On Friday evening, DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing returned to the Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn, NY. The main event featured a battle of the boroughs between Bronx’s Chris “Golden” Galeano, 156½, and Brooklyn’s Shawn “Killa” Cameron, 156½.
The 10-round affair was a classic boxer versus puncher matchup of styles between two southpaws with each displaying their strengths. Many rounds consisted of exciting exchanges when the two engaged on the inside. Cameron appeared to control the early rounds with his pressure and aggression, throwing in combination. However, by the fifth frame, he was winded and Galeano’s slick boxing skills took over.
Over the second half, Galeano calculatingly countered Cameron’s wide-open advances with pinpoint straight lefts. Though Cameron’s offense was reduced to throwing wild bombs, he showed heart to battle back as best he could till the final bell. The judges tallied scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93, all for Galeano, who improved to 10-0 (1 KO) with the unanimous decision verdict. Cameron suffered his first defeat, bringing his record to 10-1 (5 KOs).
Brooklyn’s own former two-time world champion Amanda Serrano, 128¾, battled the brave and game Djemilla Gontaruk, 135½, of Liege, Belgium, in an eight-round junior welterweight contest. Serrano began throwing in combination at the outset, and was particularly effective with her right hook. Gontaruk did her best to bully her way inside, but whenever she closed the gap, Serrano would intelligently take a half-step back to create distance and land those short hooks. Though Gontaruk showed tremendous heart, referee Sparkle Lee felt she was taking too much punishment and elected to halt the action at 1:38 of round three. With the victory, Serrano upped her record to 25-1-1 (17 KOs), while Gontaruk fell to 9-3 (1 KO).
A native of County Cork, Ireland, the 21-year-old Noel Murphy, 146½, improved to 5-0 (2 KOs) with a very impressive performance against the tough Anton Williamson, 147½, of Brooklyn. The aggressive Murphy applied pressure and overpowered Williamson in every round. A right hook dropped Williamson in round four, but the referee ruled it a slip. The Irishman landed thudding hooks to the body, accurate countershots, and demonstrated deft footwork and defense to earn a four-round unanimous decision with three scores of 40-36. Williamson is now 1-6. Murphy was a multi-time national champion as an amateur before relocating to Yonkers, NY, and embarking on his professional career in November of last year. Murphy has quickly become one of the more popular up-and-comers throughout the New York area.
In his pro debut, welterweight Tyrone James, 146½, of Elmont, NY, outworked the awkward David Perez, 144, now 0-2, of Pittsburgh, PA, before halting him in round three. James pumped his jab repeatedly to keep the wild-swinging Perez under control. An overhand right dropped Perez near the end of the first frame. In the second, James began to hurt Perez with hooks downstairs, but then returned his focus to his overhand right, which just could not miss. Another overhand right felled Perez for good at the 2:33 mark of the third. James had a very successful amateur career, which included a finals appearance at the 2015 Golden Gloves and winning the NY Amateur Boxing championships this year as well.
Russian middleweight southpaw Artur Akavov, 160¼, and current WBO European titlist, made an impressive US debut demolishing Fredy Lopez, 157½, of Chiapas, Mexico, inside two frames. Keeping Lopez at bay with a stiff jab, Akavov would unleash powerful straight lefts upstairs. In round two, Akavov went underneath with his straight left to drop Lopez. Cringing in pain, Lopez made it to his feet, but was deemed unable to continue, resulting in a TKO at the 2:04 mark. Now 15-1 (6 KOs), Akavav has rattled off 10 consecutive victories since dropping a close decision to Oleg Liseev in 2012. Lopez saw his record dip to 10-3 (7 KOs).
Freeport’s Patrick Day, 154, the former #1-rated U.S. amateur and NY Golden Gloves champion, was shockingly upset by Carlos Garcia, 153½, of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. An overhand right hurt Day in round one and Garcia threw a follow-up barrage to force a referee stoppage at 1:19 of the frame. Day fell to 11-2-1 (6 KOs), while Garcia upped his record to 9-14-1 (8 KOs).
Canadian super middleweight prospect Francy Ntetu, 168, of Montreal, tactically outboxed Oscar Riojas, 169½, of Monterrey, Mexico, over eight rounds, often switching stances to mix up his attack. Whenever Riojas would duck, Ntetu wisely threw his right uppercut. Riojas did his best to engage Ntetu, throwing wild haymakers hoping to disrupt his foe’s rhythm. A point was deducted from Ntetu in round four for landing a low blow. An overhand right badly wobbled Riojas in the eighth and final round. Scorecards read 77-74 and 76-75 for Ntetu, and 76-74 for Riojas, improving the Canadian’s record to 16-0 (3 KOs). Riojas fell to 9-4 (3 KOs).
