COLUMBIA – For the countless hours of preparation boxer Antonio Sadler put into his professional debut Saturday night at the Columbia Metro Convention Center, it was a punch his father taught him the night before the fight that would make the difference.

Sadler, a Columbia-based fighter trained by his father, Tony Sadler, facing Newark, New Jersey’s Michael Taylor, was told to look for his opponent to feint with a left hand to the body and to counter the move with a hybrid right hook to the chin.

The two fighters appeared to feel each other out for the bout’s opening moments, but as soon as Taylor feinted to the body with his left, Sadler exploded with a vicious right hook that caught Taylor flush on the chin. Taylor’s knees buckled and he slammed into the canvas, giving Sadler his first professional victory and giving the crowd (many of whom had come out to support the hometown fighter) a highlight-reel knockout.

“It was something we worked on around midnight last night, and when I saw him go to the left I slipped to the left and let it go,” Sadler said of the move. “As soon as I hit him I knew that he wasn’t going to be getting back up.”

Sadler’s father said he was surprised to see the punch, such a late addition to the team’s fight plan, work to such perfection so early in the fight.

“He was supposed to slip to the left and bring the right hand and he put it right on the button,” the elder Sadler said of his son. “We’re grateful to Platinum Boxing Promotions for allowing us to have this opportunity.”

“I know to trust what my father says because he knows what’s best for me,” added the youngster, who works at a local Applebee’s restaurant. “(The punch) was something that took me about an hour to get down, but it was the punch that knocked my man out. It was very fulfilling to see what can happen when you work hard. Now I feel that I can ride this momentum all the way to the top.”

Sadler displayed plenty of potential on Saturday as a future attraction, as inside the ring he is strong and in great physical shape, while outside of the ring he is intelligent, approachable and fan friendly. Tony Sadler said he would look to have his son back in the ring as soon as possible to continue his development.

Sadler’s stalemate, lightweight fighter Ibn Shakir, who helped the Sadlers with the implementation of the punch that would carry his friend to victory, earned a knockout win of his own on Saturday after flooring his opponent, Crilio Campos of Lancaster, South Carolina, three times in the first round of a bout scheduled for four rounds. The win was the first of his young career, moving his record to 1-3 overall.

The most competitive fight of the evening was a four-rounder between middleweight boxers Frank Armstrong of Raleigh, North Carolina, and sturdy Russian fighter Donatas Bonarevas. Both men swapped powerful shots throughout the first and second rounds as each tried to take command of the ring. Bonarevas appeared to win that battle as by the third round Armstrong decided to try and box while establishing his jab.

For a while, the tactic worked, but Armstrong was never fully able to enforce the Russian’s respect, and Bonarevas continued to stalk the North Carolinian across the ring. A straight left hand caught Armstrong fully in the face, stunning him, before a second such punch sent him to one knee. Armstrong would rise and fight on, but it was the Russian’s fight from that point forward en route to a unanimous decision victory.

Other winners on the card included heavyweight Emad Ali of Queens, New York, who dispatched his 291-pound opponent, Vashawn Tomlin, inside of two rounds; Russian light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev who knocked out Columbia-based fighter Darryl Johnson in two rounds and South Korean welterweight Jae-Sung Lee, who won by TKO in round two over Tabron Farmer. Cuban lightweight Ransel Barthelemy and Egyptian heavyweight Ahmed Samir also took home lopsided knockout victories in the first rounds of their fights.

But as notable as any of the fighters taking part in the card was the presence in the ring of three of the most accomplished fight referees in the game with Steve "SS" Smoger, Bill Clancy and Mark Campbell each taking turns controlling the action.

All three of the referees can be seen nationally handling fights on ESPN, HBO and Showtime.

Clash in the Carolinas – Fight Recap
Saturday, August 8th – at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
Promoter: Platinum Boxing Promotions

Ibn Shakir (1-3, KO, Columbia, SC) def. Crilio Campos (0-1, Lancaster, SC) TKO1 (Featherweights) – Shakir earned his first professional victory by taking the action to Crilio early and often, scoring three knockdowns in the first round. When Crilio went down at 1:58, referee Bill Clancy called a halt to the bout due to the utilization of the three knockdown rule.

Donatas Bonarevas (4-1, Kybalco, Russia) def. Frank Armstrong (14-5, Raleigh, NC) UD4 (Middleweights) – In easily the most competitive bout of the entire card, Armstrong and Bonarevas fought toe to toe for all four of the scheduled rounds. The two fighters exchanged heavy hands in each of the first two rounds to quickly get the crowd interested in the action. Eventually, Armstrong decided he’d had enough brawling and he began to try to box the bigger man. It worked for a while, as the fighters took the first two minutes of the third to measure each other before resuming the conflict. A firm, straight left by the Russian got Armstrong’s attention before another sent Armstrong to the canvas for a count by referee Steve “SS” Smoger. It was a round in which Armstrong had taken the lead after finally following his corner’s plea for more jabs over Bonarevas’ lagging left. Armstrong was able to land periodic counters, but nothing that could slow the steady advance of the Russian, who continued to stalk the smaller man to the end of the fight.

Emad Ali (1-0, KO, Queens, NY) def. Vashawn Tomlin (0-1, Wilson, NC) KO2 (Heavyweights) – In a literal ring-shaking affair (Tomlin tipped the scales at a svelte 291 pounds) that produced more antics than action, both fighters engaged in little more than turning each other around, grabbing and holding. Apparently Ali, who at least displayed some semblance of fighting acumen, was given instructions in his corner to go ahead and finish the fight, as he rushed Tomlin at the start of the second before flooring him with a large right hand. The big man rose and fought on, but another rush and right and the deal was done as Tomlin could not reach his feet before referee Mark Campbell reached a count of ten.

Antonio “The Sandman” Sadler (1-0, Columbia, SC) def. Michael Taylor (0-2, Newark, NJ) KO1 (Jr. Middleweights) – Sadler, making his professional debut in front of the hometown fans (he works as a server at a local Applebee’s restaurant) gave the crowd what it came to see – an impressive knockout victory. The two fighters exchanged shots early on and it appeared the fight would settle into a tactical affair. However, during a bit of a clinch, Taylor pulled straight back and feinted with a hook to the body. It was a mistake he would pay for as Sadler was ready for the move, and countered with a beautiful hybrid right hook that exploded on Taylor’s chin, knocking him out on his feet and igniting the crowd. Taylor smacked the back of his head on the canvas and lay stretched out for several nervous minutes before being carried from the ring by medical professionals. He was responding to officials at the time. Sadler said the punch was something his father and trainer, Tony Sadler, had only shown him the night before the fight.

Sergey Kovalev (2-0, Rybalco, Russia) def. Darryl Johnson (0-2, Columbia, SC) KO1 (Light Heavyweights) – Johnson, a local fighter from Columbia, dropped his second professional fight after being floored late in the opening round by Kovalev. Johnson came out aggressively and went headhunting, but the Russian weathered the early storm easily and began catching Johnson with flush shots to the head. Johnson kept shaking his head, but never seemed to be able to clear the cobwebs. Referee Steve “SS” Smoger leaned in and gave Johnson a long look just before a Kovalev right hand ended the fight with 2:06 to go in the opening round.

Jae-Sung Lee (10-2, Haman City, South Korea) def. Tabron Farmer (0-6, Newark, NJ) TKO2 (Welterweights) – Preparing for a future WBC title shot, Lee’s gloves connected early with Farmer’s face as the underdog walked right into looping right hands in the first round. Farmer clinched effectively for the remainder of the round and survived in spite of being visibly staggered. Lee then grew impatient and careless in the second round and rushed in too much himself, allowing Farmer to catch him with more shots than should have been landed. Still, the punches weren’t flush, and he outclassed Farmer the rest of the way before a right hand from Lee out of a clinch sent Farmer to a knee. Referee Mark Campbell looked into Farmer’s eyes on the count and did not like what he saw staring back at him, convincing him to wave off the fight for Lee’s 10th victory. Local fighter Corey Goodwin (7-5) was unimpressed with the performance of the South Korean, and stood ringside after watching the bout to challenge him to a fight.

Rances Barthelemy (1-0, Miami, FL) def. Jamal Clay (0-2, Fayetteville, NC) KO1 (Lightweights) – The Cuban, making his pro debut, required only around 13 seconds (which was the official count, even though the KO seemed to take place much quicker) to dispatch Clay with a powerful left hand. Barthelemy blinded Clay with a right jab and sent in the left hand crashing into the jaw of his opponent. Clay wobbled slightly and went straight to the canvas. Barthelemy looked around, shrugged his shoulders at the jeers from the crowd, and went about his business.

Ahmed Samir (6-0, Queens, NY) def. Shawn Pippen (0-1, Wilson, NC) KO1 (Heavyweights) – In the most lopsided bout of the night, the rugged Egyptian did what he was supposed to do, which was dispatch the hefty Pippen in dominating fashion. In this case, domination would have to settle for only about a half minute of action as Samir quickly backed Pippen into the corner before unleashing four or five shots and promptly dropping Pippen to his knees. Pippen’s corner tried to wave off the fight, but the fighter, much to everyone’s surprise, asked to continue. However, it was only for a total of 48 seconds as Samir hammered Pippen again, forcing referee Steve “SS” Smoger to wave off the fight before any further damage was done.