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Edwin Rodriguez Will Headline in Worcester, MA on Aug. 20
Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez returns home to Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts on August 20 for a special edition of Broadway Boxing
Former world champion Alcine, local favorites to see action on the undercard
NEW YORK, NY (July 28, 2011) – DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series travels to Worcester, MA, for the third time in as many years on Saturday, August 20, 2011, with a spectacular night of fights to be held at the beautiful converted opera hall, Mechanics Hall. The main event features unbeaten hometown hero Edwin Rodriguez, returning to the ring after a seven month layoff.
Headlining the undercard is former WBA junior middleweight champion Joachim Alcine (32-2, 19 KOs), along with a heavyweight bout between unbeaten prospect Kelvin Price (10-0, 6 KO) taking on Worcester native Rashad Minor (4-1, 3 KOs) Also seeing action are a slew of local favorites: junior lightweight Ryan Kielczewski (10-0, 2 KOs), female heavyweight Sonya Lamonakis (5-0, 1 KO), super bantamweight Luis Rosa (7-0, 5 KOs), junior welterweight Gabriel Duluc (1-0, 1 KO) and heavyweight Keith Bianchini (2-1, 1 KO).
Tickets for Broadway Boxing are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at only $35. Tickets can be purchased via the Mechanics Hall box office, online at www.mechanicshall.org or via phone (M-F, 9am-5pm) at 508-752-0888.
Worcester’s own super middleweight prospect Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (18-0, 13 KOs), 26, comes home in his return to the ring, ending a seven-month hiatus while he recovered from an injury he incurred in his last fight. Rodriguez is an exciting power-puncher, who is currently highly ranked by all the major sanctioning organizations, at #8 by the IBF and IBO, #11 by the WBA, and #13 by the WBC and WBO. His two biggest pro victories have come in his last two fights.
Appearing on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” on January 14, Rodriguez won a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over Aaron Pryor Jr., at Mallory Square in Key West, FL, in which he had to overcome a shoulder injury, having suffered a torn rotator cuff as early as the second round. Two months earlier, Rodriguez dominated James McGirt Jr. over nine rounds before forcing the stoppage, in a bout televised by Showtime. The victory earned Rodriguez the WBC USNBC belt.
Former WBA junior middleweight champion Joachim Alcine, is a Haitian-born Canadian who is a technical boxer with a crowd-pleasing style. When he steps back into the ring on August 20, he’ll be ending a 13-month layoff, following a first round stoppage defeat to Alfredo Angulo, on July 17, 2010. After eight years as an amateur in which he acquired a record of 42-6, Alcine turned pro on May 28, 1999, with a TKO1 over Louis Bouchard in Montreal. He quickly gained a following by fighting on the undercard of popular Canadian stars and with local television airing his early fights; and in his 13th bout on May 25, 2002, Alcine was featured on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation,” outboxing the experienced Marcos Primera over 12 rounds for the IBA belt. He would go on to win several other fringe titles including the Canadian title, WBA Fedelatin, NABA, WBC International, and WBA Fedecentro belts, while defeating the likes of Stephan Ouellet, Carlos Bojorquez and Carl Daniels. On July 7, 2007, Alcine became the first to defeat the crafty Travis Simms to garner the WBA 154lb. crown. He defended it once with a 12th-round TKO over Alfonso Mosquera before losing it to Daniel Santos. Alcine had two comeback victories, winning decisions over Eric Mitchell in 10, and Christophe Canclaux in 12, prior to the Angulo defeat.
Sonya Lamonakis,a native of Greece, is a sixth-grade teacher at Harlem’s Family Academy, who trains at the famed Gleason’s Gym. A four-time New York Golden Gloves champion, Sonya turned pro with a TKO2 over Kasondra Hardnette at Mechanics Hall, on June 24 of last year. Lamonakis is an all-action fighter who attracts a lot of fans. Last time out, Sonya chopped down the towering Gigi Jackson to earn a four-round unanimous decision, on April 16 at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
Ryan Kielczewski, known as the “Polish Prince,” a junior lightweight from Quincy, MA, was a runner-up at the 2008 National Golden Gloves Tournament in the 125-pound division, and has since built a passionate following in the New England area since turning pro on August 6 of that year. After winning a unanimous six-round decision over Willshaun Boxley on a Broadway Boxing card at BB King Blues Club on February 9, Kielczewski last fought on April 16, winning an eight-round decision over Robert DaLuz at the National Guard Armory in Dorchester, MA.
Junior featherweight Luis Rosa,of New Haven, CT, is coming off a six-round majority decision win over Shawn Nichol, on June 18. His previous victory on April 16 was impressive as he stopped Joseliz Cepeda, a former amateur champion, in five rounds on the Berto-Ortiz undercard.
Heavyweight prospect Kelvin “Price is Right” Price, of Iberia, LA, turned pro, after a brief amateur campaign, in 2007, under the tutelage of Roy Jones Sr. Standing at 6’7”, Price is a powerful puncher, with five of his six knockouts coming in the first round. On May 15, 2010, Price scored his most noteworthy win, earning a six-round split decision over previously undefeated local favorite Tor Hamer, at Madison Square Garden. In his most recent bout, on April 8, Price decisioned Ija Flappingeagle in Laredeo, TX. On this card, he’ll take on Worcester’s Rashad Minor, who last fought at Mechanics Hall on June 24, 2011, winning a four-round decision.
Talented junior welterweight Gabriel DuLuc, of Worcester, will be looking to build on his last victory when he turned pro on a Broadway Boxing card on March 29, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Joel Alarcon, at BB King Blues Club.
Popular Worcester heavyweight Keith Bianchini, 2-1 (1 KO), is a corrections officer at Walpole state prison. He will attempt to rebound from a decision loss he suffered in July.
Tickets for Broadway Boxing are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at only $35. Main Floor tickets are priced at $55, $75, and $125. Rear Balcony tickets are $35 and $75. Tables for groups of 10 are priced at $1,000.Tickets can be purchased via the Mechanics Hall box office, online at www.mechanicshall.org or via phone (M-F, 9am-5pm) at 508-752-0888.
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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura
The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.
Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.
The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.
The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.
Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.
Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.
A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.
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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score
This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.
The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.
The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.
De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.
The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.
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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland
On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.
The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.
However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.
At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?
Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.
But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.
Photo by naoki fukuda
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