Before yet another sold-out Broadway Boxing card at NYC’s historic BB King Blues Club & Grill, DiBella Entertainment presented a thrilling 11-bout cad headline by New York fan-favorite junior middleweight Boyd Melson.
BOYD MELSON IMPRESSES AGAINST KING
In an impressive outing, Boyd Melson improved his record to 12-1-1 (3 KOs) with a dominant eight-round unanimous decision victory over the game Gundrick King18-11 (11 KOs). Round after round, Melson used adept footwork to avoid King’s advances and countered effectively with straight rights and pinpoint jabs. He also found a home for his left hook to the body which sapped his foe’s energy enough to keep him from mounting a sustained offense. After eight frames, each judge tallied 80-72, all for Melson.
ROSA HANDLES WILSON EASILY
Exciting undefeated super bantamweight prospect Luis Rosa improved to a perfect 15-0, 7KO’s, with an electrifying third-round TKO over Andre Wilson.
Rosa came out fast, stalking Wilson around the ring. Midway through the round, a short left hook dropped Wilson. Rosa followed up that knockdown with another in round two, this time with the right hand.
Dropped Wilson in the first with a hard left hook and again in the 2nd with right uppercut. In the third round another huge left hook dropped Wilson
2:24 of round number three.
YOUNAN SHINES AGAIN
In his second professional bout, 18-year-old blue-chip prospect Junior “Sugar Boy” Younan showed why many believe he will be the next superstar to come out of Brooklyn, New York as he dismantled Travis McClaren at just 22 seconds of the very first round.
With the two fighters trading, Younan landed a picture perfect left hook that dropped McClaren hard. McClaren was able to beat the count but was in absolutely no condition to continue.
It was the second first-round TKO for Younan in less than two months and a big 2014 is expected out of the super middleweight prospect.
CRUZ-AROCHO GO TO WAR IN FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Behind the chants of ‘Pee-wee Pee-wee’ ringing throughout the room, Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz and Joshua Arocho fought in what was easily the fight of the night and one of the most exciting bouts during the entire 2013 Broadway Boxing series.
Cruz controlled round one but then got caught with a counter right hand and went down hard. Cruz beat the count though and the two went toe-to-toe for the remainder of the round.
In the second frame, Cruz opened a nasty cut over Arocho’s eye and the two began trading hard shots with Cruz getting the better of the exchanges.
Round-after-round, Cruz and Arocho went to war, with Cruz pressing the action and having the upper hand. To his credit though Arocho hung tough and wouldn’t go down, returning fire in the process.
The 6th and final round saw both fighters stand and trade hellacious shots from the beginning to the end, bringing the sold out crowd to a standing ovation for the entire three minutes.
In the end all three judges scored the bout 58-55 for Cruz who improved his perfect record to 8-0, 5KO’s. Hats off to Arocho, who put on a heck of a performance in defeat.
OTHER RESULTS
Travis Peterkin, now 10-0, 5KO’s, used a vicious body attack to break down Tylon Burris, 4-2, 2KO’s. He also demonstrated a consistent and stiff jab as he applied pressure throughout. After seeing their charge taking punishment for several rounds, the corner of Burris pulled their fighter out of the contest after the completion of round five, awarding the TKO victory to Peterkin.
In his ninth bout of 2013, fast-rising and highly regarded up-and-coming middleweight prospect Antoine Douglas passed his toughest test to date, scoring a third round TKO over previously undefeated Colby Courter (4-0, 4KO’s).
Douglas scored with heavy shots from both hands, mixing in a beautiful body attack and seemingly scoring at will against the tough-as-nails Courter. By the end of the second round, a huge swelling had developed on Courter’s eye. In the third round, a huge right-left combination by Douglas sent Courter down hard. Courter beat the but swelling above his left eye had ballooned even more, forcing the referee to call a halt to the contest at 1:12 of round number three.
With the victory, Douglas improved to a perfect 11-0, 7KO’s.
Hard-hitting, promising super middleweight prospect Jerry Odom kept his perfect record and first-round KO ratio intact, stopping Eric Moon at 2:47 in the first round of their scheduled four-round contest.
Odom dropped Moon with a straight right hand midway through the round and followed up the barrage dropping his opponent just moments later with a left. Moon was able to beat the count, but the end was near. Odom dropped Moon for the third and final time with another hard flurry and the referee rightfully called a halt to the contest.
With the win Odom’s record now stands at a perfect 6-0, 6KO’s.
Canada’s Francy Ntetu improved to a perfect 11-0 with a third DQ over Julio Garcia.
A short left hook dropped Garcia very early in round one but Garcia was able to beat the count. Not only was Garcia able to survive the following onslaught, he even came back to score with some big body shots of his own.
The fighters went to war in the second round, with each having their moments landing hellacious shots with both hands.
In the third, with Ntetu beginning to control the action, Garcia began scoring below the belt. After two points were deducted for low blows in the round, the referee rightfully disqualified him after the third consecutive foul. Official time of the disqualification was 2:34.
Queens junior welterweight Danny Gonzalez overwhelmed and broke down Harlem’s Kamal Muhammad forcing the ringside physician to call a halt to the contest at 2:40 of the third-round of their scheduled four-rounder. Gonzalez improved to 5-0, 3KO’s, with the stoppage.
In a good action junior lightweight bout, Joseliz Cepeda scored a majority four-round decision over Brooklyn’s Neuky Santelises.
There was good action throughout with Cepeda applying pressure against his taller opponent. Santelises seemed to briefly stun Cepeda in the second, but Cepeda returned the favor in the third, badly hurting Santelises and having him trouble for most of the round.
Cepeda didn’t let off the gas in the fourth as Santelises had trouble finding his legs. In the end, Cepeda was awarded the majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37, and 38-38. With the win, Cepeda improves to 6-2, while Santelises dropped to 5-2, 4KO’s.
Craig McEwan and Dashon Johnson fought to an ugly six-round decision with Johnson coming out on the winning end by scores of 58-55, 58-55, and 57-56. McEwan looked to use his distance against the much smaller Johnson, but Johnson was able to effectively get inside McEwan’s reach and score with looping shots with both hands.
