On Thursday night before a near capacity crowd at the Roseland Ballroom, DiBella Entertainment presented the latest installment of the Broadway Boxing series.
In the main event bout of the evening, before his army of fans, Long Island’s favorite son “Irish” Seanie Monaghan improved his record to a perfect 14-0, 9KO’s, winning the WBC Continental Americas Light Heavyweight title in the process with an eighth-round TKO over Romero Johnson.
The crowd went into an uproar as soon as the bagpipes sounded to signal Monaghan’s walk into the ring, and they didn’t let up for the entire contest. Monaghan jumped on Johnson from the opening bell, scoring with hard combinations to both the body and head. Johnson showed that he came to fight though, choosing to stand toe-to-toe with the heavy-handed Monaghan.
Monaghan, who is known for his aggressive nonstop action style, switched things midway through the fight, showing another dimension to his arsenal by boxing nicely from the outside behind a stiff jab.
Just when it looked as though Monaghan would cruise to an easy unanimous decision, a huge right hand rocked Johnson badly. Sensing his opponent was in trouble, Monaghan went in for the kill, jumping all over Johnson, landing heavy shots with both hands. Johnson showed a granite chin, refusing to go to the canvas, but there was just no stop in Monaghan as he continued to let his hands go.
With their fighter taking heavy punishment, Johnson’s corner summoned the ringside physician to call a halt to the contest. Official time of the stoppage was 2:30 of round number eight.
In the co-feature bout of the evening, blue-chip prospect Thomas Dulorme continued his ascent up the ladder of the welterweight division with an impressive 7th round TKO over Albert Herrera.
At just 22 years old, Dulorme, who is promoted by Team Puerto Rico, an elite group of fighters promoted by DiBella Entertainment, Gary Shaw Productions and Universal Promotions, is already rated as high as number three by the WBA.
With blazing hand speed and concussive knockout power, Dulorme is as good a young fighter as any in the game. Herrera showed a good chin, and was game but was simply not in the same league as Dulorme dominated the action from the opening bell.
After the 7th round the referee called a halt to the contest on the advice of the ringside physician. With the win, Dulorme improves to a perfect 15-0, 12KO’s.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
In the opening bout of the evening, DiBella Entertainment’s red hot junior welterweight prospect Ivan Redkach kept his unbeaten streak alive with a devastating first round TKO over Dedrick Bell.
The highly touted Redkach, who has been garnering rave reviews, did not disappoint as he came out and immediately began throwing vicious combinations at Bell from his southpaw stance. Bell showed a good chin, but stood no chance as Redkach was just too fast and too strong.
Mid-way through the round, Redkach trapped Bell against the ropes and began ripping uppercuts to Bell’s head and body sending him to the canvas. Bell got back to his feet quickly, but as soon as the fight resumed, Redkach landed a picture perfect right hook that sent Bell down hard. The referee did not even begin his count, calling a halt to the contest at 1:55 of the very first round.
With the win, Redkach improves to 11-0, 10KO’s.
ROSINSKY PASSES TEST
Despite giving up nearly seven inches in height, Queens-native, Will “Power” Rosinsky won a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision over the son of a legend, Aaron Pryor Jr.
Rosinsky’s game plan was obvious from the get-go; get inside Pryor’s reach and dig to the body. Pryor was able to tie Rosinsky up effectively though, forcing Rosinsky to adapt.
As the fight wore on, Rosinsky showed he was the much more skilled boxer of the two, using quick footwork to jump in and out of range, scoring with combinations to both the body and the head of the rangy Pryor. Pryor showed a good chin and never seemed to be in any serious trouble, but in the end, Rosinsky cruised to a unanimous decision, winning by scores of 79-73, 79-73, 78-74. With the win, Rosinsky improved his record to 16-1, 9KO’s, while Pryor drops to 16-6, 11KO’s.
BRACERO BOUNCES BACK
Coming off the first loss of his professional career, Gabriel “Tito” Bracero won an impressive eight round unanimous decision over Jermaine White.
Bracero was cut almost immediately from an accidental head butt in the first but shook it off and went on to win the first round easily, boxing beautifully from the outside.
Two more accidental head butts from White had Bracero’s face a bloody mess by the third round, but Bracero kept his cool and dictated the pace working behind a piston-like jab.
In the end, Bracero was awarded a well-deserved unanimous decision, winning by scores of 80-71, 79-72, 77-74.
OTHER ACTION
After a bit of a feeling out first round, lightweights Floriano Pagliara and Rynell Griffin went to war for the remainder of their six-round affair.
Pagliara pressed the action throughout with Griffin countering effectively. It looked as though Pagliara was on the verge of stopping Griffin on a few occasions but Griffin hung tough and was able to make it to the final bell. In the end, the scores read 59-55 across the board for Pagliara, who improved to 13-4-1, 6KO’s.
In what has become a standard in her fights, fan-favorite Soyna Lamonakis went to war for the third time as a professional with North Carolina’s Tiffany Woodard over six rounds.
Both female combatants had the crowd on the edge of their seats for much of the contest, trading heavy leather.
In the end, the judges were split, with one judge having it 58-56 for Lamonakis while the other had it 58-56 for Woodard. The third and final judge scored it dead even, 57-57, resulting in a majority draw. Lamonakis’ record now stands at 6-0-2, 1KO, while Woodard’s is 4-6-3, 3KO’s.
