Middleweight division. The winner of this fight has been promised a title eliminator against Anti Satosori. Van Winkle perhaps will feel he deserves to be the favourite for this series given he has recently recorded decision wins over both Monday and Satosori as well as lasting the distance against the champion Surov. Van Winkle is competent on his feet, strong in the clinch, and near perfect in controlling technique on the ground; he does however lack the ability to finish opponents. While he may well have the ability to win this eliminator series, but if Van Winkle wins the fans lose.
Monday is one of the elite grapplers of SPNY, a claim Van Winkle is also able to make. However, I would rate Monday to have an advantage on the ground in this match up. The weakness Monday will have against Van Winkle is in the clinch, a situation it will be important for him to avoid if he is to progress. As a 2 time former champion Monday is very popular with the SPNY crowd, and given the unpopular nature of his opponent tonight will no doubt have a lot of support as he enters the cage tonight.
For the sake of the fans I’d like to say Monday, but I see Van Winkle boring the crowd on the way to another dull decision win.
4: Welterweight
Dick Solomon 18-9 (1-0 SPNY) vs Also Zarathustra 21-14 (2-1 SPNY)
In a division where the champ Tomi Atomi is currently head and shoulders above the challenging pack Zarathustra felt the sting of an unsuccessful title challenge dropping him well down the rankings. Tonight he meets relative newcomer to SPNY Solomon who made a successful comeback after almost 2 years out of the fighting game. Earlier in his career Solomon’s boxing skills made him an almost unstoppable force and saw him shoot to the top very quickly, unfortunately once he got there his lack of versatility saw the losses begin to pile up, finally parting company with his training camp to start anew.
Zarathustra is a dominant grappler who is happy to stand and box. Over the course of his career he has struggled badly against Muay Thai and other kick boxers, so tonight he will be quite comfortable given that Solomon is not known for his kicks. Zarathustra will know the earlier he gets this fight to ground the better his chances.
Solomon by knockout.
5: Bantamweight
Jack Clark 20-17 (6-5 SPNY) vs Akira Ishikawa 28-15 (0-1 SPNY)
Somehow in his 37 fight career Clark has never wised up to the fact that throwing haymaking combinations can be both predictable and leave him vulnerable to counters. When one lands they do enough damage for him to have clocked up 15 career knockout wins, but if he throws himself off balance and is taken down Japanese jujitsu fighter Ishikawa has the ability to submit him very quickly. Watch for Ishikawa to avoid the early combos before shooting for the takedown.
I think tonight is Clark’s night and he will land something flush early and put Ishikawa down.
6: Welterweight
Ogami Itto 15-9 (0-1 SPNY) vs John Kyle Romo 24-11 (6-4 SPNY)
Itto has no pressure on him tonight, which is about the only positive he can take given he has lost his last 4 fights. A versatile fighter who is competent in every aspect of his fight game, his lack of an outright specialty leaves him unable to dominate opponents at this level. But the real story tonight is former champion Romo, 4 losses in his last 5 fights have seen him have a very public bust up with his long term manager and desert his training camp. A win tonight would see him remain as an outside Welterweight contender, but the future of his career is well and truly in the air.
Personally I believe Romo has a big enough heart to pull out a big win tonight to stop his critics, and I see him doing it with a big knockout. For Itto, if he can’t beat a fighter whose world has fallen apart the way Romo’s have than he probably doesn’t belong at this level.
7: Bantamweight
Pete Doherty 36-12-1 (SPNY Debut) vs Angus Troyer 17-10-1 (2-2 SPNY)
If this fight had have taken place 3 years ago it could well have been to decide the pound for pound champion of the world. At the time though Doherty was a Lightweight who on occasion fought at Middleweight, since then he has lost almost 45lbs to be one of the smallest Bantamweights in world MMA. Since that time he has only fought once and I’m honestly not sure what to expect given his inactivity and extreme weight loss. Troyer tried to reinvent himself at SPNY after his career went downhill badly and he has failed to regain the form that once made him one of the pound for pound top 5 in the world. Tonight will mark his farewell from SPNY and poignantly it comes early on the card not as the headline he once was.
Logic says that Doherty can’t win this fight after such bizarre inactivity and that physically he won’t be capable of competing having dropped so much weight, but Troyer’s confidence is shot and I can’t see him winning either. Doherty to win by submission.
8: Heavyweight
Al Al Kaholic 33-20 (0-4 SPNY) vs Rafal Kozak 15-6-1 (1-1-1 SPNY)
Kaholic’s form in SPNY has not been good enough to see his contract renewed; so far his claim to fame is he has been knocked out in the dying seconds of 2 fight of the night performances. However, 4 knockout losses in 4 fights have shown he is not at the level required to compete here. Kozak has been given what should be an easy fight against an out of form opponent but as a grappler who likes submissions will not be completely comfortable against Kaholic who holds a black belt in BJJ. Tonight may unexpectedly play into Kaholic’s hands.
I like Kaholic to sign out with a decision win over Kozak.
9: Featherweight
Ryan Blankinship (Professional Debut) vs Jason Paw 2-5 (0-4 SPNY)
Tonight will mark Paw’s best chance yet to record his first SPNY win with the debutant Blankinship somewhat of an unknown quantity. Paw has suffered by having no takedown defence meaning his boxing skills which are supposedly his strength are never on display. However, Blankinship has had a few professional boxing fights before turning to MMA and I expect him not only to fight Paw on his feet, but knock him out.
Blankinship by KO.
10: Featherweight
David O’Conner 1-1 (1-0 SPNY) vs Nicky Pesci 0-1 (0-1 SPNY)
Despite winning his last fight O’Conner doesn’t impress me, like many young guys turning pro lately he lacks the expertise in any martial art disciplines to dominate an opponent, when he meets Pesci tonight he will find out how hard it is to beat a guy who turned down an NCAA wrestling scholarship to fight professionally. I’ve also got serious concerns about O’Conner’s fitness leading into this.
Pesci will win by submission.
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