On Wednesday night, before a near capacity crowd at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, DiBella Entertainment presented the latest installment of its Broadway Boxing series with an action-packed seven-bout card.
Headlining the card was Long Beach, New York’s undefeated light heavyweight “Irish” Seanie Monaghan. This was the third straight headlining bout for Monaghan, who, like always, brought his army of fans over from Long Island with him. On this night, Monaghan squared off against Rayco “War” Saunders in a 10-round light heavyweight title bout, for Monaghan’s WBC Continental America’s belt.
Saunders went the distance with some of the top light heavyweights in the world, including most recently DBE’s world-rated Isaac Chilemba, so Monaghan knew going in that Saunders would be a strong test.
Monaghan pressed the action from the start, combining constant pressure and improved boxing ability, throwing nice combinations to both the body and head. He also demonstrated improved defensive skills, as he easily slipped punches on the inside and used a piston-like jab to set up his power shots.
After 10 rounds, scorecards read 99-91 twice, and 98-92, all in favor of “Irish” Seanie Monaghan, who improved to 16-0 (10 KOs).
REDKACH ANNIHILATES BROSCH
DBE’s red-hot junior welterweight prospect Ivan Redkach showed why boxing insiders continue to rave about him as he annihilated Tebor Brosch, stopping him at 2:07 of the very first round. The Ukrainian-native Redkach, now living and training in Los Angeles, immediately had Brosch in trouble as he began firing blistering shots with both hands.
Midway through the round, a huge straight left hand from the southpaw Redkach sent Brosch reeling back into the ropes. Redkach jumped all over his opponent, scoring with hellacious shots from both hands. With Brosch on the ropes on unsteady legs, the referee mercifully called a halt to the contest. With the win, Redkach improves to 12-0, 11KO’s, with 10 of them coming in four rounds or less.
“TITO” BRACERO DOMINATES CRUZ
Gabriel “Tito” Bracero used his superior boxing ability and ring generalship to win a dominant eight-round unanimous decision over Puerto Rico’s Eric Cruz. Bracero controlled the action throughout against the much heavier Cruz. Cruz showed up seven pounds overweight at the weigh-in, but it didn’t seem to deter Bracero, who boxed beautifully.
Braceo won by scores of 80-72 twice, and 79-73 on the third card. With the win, Bracero improved to 20-1 and after the bout he and promoter Lou DiBella were adamant about challenging current WBC Champion Danny Garcia. Garcia defended his title last Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn over ring legend Erik Morales. The fan-favorite Bracero is a Brooklyn-native and a bout against Garcia would certainly be a huge draw at the brand new Barclays Center.
DBE PROSPECTS STAY UNDEFEATED
Delen “Sniper” Parsley improved to a perfect 9-0 with a six-round unanimous decision over Ibahiem King. King pressed the action, with Parsley content on working behind his jab and picking his shots from the outside. King was tough but, in the end, Parsley was just too sharp and accurate, winning by scores of 59-55 twice and 58-56.
Fighting in his first bout under the DBE banner, Brooklyn’s Travis Peterkin dominated fellow Brooklynite Hamid Abdul-Mateen over four rounds in their light heavyweight matchup. The 2010 New York Golden Gloves Champion Peterkin came out and immediately began stalking his opponent, landing thunderous body shots with both hands. Peterkin displayed his speed and showed good combination punching throughout the four-round bout, ultimately winning by scores of 40-36 twice with the third judge scoring the bout 39-37.
OTHER RESULTS
Making the fourth consecutive appearance on a Broadway Boxing card, Floriano “L’Italiano” Pagliara squared off against Jeremy McLaurin in an eight-round junior lightweight matchup. A native of Italy, but now living and training in Brooklyn, NY, Pagliara dominated the bout, winning by scores of 80-72 twice, with the third judge scoring it 78-74. With the win, Pagliara improved to 14-4-2, 6KO’s.
In a female featherweight bout, Heather Hardy and Unique Harris gave the near capacity crowd plenty to cheer about as they went to war, exchanging toe-to-toe for the majority of their four-round bout. Hardy, who hails from Brooklyn, NY, and made her pro debut on the last Broadway Boxing card in August, once again had a strong contingent of fans on hand to watch her win another impressive decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37, 39-37.
