| "Minnesota Ice" hammers out Willis in 3, Gee Cullmer pulls out a split decision win! Philly Keith Sports .jpg) The big lumberjack from Minnesota, Joey Abell (24-4, 23 KO’s) did it again, pleasing the crowd with 3 rounds of target practice which led to a stoppage over Houston's Billy "The Kid" Willis (12-14-1, 9ko's). Abell looks to have added a jab to his arsenal, a punch he threw a lot of in the 1st which would set up that wrecking ball of a left hand. Give Willis credit, he ate some SCUD missiles and still had the audacity to connect with a strong right hook as round 1 ended, a punch that surely caught Abell's attention. The fight continued and it was more of Abell hammering the concerete head of Willis. The first knockdown came early in the 3rd which from my vantage point actually looked like a slip. Willis jumped right up but was attacked on the ropes and referee Blair Talmedge jumped right in to stop what could have been a severe beating. Video with Abell coming soon. http://www.phillykeith.com 
Abell whips Willis!
By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside On Friday night, fans at The Legendary Blue Horizon were once again treated to the unbelievable punching power of Minnesota heavyweight Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell (24-4, 23 KOs), who scored a third round TKO over Billy “The Kid” Willis (12-14-1, 9 KOs) of Houston, Texas in the six round main event of the evening. In the co-feature of evening, Philly middleweight prospect Gee “Thoroughbred” Cullmer (16-1, 3Kos) won an ugly six round split decision rematch over Clarence “Sonny Bono” Taylor (13-22-3, 6KO’s). The seven bout card was promoted by Vernocha Michael of The Legendary Blue Horizon Promotions Inc. Fans at the Blue Horizon have become accustomed to falling in love with fighters who can punch and score spectacular knockouts, and rising heavyweight prospect, Joey Abell fits that description to a tee. Right from the opening bell Abell took control by doubling and tripling up on a new found sharp right jabs that he appeared more confident in using. Late in the opening round Abell began to unload straight left hands behind the jabs, which kept Billy “The Kid” Willis at bay for most of the round. Just before the final bell though, Willis caught Abell as he backed straight out with a big leaping right hand behind the ear. The bell sounded before he could land anything else but Abell didn’t appear fazed by the shot. Abell changed up and began to switch up on his combinations in round two, incorporating the swishing uppercuts that just missed sending Willis to the canvas. Willis could only fight on the retreat. The crowd “oohed!!!” and “aahed!!!” everytime Abell would barely miss with a big shot that could end it at any minute. “He was taking a lot of jabs and I knew he couldn’t win the fight by decision and the only way he could catch was to land one of those leaping right hands,” Said Abell afterward. “In the third round, I timed it and caught him with a right hook and it put him on the canvas,” explained Abell. Surprisingly, Willis actually rose to his feet, but another three punch combination had him stumbling to the corner. Referee Blair Talmadge had seen enough and stepped in and waved the fight off at 54 seconds of the third round. Some at ringside thought it might have been an early stoppage, but it definitely looked like a savage knockout from Abell was soon to follow. It really prevented the game, but overmatched Billy Willis from really getting hurt. “I have been working on my one two’s and my one two threes and that is really all you need” said Abell. “I haven’t perfected them yet. “I have learned from my losses and I am not complaining about any of them, but they will not happen again” said Abell Look for Joey Abell to take his punching power to Atlantic City in July and maybe to Minnesota according to Matchmaker and Advisor Don Elbaum. He will definitely fight in Sweden in September in a rematch against Alfred “Ice” Cole.
| | Abell uses expanded repertoire to halt Willis By BERNARD FERNANDEZ
Philadelphia Daily NewsYou might never see heavyweight Joey "Minnesota Ice" Abell tripping the light fantastic on "Dancing With the Stars," but that doesn't mean the heavyweight with heavy feet and even heavier hands can't pick up a new move or two. Abell's repertoire throughout much of his professional career consisted of the two most basic punches in boxing - a jab and a straight right hand, or, since Abell is a southpaw, a jab and a straight left hand. Those were good enough to hand him 22 knockouts among his 23 victories, to go with four defeats. But in his first bout at his adopted boxing home, the BlueHorizon, in 13 months, Abell has learned that the basics can be improved and extended. In scoring a third-round technical knockout of veteran Billy Willis (12-14-1, 9 KOs) in the scheduled six-round main event last night, Abell (24-4, 23 KOs) demonstrated more snap in his jab and a nice hook. The embellishments might not seem like much, but when you have punching power like Abell, a slight addition here and there can seem like so much more than a mere tweak. "I've been working on it," Abell said of his jab, which has been overhauled by trainer Jim Lyke. "I learned not to give up on it." Now, with the right hook a weapon of more common usage, especially when used as the punctuation mark of three-punch combinations, Abell could be gearing himself up for a run at higher-quality opponents and bigger paydays. "It all gets down to basics," Abell said. "The straight 1-2, then throw in the hook. If you can perfect those, you're good. "I haven't perfected it yet, but I'm working on it." Willis, a thick-bodied scrapper from Houston, can testify that Abell, a work in progress, is taking steps toward becoming a more finished product. Abell snapped Willis' head back with a jolting jab less than a half-minute into the first round, and he stunned him with several looping left hands that found the mark. It was more of the same in the second round, but the end came quickly in Round 3 when Abell connected with a right hook to the jaw that sent Willis crashing to the canvas. He beat the count, but Abell charged in and landed three more shots before the end came after an elapsed time of only 34 seconds.
| Abell Stops Willis in Philly |  Joey Abell (24-4) won by third round tko moments ago against Billy Willis (13-14-1) in Philadelphia. Abell stood in front of Willis in round one, throwing combinations, most noteably two hard body shots midway through the opening round. Abell used his jab effectively also and unloaded hard left and rights to the head nearing the end of the round. However, Willis landed a hard head shot just as the round came to a close.
Abell returned to the jab immediately in round two. Willis seemed to be borrowing the game plan of former Abell opponent Andrew Greeley as he waited to let his shots fly in an attempt to surprise Abell with hard sporadic flurries which did land at times.
Abell landed a countering left hook that caught Willis as he was at the end of a missed punch that sent Willis to the canvas. Willis rose but was greeted by a flurry of punches from Abell prompting the referee to step in as Willis stumbled to the ropes at :54 of round three. 5-15-09 |
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