Rumble at Rama XXIII Recap: Troy Ross Hammers Carl Handy - Plus Undercard Details

Andrew Fruman was ringside for Saturday night's Rumble at Rama XXIII show.

Fighting in the vicinity of his hometown for the first time in over five years, Troy Ross (194) got back in the win column with a dominating ten round decision over Carl Handy (192).

The Canadian southpaw won all ten rounds, backing Handy up in every session with a full assortment of punishing blows including a number of digging body shots.  With Handy offering little offense in return, Ross was able to plant his feet and rip heavy combinations with regularity though sometimes crowded himself too much in his haste to deliver a fight ending shot.

There were a few moments when the highly rated (Bad Left Hook #3, Ring #4) Brampton fighter appeared to be on verge of putting his Montreal based (via New Orleans) opponent in real distress, though the cagey journeyman always managed to buy time by adeptly ducking and dodging or forcing a clinch.

Troy Ross on the attack with opponent Carl Handy covering up on the ropes.

Even with one arm arm frequently locked up by his defense minded opponent, Ross was often still able to get quality work done by driving home uppercuts with his free hand and it was testament to Handy’s toughness that he was able to absorb it all and remain upright for the entirely of the battle.

The scores were 100-90 twice and 99-91. With chances of an immediate rematch against IBF title holder Steve Cunningham appearing slim at this stage, Ross will now likely be looking to land a eliminator bout for one of the other alphabet straps.

On the undercard...

Heavyweight Neven Pajkic (238) improved his record to 14-0, but was far from his best in decisioning a gutsy Andreas Sidon (231).  Pajkic clearly won all eight rounds against the German, though lacked the consistent intensity he has shown in previous outings.

Neven Pajkic fires home a right hand.

It appeared the Toronto fighter would end matters early in the first round when he drove Sidon into the corner with a crunching right hand but the 47 year old survived the opening barrage, and continued to somehow survive round after round by smothering Pajkic’s attack, leaning far back against the ropes and holding when he could. There were times in the late going when Sidon looked ready to fall from exhaustion, and Pajkic was able to score a knockdown late in the seventh but the Canadian champion was never able to string enough damaging punches together to force a stoppage.  The scores were 80-70, 80-71 and 80-72.

Jeri Sitzes leans in as Lisa Brown looks to counter.

Canadian Lisa Brown (122) had her hands full with Jeri Sitzes (120) in a battle of super-bantamweights. Brown was most effective by firing body punches under the American's high guard, while Sitzes scored points with a strong jab and sharp counter right hand.  The decision was unanimous with Brown winning by scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75, though the wide margins of the first two cards did not appear in line with the closely contested action.

Hagar Finer (112) won a clear cut ten round decision from German Julia Sahin (112). The 26 year old from Tel Aviv had her opponent backing up under a heavy body assault for much of the contest, though Sahin showed plenty of heart in continuously battling back.

The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 for Finer, who came up on the short end of a majority decision when the fighters originally met in Hamburg back in 2006.

Hagar Finers follows through with a right hand.

Milos Pantelic (199) won his pro-debut with a spectacular opening round knock-out of John Mercante (201). Pantelic sent Mercante crashing down heavily with an early blitz, before quickly finishing matters by dropping the Brantford fighter to the canvas face first with a follow-up flurry. Referee Rocky Zolnierczyk didn’t bother with a count after the second knockdown, calling an end to the scheduled four rounder at the 1:15 mark.

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