Five young, professional boxers continued their undefeated professional careers in the ring at B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill during the latest edition of DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing on Wednesday evening, December 16. Each of the young pugilists displayed the skills acquired during an impressive amateur career. Although most of the bouts were short in duration, they were filled with action. Lou DiBella is a promoter who is known for giving local, young prospects an opportunity for exposure and advancement. Each of the five victors took advantage of the opportunity given to him on Wednesday.
The opening encounter was a four round junior welterweight clash between Christian Martinez (2-0, 2 KO’s) of New York City and Gabriel Morris of Toledo, Ohio (1-5-1). Referee David Fiields stopped the slaughter after 58 seconds of the first round after Morris had been knocked to the campus three times. The three knockdown rule gave Martinez had second TKO win, both at B.B. King’s.
Two Latino featherweights faced one another in the second bout. Luis”Orlanditio” DelValle (8-0, 6 KO’s) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico claimed the win over Noe Lopez, Jr. (5-5, 4 KO’s), a native of Sonora, Mexico after the end of the second round. The ringside physician, after checking on an of Santiago, Cuba. injury to the left hand of Lopez, advised the referee to halt the bout. Overjoyed fans chanted “Tito” after the close of action, Del Valle like Martinez was very comfortable in the venue as it was his fourth pro fight at King’s.
Another local favorite Gabriel Bracero (8-0) of Sunset Park, Brooklyn followed the pattern of his past pro fights by gaining a victory but not stopping his opponent. The 28 year-old never fights far from home. All of his bouts took place in New York City. Bracero’s opponent, Carl McNickels (6-3, 6 KO’s) does not fear a challenge. He traveled to Manhattan from Gulfport, MS to face a New York City fighter, and has fought an undefeated boxer in his last four bouts. McNickels dropped to the canvas in the third, but opened a cut over the left eye of Bracero. The votes of the judges at the end of the six-round junior welterweight bout was one-sided, 60-53, 59-54, and 58-55.
Heavyweight Tor Hamer (10-0, 8 KO’s) is making an effort to move into the rankings and represented the United States in a weight class that had been dominated by Americans in the past. The Penn State graduate had no difficulty with Mazur Ali (6-5, 3 KO’s) of Egypt. After receiving a body shor to the stomach, Ali spit out his mouthpiece and leaned over the ropes. The referee stopped the bout at 1:38 of the opening round. Mazur was a late replacement for Dominic Jenkins. At the pre-fight physical examination, a fracture was discovered in Jenkins’s skull, and he was forbidden to box. Promoter DiBella was incensed by Ali’s ring demeanor. He said to reporters, “If you don’t want to fight, don’t come.”
The headline bout featured one of the most heralded amateur boxers in recent years, Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (4-0, 3 KO’s) of Cuba. The 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist for Cuba defected to the United States in the early part of 2009, after being taken off the Cuban National team prior to the 2008 Olympics. He has since begun a professional boxing career. The 29 year-old Cuban like Hamer was fighting a last minute replacement, Lante Addy (6-5-1, 4 KO’s) of Ghana. Addy’s record may look better than it is because his last five bouts were fought in the U.S. In all five of the bouts (four losses and a draw) his opponents were undefeated. Each of those five bouts, including the one on Wednesday went the distance. Rigondeaux floored Addy in the first round. Neither was again in trouble in a lackluster and one-sided encounter. The crowd jeered the lack of action in rounds two and four. Both were in excellent condition to last eight rounds. The score of the judges were: 79-72, 80-71, and 80-71.