On Saturday, September 20, Brooklyn fan favorite junior middleweight Frank Galarza remained unbeaten while headlining at Resorts World Casino, in Jamaica, NY. Both junior middleweight Alantez Fox and featherweight Danny Aquino were also successful on the undercard.
All three dynamic prospects are co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and New Legend Boxing.
Facing the awkward Jonathan Batista, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in an eight-round contest, Galarza, 153¾, started off by patiently stalking his foe over the first two frames. In the third, the Brooklynite picked up the pace, digging to the body.
Trapping Batista, 152¾, in his own corner, Galarza landed a powerful left hook downstairs to drop him to a knee. From then on, the hometowner was in complete control, while Batista grew increasingly frustrated, resorting to dirty tactics. Referee Harvey Dock deducted a point from Batista in round four for hitting behind the head and ultimately had to disqualify him at 0:45 of the fifth frame for repeated infractions.
With the loss, Batista’s record fell to 14-4 (7 KOs). World ranked by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and now 15-0-2 (9 KOs), the charismatic and talented Galarza is on the rise and poised for stardom.
“It felt great to fight in front of my hometown fans again,” said Galarza.
“This was my sixth fight at Resorts in Queens, and my fan base continues to grow. I have people coming to see me from all over, Boston, Chicago, Connecticut, wherever. I must be doing something right. I felt good in there against Batista, but I was a little too anxious to knock him out. I was looking for that one big punch, but then I adjusted and began to break him down. Batista started getting a little dirty, but I kept my composure. Whether he was disqualified or not, it didn’t matter. He was going to get knocked out eventually. I got the win and that’s what matters. Now, it’s back to training and I’m just looking forward to the next fight.”
Former Galarza rival and now promotional stable mate Alantez Fox, 157, of Forestville, MD, returned to the ring following a 53-week absence while sorting out managerial issues. Shaking off the ring rust against the upset-minded Jonathan Garcia, 156½, of Cerro Gordo, Puerto Rico, the 6’5″ Fox established a distance early on with his long jab and superior reach. Garcia did his best to close the gap, winging hooks to the midsection.
By the middle rounds, Fox did fight in close quarters to Garcia’s advantage on occasion. However, he wisely switched tactics to focus on straight punches to ward off his opponent’s advances. As Garcia tired down the stretch, Fox used right hook pot shots to keep him at bay. Punctuating the fight by pinning Garcia against the ropes with flurries, Fox earned a unanimous six-round decision on tallies of 60-54, and 59-55 twice, to improve to 13-0-1 (4 KOs).
“Having been off for so long, I was kind of nervous excited going into the fight,” said Fox.
“Garcia was a real durable, tough guy and he landed some good shots on me. I was working on my patience and picking my shots in there. I did feel a bit rusty, but once I got into my groove, the fight wasn’t too challenging. I’ll be back in the gym by next week and would love to stay active and fight again in the next few months.”
Mexican featherweight Danny Aquino, from Meriden, Conn., ended an 18-month layoff to secure a six-round majority decision victory in what was a wild shootout against the very game local Dominican Jhovanny Collado, of Jamaica, Queens. From the opening bell, Aquino, 122, displayed relentless pressure and pure aggression as he swarmed Collado, 124, who was more than willing to return fire.
Working his way inside with combinations to the body and landing his overhand right upstairs, Aquino dominated much of the action. However, he survived a scare in round four when Collado caught him coming in to drop him twice. Fighting on instinct, Aquino managed to hurt his adversary by round’s end. The pair never let up for the remainder of the contest, often bringing the raucous crowd to their feet.
Scorecards read 57-55 twice, and 56-56, to award Aquino the verdict. At 16-2 (10 KOs), Aquino is an all-action brawler looking to work his way back into the world rankings.
“It felt good to come back,” said Aquino,
“but I never expected to end up on the floor like that in the fourth round. I just dropped my hands a little bit, got careless and he caught me with one of his wild hooks, but I got up and did what I had to do to win. I boxed a little bit in the fifth to clear my head and was fine by the last round. Other than that one round, I knew I was in control and winning the fight. Whatever DiBella Entertainment and New Legend Boxing think is good for me next, I’ll take. I will fight anybody.”
“It was great to see Fox and Aquino back in the ring after such a long layoff,” said Felipe Gomez, of New Legend Boxing.
“I think both fighters demonstrated that they are ready to step it up and take on bigger fights. Galarza’s fan base turned out in full force to watch him break down a tough veteran in Batista with body shots. I believe Galarza has what it takes to be in the mix for a title fight in the near future. All three of these fighters are exciting to watch and worthy of televised fights.”
“Galarza is definitely ready to take the next step toward becoming a contender. He truly has the talent and the personality to become a major star in boxing,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment.
“I’m happy that Fox and Aquino were able to get back into the ring and shake off the cobwebs with impressive victories. Both fighters have a lot of potential and we will work hard to get them the best possible opportunities.”
