New York, NY (6/14/12) – Earlier tonight 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.
Hall-of-Fame Induction Would Be Final Accolade On Impressive Career of Ray Mercer
Inside the squared circle Ray “Merciless” Mercer has accomplished things that most fighters dream of but will never see come into fruition. In addition to winning a Gold Medal at the 1988 Olympics, Mercer has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and NABF Heavyweight titles, and has gone to battle with countless future hall of famers.
This past weekend Mercer was a special guest to the inductee ceremony at the International Boxing Hall of Fame—a place the fighters hopes he will be returning to soon to see his name join the legacy of so many who have contributed to the sweet science.
“This past weekend was awesome; being there and seeing Tommy Hearns, Al Bernstein, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, Michael Katz, Michael Buffer and Freddie Roach get inducted into the hall of fame. It was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Mercer.
“Getting inducted into the Hall of Fame would complete my career,” said Mercer. I’ve won the Gold Medal and heavyweight championship, but that would truly be great. It would make my parents, friends and fans all over proud.”
Retired from the gloved sport since 2008, Mercer has been actively working with Find A Dream—a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that reaches out to community children and provides them a healthy channel to find and work towards fulfilling a dream—the boxer has been working hard to spread awareness about the importance of providing a sanction for inner city kids to work toward a positive goal.
In recent months Find A Dream has been focusing on putting together an all-star team to help spread awareness throughout the country and help enrich the lives of inner city youth by providing them with boxing, martial arts, computer and educational programs. They recently have secured a building for their newest facility which they will be opening up shortly in South Carolina, and are focusing their efforts on opening up several other locations.
Mercer shares company with an elite team at Find A Dream, UFC legend and Hall-of-Famer Dan “The Beast” Severn, cruiserweight boxer Bobby Czyz, heavyweight KO artist Don Steele and actor Quinton Aaron, amongst several others.
In 2012 Find A Dream is striving to continue to expand and impact the lives of children throughout various communities. Find A Dream plans to spread their word through boxing and MMA events, car shows, cook-offs, concerts and more in hopes of reaching out to communities and bringing awareness of the necessity to work towards enriching the lives of our youths.
Find A Dream is a nonprofit organization unlike any other. We have partnered with professionals to deliver on our promise of positive change in young lives. Our communities become stronger when our youth is mentored through people of character with a true interest in pouring constructive, character-building activities and input into their lives.
To learn more about Find A Dream or become a sponsor or volunteer, visit www.findadream.org.
Miguel Cotto Visits MSG Transformation
New York, June 15, 2012 – Three-division world boxing champion and the Pride of Puerto Rico, Miguel Cotto stopped by his home away from home, Madison Square Garden, earlier this week to see the progress on the second phase of the top-to-bottom Transformation of the Arena that is currently underway. He chatted with construction workers and signed autographs during his tour, which included checking out progress on the upper bowl of the Arena, which is being completely overhauled this summer. When the Arena reopens this fall, the upper bowl of The Garden will be completely transformed, including an expanded upper level concourse with new food and beverage options and city views, new upper bowl seating area with significantly enhanced sightlines, new Madison Level Suites and Madison Club, and an homage to The Garden’s history will be unveiled on the Madison Concourse (6th floor). There are currently more than 1000 construction workers working around the clock daily to get the building ready to reopen this Fall.
Work on the Madison Square Garden Transformation will continue to be a year-round project, sequenced to maximize construction efforts during the remaining two offseason shutdowns (2012, 2013). The first phase of the Transformation was completed for the 2011-12 season and included a completely transformed lower bowl of the Arena. When completed, the building will be transformed into a state-of-the-art facility that lives up to its iconic stature, while preserving The Garden’s great history and distinctive architecture. For more information on the MSG Transformation, visit www.msg.com/transformation to see a complete timeline of the project and receive construction updates.
Cotto from Caguas, Puerto Rico, is undefeated at Madison Square Garden with a 7-0 record, and has sold more fight tickets at The Garden than any other fighter in this millennium.