Eric Hunter and Ray Robinson

Shine on ShoBox

It was a complete sell-out crowd at Bally's Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City for Star Boxing's "Turf War"-a WBO Jr. Welterweight elimination bout between Kendall Holt and Mike Arnaoutis, televised live on Showtime's highly entertaining boxing series "ShoBox, the Next Generation". What ShoBox viewers weren't able to witness was Ray Robinson and Eric Hunter showcasing their skills in two show stealing undercard performances on Friday night.

"Is that really your name?" It's a question the Philadelphian has become all too familiar with. It's a big burden to carry, but the new Ray Robinson (3-0, 0KO) seems up to the task. Roberto Acevedo now (1-1- 1), Robinson's opponent Friday night is now a believer. In the first round Robinson displayed his touted boxing skills but midway through the round engaged Acevedo and was dropped hard when a big left hand from Acevedo found its mark. Robinson survived the onslaught from Acevedo and made it to the end of the round.

Robinson evened the score in the next round when a few surgically placed body shots sent Acevedo to the canvas. Robinson continued to dissect Acevedo with his body attack forcing Acevedo to resort to flagrant holding. Acevedo was later disqualified for excessive holding giving Robinson a hard earned victory. Robinson, touted by some media experts as the new "Sugar", showed the mettle of world champion far beyond his record indicates.

Eric "The Outlaw" Hunter (7-1, 3KO's) put on a masterful performance dominating the durable Vineash Rungea (2-7-2) over six rounds.

Rungea came out to the ring animated and confident of a victory. Shades of Naseem Hamed, the charismatic Rungea came out wearing Blues Brother type shades, and danced down the aisle to calypso/reggae style music. In the ring it was Hunter who did all the dancing.

From the opening bell Hunter displayed his superior hand speed and technique the befuddled Rungea. Hunter's quickness to find leaks in his opponent's defense is almost frightening. On many occasions Rungea would pull out of the inside exchanges and Hunter would capitalize by whacking him with hard shots to the head.

The FightNews.com report stated "All three judges scored the bout 60-54 for Hunter, who showed impressive boxing skills and speed".

Eric Hunter is a future superstar.

The Greek Slugger, who now resides in Atlantic City, suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of the WBO#1 rated contender Kendall Holt in a World Championship Eliminator Bout.

Arnaoutis looked in fantastic shape and ready for battle, but Holt was just a bit quicker and more elusive then anticipated. Arnaoutis gave chase but was never able to track down Holt long enough to land with something significant.

Arnaoutis drops to 17-2-2, 9KO's.

The televised co-feature was an intriguing match-up between Mike Marrone (18-0, 13KO's) vs. Malachy Farrell (15-1, 12KO's) in a battle of undefeated prospects.

A proud Irish-American gladiator, Farrell was away from the ring for nearly 6 months, due to an appendix removal. Early on, Farrell did show signs of ring rust, giving Marrone a false sense of confidence. Marrone attacked with ferocity, but Farrell was blocking and slipping many of Marrone's punches. Farrell also stunned Marrone on several occasions forcing him to hold and run. Most media members in press row felt Farrell landed the harder, cleaner shots and won at least 5 rounds.

When the scores were announced in favor of Marrone the crowd booed the officials, and were in disbelief that Farrell wasn't awarded the victory. Farrell raised his hands to acknowledge the crowd and received a huge ovation. A rematch is clearly in order.

Star Boxing would like to thank all of the fans that tuned in to ShoBox and those who attended our sold- out event at Bally's Atlantic City. Up next for Star Boxing is a June 9th World Championship Doubleheader featuring Antonio "The Magic Man" Tarver (24-4, 18KO's) clashing with Elvir Muriqi (34-3, 21KO's) for the IBO Light Heavyweight Title on Showtime Championship Boxing. More information regarding this spectacular event including more information about yet another World title fight on the undercard will be released next week.