Broadway Boxing Begins 2012 With a Bang
Saturday night before a sell out crowd at New York City’s famed Roseland Ballroom, DiBella Entertainment kicked off the 2012 season of its “Broadway Boxing” series with an exciting nine-bout card. Headlining the card was Brooklyn’s undefeated NABF light welterweight champion, Gabriel “Tito” Bracero defending his title against former two-time world champion, DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.
Both fighters looked to be in tremendous shape and spent much of the first round feeling each other out and looking to find their range.
In the second, an overhand left from southpaw Corley opened a nasty cut over the right eye of Bracero which bled profusely for the remainder of the round. Just as the 10-second bell was about to sound, Corley landed a monstrous right hook that dropped Bracero hard. Bracero beat the count but was on wobbly legs and bleeding badly.
Bracero came out boxing effectively in the third frame and looked to be getting his legs back before a huge overhand left dropped him again badly for the second time in the fight.
Bracero went back to boxing in round four and did well staying on the outside and working behind his jab.
Bracero tasted the canvas for the third time in the fifth when his glove touched the canvas courtesy of a straight left from Corley. Bracero came back strong after the knockdown and seemed to have the edge in the exchanges, but Corley was clearly the heavier-handed of the two fighters.
Bracero began to turn the tide in the sixth stanza as he again was able to stay on the outside and score with his jab and combinations while Corley was looking to land one big blow.
Bracero had another good round in the seventh and sent Corley to the canvas for a flash knockdown in round eight with a short straight right hand.
The last two rounds saw Bracero continue to box from the outside while Corley pressed forward landing the heavier blows. In the end, the judges scored it 96-90, 94-92, 94-92 all for the winner by unanimous decision, Corley. While it was the first loss on Bracero’s otherwise perfect record (18-1) he showed the heart of a champion rising from the three knockdowns and getting himself back into the fight. With the win Corley improved to 38-19-1, 22KO’s
MONAGHAN IMPROVES TO 12-0
In the co-feature bout of the evening, popular Irish-American light heavyweight prospect, Seanie Monaghan won a dominate eight-round unanimous decision victory in an absolute war over the iron-chinned Billy Bailey.
Monaghan who lives in Long Beach, NY, has quickly become a fan-favorite in New York City since turning pro in May of 2010 for his fan-friendly style and as advertised, Monaghan came out aggressive in the 1st, scoring well with both hands.
In the 2nd Monaghan landed a beautiful right hook to the body, left hook to the head followed by an overhand right, sending Bailey to the canvas and the pro Monaghan crowd into a frenzy. Monaghan jumped all over his opponent as the fight resumed and Bailey looked ready to go but luckily was saved by the bell.
Rather then lay down though the knockdown seemed to wake Bailey up, as he came out hard in the 3rd, turning the fight into a war. Monaghan was landing bombs almost at will, but Bailey would take them and then showboat to the crowd asking for more.
In the 5th Monaghan changed his game plan a bit and began boxing from the outside and mixing in a vicious body attack that seemed to take a bit out of his tough-as-nails opponent Bailey.
There was good action for the remainder of the fight and in the end Monaghan who improved to 12-0, 8KO’s was awarded the decision by scores of 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72.
DEL VALLE KEEPS ROLLING
Undefeated world-rated contender Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle improved to a perfect 15-0 with a hard fought eight-round unanimous decision over tough Mexican, Jose Angel Beranza.
Beranza lived up to the Mexican boxing heritage and showed a lot of heart and a very good chin, but Del Valle was just too fast and too skilled, landing the hard and cleaner shots throughout. When Del Valle chose to stand and trade he got the better of the exchanges but to Beranza’s credit he was able to land some looping blows.
In the end all three judges scored it in favor of Orlandito 80-72, 79-73, 78-74.
NAKASH WINS IN DBE DEBUT
In his first fight under the DBE banner, recent world-title challenger, Ran Nakash pitched an eight-round shut out over Philadelphia’s Derek Bryant. Nakash, who was returning to the ring for the first time since dropping a competitive decision to WBO Cruiserweight Champion, Marco Huck in April of last year, got stronger as the fight went on, as he pounded away at Bryant, who was content on covering up and looking to survive. In the end all three judges saw it a shut out 80-72 for Nakash who improved to 26-1, 18KO’s.
OTHER RESULTS
In the opening bout of the evening rising welterweight prospect Alex Perez scored an impressive 2nd round TKO over Josh Sosa.
The southpaw Perez came out aggressive in the 1st, hurting Sosa badly with two left uppercuts before dropping him with a hard right hand. Sosa beat the count, but Perez battered him badly for the remainder of the round.
In the 2nd it was more of the same from Perez, as he was just too strong for his opponent, dropping him again midway through the round with another hard right. Sosa beat the count but was in no shape to continue as the referee called a halt to the contest at 1:39. With the win Perez improved to 15-0, 9KO’s while Sosa dropped to 10-2, 5KO’s.
In a battle of junior middleweights, West Point Cadet, Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson bloodied and bruised toughman Sean Rawley Wilson winning an impressive six-round shut out decision.
Melson continuously battered Rawley round after round, scoring with crisp combinations. Rawley showed a good chin, but Melson was just too quick and too skilled. With the victory Melson improves to 8-0, 4KO’s while Wilson drops to 6-6.
In a match-up of female heavyweights, Sonya Lamonakis and Carlette Ewell battled to an entertaining six round majority draw. The two wasted little time feeling each other out in the first and decided to go toe-to-toe for almost the entire round.
It was more of the same in the 2nd with each fighter landing hard shots from short distance.
Ewell looked to be tiring a bit in the middle rounds while Lamonakis counter punched effectively off the ropes.
There was good two-way action throughout the entire six-round contest and in the end the bout was scored a majority draw. With the decision Lamonakis record now stands at 6-0-1, 1KO while Ewell’s stands at 15-7-1, 9KO’s.
In an entertaining four-round heavyweight contest, Thomas “The Hitman” Hardwick improved to a perfect 4-0, 2KO’s with a four-round decision over Richard Mason.
Hardwick came out fast in the first pressing the action. Mason landed a few counter punches from the outside, but Hardwick was the much busier of the two.
In the 2nd Hardwick rocked Mason hard, and jumped all over him, but Mason was able to survive the onslaught.
Hardwick came out more aggressive than ever in the fourth, looking to close the show in fashion. Hardwick rocked Mason several times and looked as though he was on the verge of stopping him, but to his credit Mason hung tough, taking heavy punishment for almost the entire fourth round. In the end Hardwick was awarded a shut out on all three judges score cards, 40-36.
In an entertaining junior welterweight match-up, Danny McDermott and Terry Buterbaugh traded heavy blows in the early going before McDermott settled in behind his jab throughout the middle rounds boxing from the outside against the hard charging Buterbaugh.
Round after round was close, as McDermott was the superior boxer but Buterbaugh kept pressing the action.
In the 6th and final round the two went to war, both looking to close the show, much to the crowd’s delight. In the end the judges were split on the decision with one judge scoring it 59-55 for McDemott, while the other judge had it the exact same way for Buterbaught and the third judge scoring it even, resulting in a six-round majority draw. McDermott’s record now stands at 9-3-2, 4KO’s while Buterbaugh’s is 6-6-3, 3KO’s.
The next Broadway Boxing show will be held on March 8th at B.B. Kings. Visit www.dbe1.com for more information.
