Josniel “TG” Castro defeated Denzel “Double Impact” Whitley via a ten-round unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, and 98-92), as he won all but three rounds on the judges’ three scorecards and retained his WBC US junior middleweight title in his first defense, in the main event.
(Credit: Emily Harney / Fightography)
In what was supposed to be an even matchup between two of the best New England prospects was anything but as Castro dominated this fight from the opening bell. He controlled this bout as he aggressively chased Whitley around the ring and continued to land stinging jabs that he doubled and tripled up to the body and head that Whitley had no answer for. Castro was the busier fighter as he outworked and out-landed Whitley with various hard combinations from different angles. He also connected on more power shots, one of which caused a cut to open up over Whitley’s right eye in the tenth round that bled for the rest of the round.
“I have been in training camp [in Florida] since my last fight in August, and I trained hard, and it showed in this fight. I sparred with [Xander] Zayas [20-0, 12 KOs] towards the end of his camp, and he helped me improve as a fighter. I hope to spar with him again in December,” Castro said. “I fought well. The better the opposition is [this was the best opponent of his career], the better I perform.”
Whitley, a notoriously slow fighter, still could not get into any offensive rhythm even after the first few rounds. He appeared hesitant to throw punches, and when he did throw shots, they were sporadic. Whitley finally picked up his offensive pace in the last few rounds, but he did not display a sense of urgency despite being behind on the scorecards, as he threw one punch at a time. Despite being the harder puncher, he could not land any powerful shots on Castro, even though he desperately tried later in the bout.
“This might have been my best performance thus far, but the best is yet to come. I am always working hard to be a better fighter each bout,” Castro said. “I am a humble fighter. I am not like many boxers who already think they are the best. I am always trying to learn, and welcome any help anyone can provide me.”
Castro’s high-paced offensive output, in particular his jabs, was largely responsible for keeping Whitley off balance and neutralizing his power punches. He also displayed good defense that blocked many of Whitley’s punches.
“I want to fight early next year,” Castro said. “I am also looking into dropping down to the welterweight division. I think fighting at a lower division is better due to my height and size. I will talk to my team and nutritionist and see what they think.”
Castro improved to 14-1, 8 KOs, in his fourth fight of the year. He has won five in a row. During this winning streak, he has beaten two undefeated fighters, and the record of his last three opponents is 32-2.
Whitley sustained his first professional loss, as he dropped to 14-1, 8 KOs. His NABF welterweight title was not on the line for this fight (he moved up in weight for this bout).
Granite Chin Promotions promoted “Worcester Championship Boxing” at the DCU Event Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. The main event and the seven undercard bouts were streamed live on www.bxngtv.com.
Undefeated heavyweight Kevin “Big Gulp” Nagle defeated Jake “No Love” Paradise via a fourth-round technical knockout and obtained the vacant WBC US Silver heavyweight title in the co-feature. Referee Marcel Varela stopped the one-sided heavyweight bout at one minute and forty-five seconds as he had seen Paradise take enough punishment. Nagle upped his record to 10-0, 8 KOs. He has been extremely active, especially nowadays, with this being his tenth fight in the last two years. Paradise fell to 8-4, 8 KOs, and his four-bout winning streak ended.
Nagle dominated this bout as land pretty much whatever he threw at Paradise, and he connected on the harder shots, in particular jabs to the head that Paradise had no answer for. Paradise’s nose was bleeding heavily at the end of the first round and continued to bleed throughout the bout. The ringside doctor took a look at his nose before the third round but decided the fight could continue.
Dan “Grafton Hill’s Favorite Son” Docimo (1-0, 1 KO) and Jaequez Jones (0-3) settled for a first-round no-contest. Docimo pushed Jones, who fell to the canvas and injured his head. Jones remained on the canvas for a few minutes before he was able to get up on his own. Since Jones was unable to continue to fight, referee Gene Del Bianco halted the welterweight bout at twenty-eight seconds.
Unbeaten Edwine Humaine Jr. beat Jimmy “The Quiet Storm” Williams via a first-round knockout. Referee Varela stopped the junior middleweight bout at three minutes as Williams did not beat his ten-second count. Humaine dropped Williams with a right hook to the body before the round ended. Humaine improved to 9-0, 7 KOs. This was his sixth victory in the last eight months. Williams dropped 18-16-2, 6 KOs.
Khiary “Too Sharp” Gary obtained a sixth-round knockout over Daniel “The Hudson Valley Kid” Sostre. Referee Bianco stopped the middleweight bout at two minutes and twenty-one seconds as Sostre could not beat his ten-second count. The former New England and UBF International junior middleweight champion dropped Sostre via a right hook, which caused him to partially fall out of the ring. Gary upped his record to 19-7, 14 KOs, as he dominated every round of this fight. He has won three of his last four bouts. Sostre fell to 13-27-2, 5 KOs.
Junior middleweight Justin “The Bandit” Laporte scored five knockdowns en route to a four-round unanimous decision over Rakim Johnson (40-32, 39-33, and 39-33). The former United States Marine improved to 2-0, 1 KO. He is scheduled to fight again on January 11th.
Johnson, who demonstrated a lot of heart as he kept on fighting despite taking a lot of punishment, dropped to 7-24-1, 5 KOs.
This was an action-packed, entertaining, back-and-forth slugfest for the first round and a half, with both fighters staggering the other. Then, halfway through the second round, Laporte took over the fight as he dropped Johnson from a left-right hook to the head. The two-time New England Golden Gloves title holder knocked Johnson down three more times in the third round from left-right hooks to the head. Laporte dropped Johnson once more in the fourth round via a left uppercut.
Two-time New England Golden Gloves champion Jhon “D-Wave” Devers Rodriguez beat Tymar Miles via a first-round technical knockout. Referee Bianco stopped the middleweight bout at one minute after Miles was dropped to the canvas for the second time. Rodriguez knocked Miles down twice from straight right jabs to the head. Rodriguez upped his record to 2-0, 2 KOs. He is scheduled to fight again on January 11th. Miles fell to 0-4.
Adrian Valdez Reyes defeated Tracey Coppedge via a first-round knockout. Reyes, who is just seventeen years old, improved to 2-0, 2 KOs. He is scheduled to fight again on December 14th. Coppedge dropped to 0-5. Referee Varela stopped the junior middleweight bout at one minute and nine seconds as Coppedge was unable to beat his ten-second count. Reyes knocked Coppedge down via a right jab to the body and then a left jab to the body.
