Golub Beats Reyes as Lou DiBella’s Broadway Boxing Series Soldiers On

Published

6 years ago

April 12, 2019

Sean Nam

(New York, NY) You may as well add club fights to the list of things — along with used bookstores, record shops, corner groceries, et al. — that are rapidly disappearing from New York City. Rising rents, a needlessly exorbitant insurance fee, high medical costs and other pricey ancillary expenses, are just a few of the reasons that have dissuaded local promoters from putting on club fights in recent years. Some have tried their hand, anyhow, and have had little more more than red balance sheets to show for their efforts. Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Promotions entered the New York market last year with the express idea to cultivate the grassroots scene, only to become defunct by the fall. Joe DeGuardia, another notable local promoter, has fallen noticeably silent.

Broadway Boxing, promoter Lou DiBella’s longstanding developmental series, returned after an extended hiatus, on Wednesday night in front of a near sell-out crowd at the Sony Hall, a 500-seat venue in Times Square. But it would be a mistake to read into the show as a sign of things to come. Even DiBella, perpetual hype-man at large, was loathe to describe the event as anything more than a small step for a series he first conceived 16 years ago and featured the likes of Andre Berto and Paulie Malignaggi. “Nobody,” DiBella said,” “from Joe DeGuardia to myself, has a formula where you can make a killing from this.”

That said, there is some wind in DiBella’s sails these days. He recently inked a deal with UFC Fight Pass, the combat sports streaming app that hosted Wednesday’s card. It could be the start of something new, though DiBella refused to call it a partnership, at least not yet. “We’re getting our feet wet,” he said. “If you have a big stable of fighters, you need a developmental series and I think that’s why this collaboration with Fight Pass is potentially significant.” Moreover, the financial help from a streaming partner would help offset the overhead that makes club fights so prohibitive in the first place. “That makes it easier,” DiBella acknowledged, who declined to comment if Fight Pass offered a license fee, but did add, “That’s a fair assumption. Frankly, the UFC fight pass deal allowed me to come back to New York City.” Still, DiBella remained skeptical that he could afford to run club shows in the city on a consistent basis. The next Broadway Boxing show will take place at Foxwoods in Connecticut. (DiBella declined to comment if Fight Pass would stream the event.)

In the main event, hard-hitting southpaw Ivan Golub (pictured on the left) decisioned a limited but tough-as-nails Manuel Reyes in a solid 10-round welterweight bout to improve to 16-1 (12). All three judges saw Golub winning: John Basile and James Kinney had it a clean sweep at 100-90, while John McKaie had it 99-91.

Golub, who hails from the Ukraine but resides and trains in Brooklyn, started off hot by working behind a stiff jab and mixing in thudding body shots. It did not appear that the fight would last very long as Reyes seemed content to absorb punch after punch as he tried artlessly to walk Golub down.

In the second round, Golub sustained a large cut on his forehead which perhaps played a role in slowing down his efforts. By the fifth round, Reyes’ pressure was forcing Golub to work harder than he would like. The late rounds were considerably closer. Indeed, Reyes had Golub backtracking around the ring in the final round. Golub, 30, may have a limited ceiling, but his fan-friendly style should make him an attractive option at 147.

On the undercard, highly-regarded Uzbek heavyweight prospect Bakhodir Jalolov wiped out late-replacement Brendan Barrett in the first round of a 6-round contest. A 6’7” southpaw, Jalolov, who entered the ring wearing a maroon military beret, towered over the comparatively diminutive 5’10” Barrett. The two fighters got tangled up repeatedly early on as a result of Barrett rushing in with his head like a sloppy linebacker. Jalolov, 6-0 (6), eventually found his range and connected on a straight left that sent Barrett crumbling to the canvas. Referee Albert Brown waived off the fight after he saw the ring doctor approach the apron.

After the fight, a member of Jalolov’s management team — who also handle Dmitry Bivol — confirmed that the heavyweight will likely fight for a fringe title in his next bout.

Lindenhurst, New York’s Alicia Napoleon dispatched Serbia’s Eva Bajic in the second round of their middleweight bout. Napoleon landed a straight right that caused Bajic to go down in pain. Moments later, Napoleon doubled up on the straight right which sent Bajic to the canvas for good. After the fight the newly-married Napoleon, who improves to 11-1 (6) reiterated her desire for a title fight and a possible move up to super-middleweight. Jamil Antoine refereed.

It looked as though Uzbek prospect Hurshidbek Normatov would make short work of Kansas City’s Calvin Metcalf, when he opened up a cut on Metcalf’s bald head in the first round and scored a knockdown in the second. But Metcalf was surprisingly resilient and went the full six rounds of their middleweight bout. All three judges had it 60-53 for Normatov, 8-0 (3),who was never troubled. Arthur Mercante Jr. refereed.

A large and rabid contingent came out to support Brooklyn’s Khalid Twaiti in his four-round junior featherweight fight against Hungary’s Jeno Tonte, whose limited skills were exacerbated by the fact that he held his chin high up in the air. Twaiti pressed the action from the get-go and had Tonte in trouble along the ropes at several moments. In the third round, Twaiti wailed away at Tonte with bludgeoning hooks until referee Jamil Antoine intervened at 1:13. Tonte protested vehemently but it was hard to argue the call, given that he showed no signs of fighting back. Twaiti improves to 5-0 (3).

Fort Greene, Brooklyn’s Brian Ceballo earned a third round stoppage of Ricardo Garcia in their junior-middleweight bout (set for six). After working tentatively behind his jab, Ceballo turned it up in the third, catching Ceballo with a straight right that knocked him down into the ropes. Ceballo, now 8-0 (4), followed up with a barrage of punches that forced referee Earl Brown to stop the fight.

In the opener, Joseph Williams, Far Rockaway, NY, improved to 13-0 with a unanimous decision over Jose Flores, Woodbridge, Virginia, in their six round cruiserweight bout. Williams won every round on all three cards.

Photo credit: Ed Diller / DiBella Entertainment

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Sean Nam

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

Published

2 hours ago

May 11, 2025

David A. Avila

Emanuel-Navarrete-Survives-a-Bloody-Battle-with-Charly-Suarez-in-San-Diego

In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

Published

15 hours ago

May 10, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Late-Bloomer-Anthony-Cacace-TKOs-Hometown-Favorite-Leigh-Wood-in-Nottingham

Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.

Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.

In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.

Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.

Semi-Wind-Up

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.

Other Bouts of Note

In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.

In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.

Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.

A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke

Published

2 days ago

May 9, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 326: Top Rank and San Diego Smoke

Years ago, I worked at a newsstand in the Beverly Hills area. It was a 24-hour a day version and the people that dropped by were very colorful and unique.

One elderly woman Eva, who bordered on homeless but pridefully wore lipstick, would stop by the newsstand weekly to purchase a pack of menthol cigarettes. On one occasion, she asked if I had ever been to San Diego?

I answered “yes, many times.”

She countered “you need to watch out for San Diego Smoke.”

This Saturday, Top Rank brings its brand of prizefighting to San Diego or what could be called San Diego Smoke. Leading the fight card is Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) defending the WBO super feather title against undefeated Filipino Charly Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) at Pechanga Arena. ESPN will televise.

This is Navarrete’s fourth defense of the super feather title.

The last time Navarrete stepped in the boxing ring he needed six rounds to dismantle the very capable Oscar Valdez in their rematch. One thing about Mexico City’s Navarrete is he always brings “the smoke.”

Also, on the same card is Fontana, California’s Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) vying for the interim IBF lightweight title against Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) on the co-main event.

Abdullaev has only fought once before in the USA and was handily defeated by Devin Haney back in 2019. But that was six years ago and since then he has knocked off various contenders.

Muratalla is a slick fighting lightweight who trains at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy now in Moreno Valley, Calif. It’s a virtual boot camp with many of the top fighters on the West Coast available to spar on a daily basis. If you need someone bigger or smaller, stronger or faster someone can match those needs.

When you have that kind of preparation available, it’s tough to beat. Still, you have to fight the fight. You never know what can happen inside the prize ring.

Another fighter to watch is Perla Bazaldua, 19, a young and very talented female fighter out of the Los Angeles area. She is trained by Manny Robles who is building a small army of top female fighters.

Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO) meets Mona Ward (0-1) in a super flyweight match on the preliminary portion of the Top Rank card. Top Rank does not sign many female fighters so you know that they believe in her talent.

Others on the Top Rank card in San Diego include Giovani Santillan, Andres Cortes, Albert Gonzalez, Sebastian Gonzalez and others.

They all will bring a lot of smoke to San Diego.

Probox TV

A strong card led by Erickson “The Hammer” Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) facing Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0, 6 KOs) in a super welterweight clash between southpaws takes place on Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. PROBOX TV will stream the fight card.

Ardreal has rocketed up the standings and now faces veteran Lubin whose only losses came against world titlists Sebastian Fundora and Jermell Charlo. It’s a great match to decide who deserves a world title fight next.

Another juicy match pits Argentina’s Nazarena Romero (14-0-2) against Mexico’s Mayelli Flores (12-1-1) in a female super bantamweight contest.

Nottingham, England

Anthony Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs) defends the IBO super featherweight title against Leigh Wood (28-3, 17 KOs) in Wood’s hometown on Saturday at Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. DAZN will stream the Queensberry Promotions card.

Ireland’s Cacace seems to have the odds against him. But he is no stranger to dancing in the enemy’s lair or on foreign territory. He formerly defeated Josh Warrington in London and Joe Cordina in Riyadh in IBO title defenses.

Lampley at Wild Card

Boxing telecaster Jim Lampley will be signing his new book It Happened! at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood, Calif. on Saturday, May 10, beginning at 2 p.m. Lampley has been a large part of many of the greatest boxing events in the past 40 years. He and Freddie Roach will be at the signing.

Fights to Watch (All times Pacific Time)

Sat. DAZN 11 a.m. Anthony Cacace (23-1) vs Leigh Wood (28-3).

Sat. PROBOX.tv 3 p.m. Erickson Lubin (26-2) vs Ardreal Holmes Jr. (17-0).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1) vs Charly Suarez (18-0); Raymond Muratalla (22-0) vs Zaur Abdullaev (20-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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