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WAR DeLuca: “The Bazooka” Deploys to the UK for Matchroom Battle vs Kell Brook
It is Friday afternoon, August 24, 2018, summertime in Quincy Market. I am standing at attention with Mark DeLuca outside of Boston’s historic public meeting house, Faneuil Hall.
It’s a zoo.
The buzz of Eddie Hearn’s boxing promotion rages all around us. DeLuca’s heavily muscled arms explode from a simple black-V-neck t-shirt. He wears a loaded look of pure determination.
DeLuca is humble cannon.
“Boston is hot right now and the fighters in Boston are making big splashes,” he says. “You’ve got Toka Kahn, Boo-Boo, Danny, Greg Vendetti just had a good win, Rashidi Ellis. We’re making a big comeback here. I’m happy where I am now but I’ll go wherever the opportunity presents.”
“So yeah, I’d love to fight in the U.K.”
On February 8, 2020, the Quincy, Massachusetts born super-welterweight has the biggest fight of his life coming up in Sheffield against former welterweight champion of the world Kell Brook.
Their main event, scheduled for 12 rounds, airs on DAZN and on Sky Sports.
Four days later, after the fog of war subsides, DeLuca will reach his 32nd birthday, a personal milestone for a United States Marine Infantryman who’s gone to war with America’s enemies on the battlefield of bombs and lived to see another day—haunted by the knowledge of men and women on his side who did not. Just the other day—another flag draped coffin came home.
DeLuca knows he’s not being sent over there by Eddie Hearn to win and that’s OK. This is what Corporal DeLuca has been waiting for since going pro as a boxer (and as a U.S. Marine) in 2007—to be engaged in a winnable war overseas, to be face-to-face with an elite adversary.
In 2011, he did a dangerous tour of duty in Afghanistan.
We rightly thank heroes like Mark.
And not just for his service to America, but also for his service to the unsung warriors of boxing, men like local light-heavyweight Brandon Montella (pictured on the left), a now happily married fitness trainer who went 9-0 (8) as a pro after willing himself to the New England Golden Gloves Championships in 2012.
Their respectful relationship born of “instant, willing obedience” was depicted in the single-season reality show The Fighters filmed in 2014 at Peter Welch’s South Boston gym.
The premise of the program was simple: “Each week, trainers from rival boxing gyms across Boston will choose their top amateur fighters to represent their gyms in a bout. After seven days of intense training, the fighters will face off in the ring with their professional futures at stake.”
DeLuca trained and tutored Montella (also a Marine) when the aimless new pro was gymless and coachless in 2015. The fighters share a similar moral code of calm patience and selfless service. “Mark would show up, wrap my hands and corner me,” Montella recalls with pride. It’s interesting to note that Montella is eight years older and outranks his younger fighting mentor.
“When Mark was in my corner it was like being in the Marines again with a leader you know has been there before and will go there with you. He was the leader I never got to follow into a battle.”
CRUCIBLE OF BOXING
At the Boston Garden in 2018, DeLuca avenged his only professional loss (a razor thin split decision defeat in the “Live Free or Die” New England State of New Hampshire) by outshooting Walter “Two Guns” Wright on a Matchroom USA sanctioned undercard. Promoted by Ken Casey’s Murphys Boxing based outta Boston, DeLuca’s fists are his weapons of war now.
They will do his talking.
So, I’ll say a few things about him.
DeLuca is a hope to many in a depleted locality.
The townie from Whitman, Mass could go on to become the New England region’s new and next Micky Ward (Pride of Lowell) or he might fade into mediocrity like Framingham’s Danny O’Connor. He’s 24-1 with 13 KOs. More boxer than brawler, DeLuca occasionally fights outside of his personality; a trap any popular boxer can fall into if he lets a noisy crowd dictate to him.
He is as physically fit as you’d expect for a United States Marine—and twice as quick. In 2017, he endured a huge cut over his right eye outgutting Chris Chatman in his “toughest fight to date.”
A southpaw, DeLuca won twice in 2019, first in March at the House of Blues in Boston where he decisioned Jimmy Williams and then in June in Providence, Rhode Island, beating the unbeaten Brandon “L-Jack” Brewer over ten entertaining rounds. He’s healthy and ring ready.
“I feel I have good momentum,” he tells me.
Brook didn’t fight at all in 2019.
DeLuca shrugs that off.
“He’s dangerous and hungry to get back.”
Hitting age 34 next May, Brook is known to bust up and has been beaten down before, first by Errol Spence in 2016 and then in 2017 by middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin. If he’s as shell-shocked as thought by some, DeLuca’s “Bazooka” fire could be too much to handle.
“There have been dark times,” admits Brook. “DeLuca is a strong gutsy fighter who’s always ready for war but I’m planning on making a statement to show I’m still a force at 147 or 154.”
Brook, the former IBF welterweight champion, is now 38-2 with 26 KOs. Matched conservatively in 2018, this will be his third consecutive bout in his hometown of Sheffield.
Known as the “Special One” in the ring, it’s been a few years since Brook has put on an especially special performance there. His 2014 upset of pressure fighter Shawn Porter to claim the IBF 147-pound crown was just such a special night in Carson, California on Showtime.
On that hot summer day in Boston back in 2018, I asked DeLuca about Kid Galahad, the chippy British featherweight who eight weeks later upset Toka Kahn by decision on the October 20 TD Garden show and who will be fighting at home on this February 8 card against Claudio Marrero.
Galahad was making his first media appearance outside the U.K. I was telling DeLuca about the bad blood between Toka and Galahad and confessing that I didn’t really know who Galahad was.
What DeLuca knows is the art of war. “It’s guys like that who come up from the rear and surprise everybody,” he explained. “They’re undercover. They show up and spoil the party.”
Known for his “chocolate brownie” right hand, Kell Brook better be careful in Sheffield or the unknown Mark DeLuca will go home to Whitman to celebrate with a 32 candle salute at his expense.
Boxing Writer Jeffrey Freeman grew up in the City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts from 1973 to 1987, during the Marvelous career of Marvin Hagler. JFree then lived in Lowell, Mass during the best years of Irish Micky Ward’s illustrious career. A new member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a Bernie Award Winner in the Category of Feature Under 1500 Words, Freeman covers boxing for The Sweet Science in New England.
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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