On Monday afternoon at New York City’s famed Jack Demsey’s Bar and Restaurant, DiBella Entertainment (DBE) hosted the final press conference for their upcoming Broadway Boxing card this Wednesday, October 24, held at Roseland Ballroom. Gracing the presser was main event participant and popular Irish light heavyweight, Seanie Monaghan (15-0, 10 KOs), of Long Beach, NY. Seanie will square off against Pittsburgh’s Rayco Saunders (22-17-2, 9 KOs) in a 10-round clash, in defense of his WBC Continental Americas title.
Also present was Brooklyn’s Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (19-1, 3 KOs), who will face knockout artist Eric Cruz (13-10-3, 13 KOs), of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, in an eight-round junior welterweight co-feature bout. Undercard participants Floriano “L’Italiano” Pagliara (13-4-2, 7 KO’s), Delen “Sniper” Parsley (8-0, 2 KOs), Travis Peterkin (4-0, 3KO’s) and Heather Hardy (1-0) were in attendance as well.
Director of Public Relations for DBE, Kevin Rooney Jr. kicked off the presser thanking everyone for coming out to show their support for what is sure to be another action-packed edition of the Broadway Boxing series. This will be the second straight Broadway Boxing to be broadcast live on Fight Now TV. He then took time to acknowledge the event’s sponsors, Newlio and the Manfredi Auto Group. He also made special mention that DBE will be teaming up with Everlast to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Below are highlights from the presser:
KEVIN ROONEY JR.
“This is our fourth Broadway Boxing card at Roseland Ballroom this year. We used to frequent BB King Blues Club, but the truth is, we outgrew it. The show will be our second straight card broadcasting live on Fight Now TV and I would like to thank network representative Doug Jacobs for working together with us. We’ve also teamed up with Everlast for Breast Cancer Awareness month. The most important part of prevention is early detection and we fully support any cause that helps raise awareness in search of a cure. Boxing in New York is definitely flourishing and we’re happy to be a part of that and showcasing these prospects.
“It really is a pleasure to work with Seanie Monaghan and his team, trainer Joe Higgins and manager PJ Kavanagh. Seanie packs the house and continues to improve each time he steps into the ring. He’s already won his first title belt back in June and we’re excited to watch him climb the light heavyweight ranks. With Heather Hardy, I fought in the amateurs with her and I saw that she would have a great style to suit the professional ranks. DiBella Entertainment is known for building fighters from the ground up, not just picking up fighters who are already established, and with Travis Peterkin, heading into his fifth professional fight, we see a lot of promise in him and we’re eager to see what he can do Wednesday night. Gabe Bracero is one of the most popular fighters in the New York area and he is now onto the second fight of his comeback. The only blemish on his record is a loss to former champion DeMarcus Corley, and Gabe has nothing to be ashamed of. In that fight, though he got off to a rough start, he came back to dominate the later rounds and even drop Corley as well. I believe he’ll take that fight as a learning experience and we’ll see him continue to grow on Broadway Boxing.”
SEANIE MONAGHAN
“I want to thank DiBella Entertainment for putting me on again. I worked very hard for this fight. Whenever I step into the ring, I’m fighting my opponent, but I’m also fighting stereotypes that I’m just a brawler. I can always pull out that card too, but I’m going to win this fight by boxing.”
JOE HIGGINS (Monaghan trainer)
“I’d like to thank DBE for this opportunity. This is our third main event. I’d also like to make mention that my wife’s aunt is currently going through 10 hours of breast cancer surgery, so we fully support Breast Cancer Awareness month. Listen, Seanie is a true professional. He never complains, he does everything we ask him to do. He’s not just the prototypical Irish brawler either. He’s boxing now and improving his skills. He’s put the bricklaying job on the side and is a fulltime professional boxer now. He made weight pretty easy this time. I think we’re going to have a stoppage, but we’re not going to rush it. I’m looking for Seanie to box his way to victory, and if the knockout comes, so be it. But I’m confident that Seanie will end matter inside the distance. I think we’re going to have a lot of Irish in the room. I believe the nation is ready for Seanie Monaghan and will be clamoring to see him on live national TV.”
GABRIEL BRACERO
“I’m on weight, I feel great. I just want to fight. I’m fighting a guy named Eric Cruz, a KO artist from Puerto Rico. Well, I know I will come out victorious and I might be knocking his ass out too. I’m sorry that I’m a little cranky. I just want to get in there and knock him out already.”
TOMMY GALLAGHER (Bracero trainer)
“I am happy that Lou has given us this opportunity. We have a great relationship with Broadway Boxing. We are looking to keep winning to get the opportunity to move to the next level. Gabe’s been a staple on Broadway Boxing and he has a tremendous team behind him and fan base cheering for him.”
DELEN PARSLEY
“I’m not really big on talking. I’m on the quiet side of things. But I’m at a different weight now and I feel better at 160 pounds (moving up from junior middleweight). I’m going to go in the ring and do what I like to do. This is my life, so I’m just going to give the fans a great show.”
TRAVIS PETERKIN
“I’ve been boxing since I was 11 years old, and I just turned 22. I train hard. A lot of the fighters and their trainers on this card watched me grow up in the amateurs and I look forward to performing alongside them. I won the Golden Gloves in 2010 and now here I am in my fifth professional fight, signed to DiBella Entertainment. I’m ready to do exactly what I have to do to win.”
HEATHER HARDY
“We’re working on not falling down this time (referencing her having suffered a knockdown in her pro debut. Yet, she still captured a unanimous decision).”
FLORIANO PAGLIARA
“Thank you so much to my team. There are a lot of Italians in this city and I am happy that Lou DiBella, also an Italian, has given me the opportunity to fight in front of these great people. This is my fourth fight this year. I would like to get a room full of Italians to show America that Italy is here.”
