Star Boxing’s popular heavyweight contender Vinny Maddalone of Flushing, Queens, returned to the ring on Wednesday night, May 2nd, in a memorable battle against Chris Koval in the headliner of the Sold Out VIP BOXING III event at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York.
Trading bombs from the opening bell, Maddalone drilled the Youngstown, Ohio native Koval to the canvas with a massive right hand midway into the opening round. After rising from the canvas Koval fought his way back into the fight stunning Maddalone with a thunderous left hook. However at the ten-second signal, Maddalone landed another hard right hand bringing the packed house to their feet.
The fast and furious pace continued over the next two rounds with each fighters throwing caution to the wind as power shots were vigorously traded.
In the fourth, Maddalone again delivered a crushing right hand that sent Koval to the mat, causing referee Randy Neumann to call a halt to the contest at the 2:34 mark.
With the win Maddalone improved to 35-7-0 (26KO’s), while Koval moved to 25-9-0 (18KO’s).
On the undercard, come backing contender “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis improved to 24-7-0 (10KO’s) with a stoppage of game Albany, New York’s Broderick Antoine, 11-13-1 (5KO’s).
The former world title challenger, winner of his second in a row, dictated the pace in a very competitive bout, however the commission doctor stopped the contest after the seventh round as it was deemed that Antoine could not continue.
Also, highly regarded and undefeated Star Boxing junior welterweight prospect, Issouf Kinda, improved to 13-0-0 (5KO’s) with a dominating but hard fought victory over the willing Luis Rodriguez, 6-5-1 (1KO), of Newburg, NY. Scores were 80-70 twice and 80-71. The win earned Kinda the vacant New York State Junior Welterweight Title.
In the opening heavyweight bout former National amateur champion Nate James of Boston, MA, improved to 6-1-0 (2KO’s) taking a majority decision in a highly spirited bout against Kevin Howard, 2-7-1, of Montgomery, Alabama. Scores were 38-38, 39-37 and 40-36.
Among the many luminaries in the sold out crowd at the unique event were the recently minted WBA Junior Welterweight Champion Paulie Malignaggi and Star Boxing’s outstanding junior welterweight prospect Chris Algieri.
