Team Puerto Rico made the second half of their United States introduction a memorable one at Roseland Ballroom in NYC on Saturday night.
Three team members, Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle, Jonathan “Mantequilla” Gonzalez and Jorge “Machito” Maysonet, were in action at Boricua Invasion II, and all three scored impressive victories.
In the main event, televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation, featherweight Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (13-0, 10 KOs) thrilled the crowd and picked up the NABA Featherweight championship by winning an exciting 10-round decision over Dat Nguyen (17-2, 6 KOs).
All three judges had it 99-91.
Del Valle staggered Nguyen badly with a hook in round six and had things mostly his way, but the brave Vietnamese Nguyen fought back bravely in the face of superior firepower.
“He’s the strongest fighter I have ever faced,” said Del Valle of Nguyen. “His record doesn’t indicate he’s a hard puncher, but he does punch hard and he throws a lot of punches. I had him in trouble two or three times, but I was very careful with him because he was very strong, so I put pressure intelligently and didn’t run in for the kill.”
In the televised co-feature, power-punching sensation Jonathan “Mantequilla Gonzalez (14-0, 13 KOs) had to go the distance for the first time in his young career, but scored a dominant 10-round decision over tough veteran Richard Gutierrez (26-7-1, 16 KOs).
Fighting in front of a heavily partisan crowd in his favor, the popular Gonzalez picked up the NABA and WBO Latino Youth Middleweight Championships with the solid victory.
The former Olympian Gonzalez outworked Gutierrez in nearly every round, landing heavy shots to the head and body. To his credit, Gutierrez kept it entertaining, landing occasional power punches of his own.
The scores were 99-91, 98-82 and 98-92.
“I felt I was hurting him with my punches, so that’s why I put so much pressure on him constantly. Gutierrez is a great fight and I give him credit, but the difference was I can box and brawl and give angles to place my punches better.”
Team Puerto Rico’s youngest member Jorge “Machito” Maysonet, ran his undefeated record to 4-0, 3 KOs with a lightning-quick demolition of Detroit’s Adam Alvarez.
San Juan’s Maysonet needed just 21 seconds of his scheduled four-round junior welterweight contest to drop Alavarez twice and earn the stoppage.
“I feinted and landed the left hook on him twice and both times he went down,” explained Maysonet, post-fight. “The victory came fast tonight, but that’s a result of being in the gym every day and training to be the best.”
Maysonet is next scheduled to appear at a Universal Promotions card in Puerto Rico on July 15.
Other Results:
Junior Welterweights: Gabriel Bracero KO 1 (:40) Guillermo Valdes
Bantamweights: Raul Lopez WUD 6 (60-54, 59-55, 59-55) Victor Valenzuela
NABF Super Female Featherweight Championship:
Amanda Serrano TKO 1 (1:40) Jennifer Scott
