Khiary Gray and Jimmy Williams win in co-featured bouts at Twin River

Khiary Gray scores 1st rd TKO

Khiary Gray and Jimmy Williams notch victories in CES' final show of 2015 at Twin River
By Alex Pierpaoli

Last night at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island, CES Boxing held their final fight card of 2015, a nine bout show co-featuring unbeaten junior middleweights Khiary Gray and Jimmy Williams in separate bouts. Both prospects picked up victories, Williams by way of decision and Gray via technical knockout, as both fighters continue on a course that may see them eventually colliding with each other.

Khiary Gray, 154lbs of Worcester, MA, moved to 11-0 (9) with another first round stoppage, this time over Roberto Valenzuela, 154lbs. of Tuscon, AZ. A mean shot to the body with less than half a round gone in the first was all it took for Gray to score his 8th kayo win of 2015, 7 of them coming in round number one. Valenzuela fell to 69-71-2 (56) in defeat. Despite looking as good as can be expected in scoring such a lopsided win, Gray needs better opponents in order to test himself and let fans see if he's really as good as he looks.


Jimmy Williams, 148lbs of New Haven, CT, returned to the ring for the first time since February, and after recovering from a hand injury this past spring. Williams shook off rust against a clever and rangy, Chris Gray, 150lbs of Vero Beach, FL. Williams had trouble boxing-in or trapping his moving and

Williams (R) looks for openings vs. Gray

circling opponent and Gray caught him repeatedly with pot-shots before grabbing or rolling out of range of counterpunches. At the end of six rounds one judge scored it in favor of Gray at 58-56, overruled by scores of 58-56 and 59-55 for Jimmy Williams. Gray fell to 13-22-1 (1) in defeat while Williams improved to 10-0-1 (5).


Joey McCreedy, 162lbs, of Lowell, MA, returning to the ring for the first time since September of 2014, dropped a 6 round split decision to Emmanuel Sanchez, 163lbs, of Laredo, TX. Although neither fighter made it easy to score this one, McCreedy came forward all night, but ineffectively while Sanchez would pop him and then clinch, again and again. McCreedy got lucky in round 2 and put down Sanchez with a single blast but was never able to follow up. At the end of 6 tedious rounds one judge favored the ineffective aggression of McCreedy, scoring it 60-53 in his favor, but he was overruled by two close scores of 58-56 and 57-56 both for Sanchez. McCreedy returns to the ring at 15-9-2 (6) and Sanchez improves to 7-4 (1).


Fatlum Zhuta, 158lbs, of Anchorage, Alaska, made very short work of Deivison Ribeiro, 160.5lbs, of Brazil, via Boston, MA, stopping him at 1:47 of round 1. Zhuta, an Albanian by birth, had Ribiero down twice, the second time from a short left hook, and ref. Schiavone stopped the bout with Ribeiro on his feet but eating leather from an invigorated Zhuta. Ribeiro leaves Rhode Island at 0-2 while Zhuta improves to 2-0-1 (1).




Julio Perez, 139lbs, of Framingham, MA, got off to a fast start against Josh Borque, 137lbs, of Newbury, MA, with few punches landed until the final seconds when Perez got a slight advantage. At the end of the second it was Perez blasting away with Borque mocking and making faces each time Perez cracked him. Perez blasted out Borque's mouthpiece and opened a grisly cut around his left eye with an overhand right in the final round. The scorecards were unanimous for Perez, 40-36 x 3. Borque loses his pro-debut, now 0-1 while Perez improves to 3-0.

Phil Dudley 131lbs, of Providence, RI, won his professional debut with a four round unanimous decision over Jacob Solis, 129lbs of Lawrence, MA. Dudley dominated the early going with Solis holding his gloves way too low throughout, inviting head punches. Both guys were flailing away at each other in the fourth round. Dudley hurt Solis to the body but was too winded to follow up. The scorecards were 39-36 x 2 and 40-36 all in favor of Dudley, now 1-0. Solis dropped to 1-2

Antonio Fernandes, 153lbs, of Brockton, MA, won the first round against Ray Oliveira Jr, 153lbs, of New Bedford, MA, outboxing him from a distance and always circling. Halfway through the second Fernandes stopped moving and started slugging and that's when Oliveira took over. At the end of four rounds Oliveira's punching power and pressure overcame the boxing ability of a gassed out Fernandes. The scores were 39-37 x 2 and 40-36 all in favor of Oliveira Jr who improved to 4-0 (1). Fernandes dropped to 6-24-3 (1).

Cido Hoff, 129lbs, of Providence RI had to settle for a majority draw in his pro debut and the best action fight of the night, a four rounder versus Timmy Ramos, 131lbs of Framingham, MA. Ramos survived a knockdown in the second and raged back after being on the deck, landing lots of leather on a surprised Hoff. In the fourth round each man hurt the other and Hoff endured a crippling body shot to slug it out right to the bell. After four the scorecards were 38-37 overruled by 38-38 x 2. Hoff is now 0-0-1 while Ramos goes to 2-0-1 (2) 

Freddy Sanchez, 140.5lbs, of Worcester, MA, won a six round unanimous decision over Sidney Maccow, 139.5lbs, of New York, NY. Despite some blood from the nose of Sanchez in the first, it was the Worcester fighter who dominated and had Maccow stunned in the final round. After six the scorecards were 59-55 x 2 and 60-54. Sanchez improved to 7-0 (5) while Maccow dropped to 4-4 (3).