By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

Ebony and Ivory promotions put on a slam bang six bout show at The Venue in North Little Rock, Arkansas Friday night.

Headlining the show was Fayetteville, Arkansas’ Light heavyweight knockout artist, Kalvin “Hot Sauce” Henderson, taking on Los Angeles gatekeeper Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis in a scheduled eight rounder. With 46 bouts under his belt, Pendarvis looked to use every trick in his arsenal to frustrate Henderson. The action picked up in the third as both men landed telling blows. In the fourth, Pendarvis would back himself to the ropes to lure Henderson in, then neatly pivot away to safety. In the middle of the fifth, a heated exchange saw Henderson finally rock Pendarvis with a hard right in ring center. The crowd reacted as if the end was near, but Pendarvis moved, clinched and survived. It wasn’t however a total defensive effort by Pendarvis, as he did land his fair share of good shots, bloodying Henderson’s lower lip for good measure. In the end, It was Henderson who forced the action, and did enough work to take the nod via scores of 80-72 twice and 77-75. Henderson moves to 19-2, 13 KOs, while Pendarvis dips below .500 at 22-23-2, 9 KOs.

In a heavyweight blowout, Arkansas Kendon Smallwood tangled with the inactive Joshua Brown, Shreveport, Louisiana. Brown hadn’t fought in over three-and-a-half years and it showed. After a sloppy first round, Smallwood connected with a left on the crouching Brown”s temple, which forced him to gently kneel down for the full ten count. Time was 1:10 of round two. Smallwood improves to 3-0-1, 2 KOs, while Brown drops 1-4, 1 KO.

Little Rock super middleweight Yavontae “YaYa” Christopher dispatched Fort Worth ‘s winless Willie “No Joke’ Miller with a 3-knockdown drubbing at 2:20 of round one. A hard right accounted for the first knockdown, while a follow-up barrage to the head, then a body shot made up for the second two trips to the canvas. Christopher comes back from his first loss last March to move to 6-1, 4 KOs, while Miller, and this is indeed “No Joke,” plummets to 0-22! Perhaps a new career if not a new nickname…

Kenton Lee and Justin Jones went at it in another light heavyweight amateur match over three rounds. In the first, it appeared as if both fighters were trying NOT to hurt each other, as if in an easy sparring session. Southpaw Jones came out with a little more gumption in the second, throwing and landing body shots with some intent. The pedestrian affair ended with no bumps or bruises, no blood and with Jones’ hand being raised as the winner. Jones announced that this was his last amateur fight and that he will be turning pro soon.

Light heavyweights Arkansan, Charles Austin Stringfellow and Kansan, Luke Gerard locked horns in a scheduled 4-rounder. It was sloppy early on, but there wasn’t much more to feel out as Stringfellow landed a series of blows to the head, dropping Gerard in a heap in the neutral corner. Gerard beat the count, but was terribly unsteady, prompting referee Rocky Demier to wave matters off at 1:53 of the opening stanza. Stringfellow moves to 2-0, 2 KOs, while Gerard starts out 0-1.

Bryton Cook and Brad Coffey opened the show in a scheduled 3 round super middleweight amateur bout (no head gear or jerseys). It was apparent from the get-go that the shorter Cook’s southpaw stance and precise, combinations were too much for Coffey, his head snapping back time and again. Early in the second, Coffey’s face was a mess, blood pouring from his nose and smearing all over the white gloves of both fighters. Final scores weren’t read, but Cook was the unanimous winner.