n Thursday, August 2, DiBella Entertainment (DBE) returns to Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan with another installment of the ever-popular Broadway Boxing series. Headlining the nine-bout card will be DBE’s red-hot undefeated super middleweight contender Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen (19-0-1, 13 KO’s) squaring off against Florida’s Rowland Bryant (16-1, 11KO’s) in a 12-round clash for Oosthuizen’s International Boxing Organization (IBO) title. In the co-featured bout, DBE’s newly crowned WBC Continental Americas light heavyweight champion, “Irish” Seanie Monaghan (14-0, 9 KO’s), will look to keep his perfect record intact when he takes on George Armenta (14-9, 11 KO’s) in a 10-round light heavyweight matchup.
Up-and-coming undefeated DBE prospects Alex Perez (16-0, 9 KO’s) and Jonathan Cepeda (11-0, 10 KO’s) will also see action on the card in separate bouts. The southpaw Perez is coming off his career-best victory-a 10-round unanimous decision over former NABF light welterweight champion, and long-time perennial contender, Francisco Figueroa, back on March 7of this year. Perez suffered an injury to his left hand during the bout, but is now fully healed and ready to continue making serious noise in the welterweight division.
The hard-hitting Cepeda will be stepping into a ring for the first time in a little over a year. Cepeda was scheduled to take on fellow prospect Steven Martinez on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” earlier this year but was forced to pull out after suffering an injury during a car accident. Cepeda has been chomping at the bit to get back in the ring and plans on taking out his frustration on his opponent come fight night.
West Point graduate Boyd “The Rainmaker” Melson (8-1, 4 KO’s) will be looking to get back to his winning ways after suffering the first loss of his professional career in an absolute barnburner against fellow undefeated prospect Delen Parsley in March. Melson and Parsley traded knockdowns and kept a furious pace for their entire eight round junior middleweight contest, making it one of the most entertaining fights ever to take place on a Broadway Boxing card. Melson, who leads the “Fight To Walk” boxing team and donates almost his entire purse to the Justadollarplease organization-which specializes in stem cell research-will be taking on Khalik Memminger (6-8-3, 4 KO’s), of Killeen, TX, in a six-round junior middleweight matchup.
Making his third straight appearance on a Broadway Boxing card will be current IBF Mediterranean super featherweight titlist Floriano “L’Italiano” Pagliara (13-4-1, 7 KO’s), as he takes on Willie Villanueva (10-4, 2 KO’s) in a six-round super featherweight showdown. Pagliara grew up in Italy but has since relocated to the US, now living in Brooklyn and training at the famed Gleason’s Gym. Pagliara has not lost since dropping an eight-round decision to highly touted WBC #2 and WBA #2-rated undefeated super featherweight contender Diego Magdaleno back in 2010.
Robert Garcia-trained Allan Benitez (5-1, 1 KO) will also see action on the card as he faces Osnel Charles (9-3-1, 1 KO) in a six-round junior welterweight matchup. Benitez is looking to make it six wins in a row since losing a decision in his pro debut.
Also fighting on the card is former New York amateur standout, 19-year-old Zach Ochoa (1-0, 1 KO). As an amateur, Ochoa was a NY Metro 132lb. champion as well as a two-time junior Olympic champion. While still in high school, Ochoa successfully turned pro in September 2011 with a devastating fourth-round TKO over William Ware. The talented and heavy-handed Ochoa has since received his high school diploma and is now ready to put his full concentration into boxing. Ochoa will square off against Cody Osbourne (0-2). The bout is scheduled for four rounds in the junior welterweight division.
Rounding out the card will be a four-round female bantamweight matchup between Brooklynite Heather Hardy (pro debut) and Mikayla Nebel (0-2). The popular Hardy has been a staple in the NY amateur boxing scene over the past few years and is now looking to make her transition into the pro ranks.
Tickets are on sale now and are priced at $125, $85, $65 and $45, with a limited number of VIP tables available for purchase as well. VIP tickets are priced at $150, and there are four seats to a table. Tickets can be purchased by calling DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577 or simply by CLICKING HERE: Doors open at 6PM with the first bout scheduled for 7PM.
