Mtagwa scores unanimous decision over Valtierra

Whoever coined the phrase "the more things change, the more they stay the same," had to be thinking of an event very similar to the Rogers Mtagwa-Aldo Valtierra rematch.

Mtagwa, the NABF featherweight champion from South Philadelphia by way of his native Tanzania, was originally scheduled to defend his title against Roger Gonzalez. But Gonzalez dropped out and was replaced by David Martinez, who also withdrew.

Promoter JRussell Peltz, running out of available opponents for Mtagwa, then put in a call to Mexico's Aldo Valtierra, who accepted the bout on 5 days' notice.

Valtierra, alas, didn't have enough preparation time to get down to the featherweight limit of 126 pounds, which meant that the fight was downgraded from a 12-round championship affair to a 10-rounder. No matter; familiarity might breed contempt in other quarters, but not the ring. Mtagwa and Valtierra knew enough of one another to anticipate just the sort of scrap that kept a sellout crowd at the New Alhambra last night reasonably entertained.

Scoring repeatedly with looping overhand rights, Mtagwa (23-12-3, 17 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over the iron-chinned Valtierra (24-9-1, 13 KOs), a 37-year-old veteran who never has been stopped in his 12-year professional career.

Judges Lynne Carter and Joe Pasquale each scored it 96-93 while colleague David Greer had it just a bit wider at 97-92, all for Mtagwa.

"Everybody got hurt," Mtagwa said of the regrets phoned in by Gonzalez and Martinez, both of whom claimed to have been injured in training. "So I fight [Valtierra] again. I know he is strong. He was strong before when we fought."

When Mtagwa and Valtierra first squared off, last July20 at the New Alhambra, it was for the vacant NABF featherweight title. Mtagwa did just enough to win a split decision that left some observers wondering if, at 28, he was on the downhill side of his career.

That outcome was changed to a no-decision when Mtagwa tested positive for ephedra, which he said his wife, a nurse, had given him to combat the effects of a head cold. The Pennsylvania State Boxing Commission lists ephedra as a banned substance, but the NABF does not, so the sanctioning body continued to recognize Mtagwa as its featherweight titlist.

The cloud over their first matchup was enough reason for both Mtagwa and Valtierra to be anxious for a do-over, the idea being that all questions would be answered the second time around.

Mtagwa said he never had any doubts that those questions would be answered affirmatively.

"I fight him before, I beat him before," Mtagwa said. "I knew I would beat him again."

Mtagwa clearly wanted to be the first fighter to put Valtierra down and out, and it looked for a moment that he might get his chance in the seventh round, when he drilled him with a pair of jolting rights. But Valtierra kept his composure and was firing back by the end of the round.

"I speeded up, to see what would happen," Mtagwa said of the flurry of punches he threw in the hope of taking Valtierra out. "But he never go down."

In the co-featured bout, North Philly featherweight Teon Kennedy (8-0, 4 KOs) survived his toughest test yet, outpointing the very game Castulo Gonzalez (9-5, 3 KOs) to win a unanimous, eight-round decision.

"It was pretty easy when I boxed him, but he was able to put some pressure on me," Kennedy said.

Popular Kensington super middleweight Dennis "The Assassin" Hasson made his pro debut with a unanimous, four-round decision over John Michael Terry (2-10-3, 1 KO), from Portsmouth, Va. *