Ringside in Rochester: Underdogs Ware and Madera Rise to the Occasion

ROCHESTER, NY — DeAndre Ware (13-1-2, 8 KO’s) scored an upset ten round majority decision win against Ronald Ellis (15-1-2, 20 KO’s) in the ShoBox main event at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY. The bout was contested in the 168-pound decision.

There was little that separated the fighters in the first four rounds. Ware, the shorter man, was the aggressor and pressed the action behind a well-timed left jab that often landed clean on Ellis. But Ellis, fighting off his back foot, landed some flashy eye catching combinations and seemed to be the more active fighter.

In round five, Ware’s constant pressure seemed to start to get to Ellis. Working behind a stiff left jab that found its home with more regularity, Ware enjoyed a big round landing a volley of clean rights behind that jab as Ellis stood as a more stationary target.

In round seven, Ware upped the pressure and couldn’t miss with the right hand. He enjoyed another big round and stunned Ellis with an overhand right at the round’s conclusion.

Ware’s relentless pressure continued into rounds eight and nine. He consistently out jabbed the taller Ellis to get to the inside and then raked Ellis with right hands.

The pace and pressure of Ware slowed in the tenth and final round. Ellis, perhaps feeling he may need a knockout, upped his own output and landed some solid combinations. But in the end, it was not enough. While one judge had the fight even at 95-95, the other two had Ware in front 96-94 awarding him with a well-deserved victory.

In the action packed lightweight co-feature, Will Madera (13-0-2, 6 KO’s) scored a mild upset with an eight round unanimous decision win against Thomas Mattice (13-1-1, 10 KO’s).

Madera started out strong in the first four rounds being the aggressor and raking Mattice with combinations to the head as well as body. In addition, the counter right from Madera snapped the head back of Mattice on several occasions.

In rounds five and six, Mattice began to have success boxing and working behind the left jab. He landed off hard combinations off that jab and seemed to be turning the tide of the bout.

However, Madera bounced back with a strong round seven as Mattice abandoned his jab and allowed Madera to get back into range. Perhaps sensing he needed a big closing round, Mattice came out firing in the eight and landed some thudding clean power shots on Madera. It may have been Mattice’s best round of the fight but was ultimately not enough to get him the win al all three judges scored the contest in favor of Madera.

In his first fight since being knocked out by Gennady Golovkin nearly three years ago, Dominic Wade (19-1, 13 KO’s) scored a highlight reel first round knockout of Martin Fidel Rios (23-19-4, 13 KO’s) in a light heavyweight contest. After putting Rios down early in the round, Wade closed the show with a devastating left hook that put Rios out.

Heavyweight Roney Hines (4-0, 4 KO’s) scored his fourth consecutive first round knockout against Sherman Artis Jr. (3-4, 1 KO). Hines scored three knockdowns before the contest was waived off.

In front of a raucous hometown crowd, Rochester’s Lawrence King Jr. (1-0) won a four round unanimous decision against Octavius Webb (0-1) in a battle of debuting light heavyweights. King worked combinations behind his left jab and landed the cleaner more effective punches throughout the course of the contest.

In the opening fight of the night, another hometown fighter with a large cheering section making his pro debut in Tracey McGruder (1-0, 1 KO) scored a 4^th round TKO win against Michael Lee (2-1, 1 KO) in a welterweight bout. McGruder nearly scored a quick knockout in round one and went on to dominate the contest until Lee’s corner elected to stop the bout about one minute into the fourth and final round.

Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp / SHOWTIME

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