O’Shea Brothers Boxing Promotions debuted Friday night May 15th at the Yonkers PAL (formerly the National Guard Armory) with a seven bout professional boxing card. Not bad for a first time out. O’Shea Brothers Promotions had everything covered from parking, to food, to t-shirts, round card girls, and a set of good well matched bouts. Some tickets included a buffet. The buffet food was from Casa Rina’s of Thornwood. The PAL committee ran the hotdog and soda stand. Good choices for every budget. But the matchmaking was really good for a first time promotion..
The main event headlined Vincent Arroyo of Amherst, NY (Buffalo) who improved to 8-0, 5 KO’s by retirement in the sixth round over Robert Acevedo of Moca, Puerto Rico. Acevedo just could not keep up with the punch output of Arroyo, a highly regarded amateur (former two-time National JO Champion) on his way up the professional ranks. Arroyo looks to be a pretty good prospect. At 141 pounds he has a lot of skills at this stage of his pro career in the talent rich welterweight division. Good conditioning, good speed, decent power. Keep your eyes on this kid.
Also making his pro-debut was Yonkers, NY hometown resident Suprim Muriqi at middleweight going up against Charles Wade from Chicago, IL. Muriqi (163) won by unanimous decision over the heavier(168) and larger Wade. This was a good test for the tough Albanian banger, who’s cousin is Elvir “The Kosovo Kid” Muriqi (Lt.-Heavyweight contender who is 36-5-0 with 22 KO’s), who was in attendance by the way. Muriqi, who fought in the NY Daily News Golden Gloves out of the Yonkers PAL boxing team did alright for himself for the first time without the headgear on with all three judges seeing it 40-35. Expect to see O’Shea Brothers to have him on future cards.
Other action: Hackensack, NJ’s Carlos Zambrano and Juan Zegarra came over the bridge and went back over the river in the “W” column. Zambrano (126), an exciting featherweight improved to 6-0, 2 KO’s with a TKO in round 4 of 4 over Angel Lopez (123 ½) of Puerto Rico. I saw Zambrano fight on the undercard of the Vivian Harris comeback fight back in Oct. at Medieval Times in NJ and he looked sharp then. Junior welterweight Zegarra (140) won by TKO in round 2 of 4 over Jose Guerrido (142 ½) of the Bronx, NY. Both Zambrano and Zegarra hail from Peru and now live and train in NJ. They are also stable mates with Columbian Carlos “El Olimpico” Tamara a very promising light flyweight. Tamara who is 18-4, 13 KO’s won the WBO/WBC Light Flyweight Latino World Title last year and continues to climb up to bigger and better fights in that division, an often overlooked weight class. Tamara was an outstanding world class amateur boxer competing in the Pan-Am and Olympic games for his home country of Columbia. These three guys make a triple threat for any competition out there and would add to any promoter’s card. Good luck guys!!
Anthony Irons (146) of the Bronx, NY won by TKO in round 3 over Noel Garcia (145) of Springfield, MA., in a 4 round welterweight matchup. Irons had Garcia down in round two and came back the next round for the finish. Irons improved to 3-0-1, 2 KO’s with this win. Nydia Feliciano (126) also from the Bronx, NY boxed to a majority draw with Jaci Trivilino (127) of Plattsburgh, NY in a female featherweight bout. Feliciano starts her pro career at 0-0-1 while Trivilino falls to 0-1-1. Jean Carlos Prada (150) won by unanimous decision over Ashantie Hendrickson (149) in a welterweight four rounder. Prada improves to 4-0-1, 1 KO.
Keep an eye open for the next O’Shea Brothers Boxing Promotions professional boxing show at the Yonkers Armory sometime in September. See you “around the ring”.
Major to Face Clark for NABA Belt
WBA NABA Lightweight Championship on the line in Buffalo, June 19
Promoter Nick Garone and X-Cel Worldwide have put together an enticing championship bout for their “Buffalo Beatdown” show on June 19 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center in Buffalo, New York.
All-action lightweight Meacher Major “Pain” of the Bahamas will face Columbus, Ohio’s Michael “Cold Blood” Clark (38-5-1, 18 KOs) in a 10-round battle for the vacant NABA Lightweight Championship.
Major turned himself into an instant fan favorite in Buffalo last February by becoming the first man to stop super-durable veteran Kevin Carmody in an exciting shootout. The skilful Clark has been on the cusp of a world title fight in the past and already fought to a draw for the same NABA belt in 2008.
Garone says although Clark is a dangerous opponent, he believes 27-year-old Major has the tools to become a world champion. “I don’t feel like Meacher was brought along properly in the past. He’s got a ton of potential. His losses are to Edner Cherry (via split decision), Lamont Peterson and Edgar Santana and they’re all good fighters. And now that he’s got proper training facilities and sparring, he’s going to make a real dent in this division. I have enough confidence in Meacher to be putting him in with a world-class guy like Clark, so what’s that tell you?”
At stake for both fighters will be the WBA’s North American Championship and a bump up to the top-10 of their world rankings.
Also featured at the “Buffalo Beatdown” will be popular Niagara Falls, New York, super lightweight Nick “Hands of Gold” Casal (18-4-1, 14 KOs) in a 10-round match-up. On the undercard, Rochester super lightweight Kenny Abril, Buffalo light heavyweight Lionel Thompson and Buffalo heavyweight Excell Holmes (pro debut) will see action.
Garone brought professional boxing back to Downtown Buffalo for the first time in six years last February with a show that was surprisingly well attended and very well received by fans. The “Buffalo Beatdown” will be his third professional boxing show in Western New York in less than a year. “I know Buffalo loves boxing, so we’re going to give them the world-class shows they deserve.”
Tickets for the “Buffalo Beatdown” can be purchased starting Monday, May 18 and are priced at $30, $45 and $75 for ringside. They can be purchased online at www.championsofboxing.com or by calling 877.77CLICK. A small amount of VIP seating is available by calling 631.878.1676.
All undercard opponents for the “Buffalo Beatdown are, thus far, TBA.
TELEMUNDO’S STORY ON CARINA MORENO HAS BE RESCHEDULED TO MAY 22, 2009.
Due to network rescheduling, Telemundo’s story on the life of four-time world champion, Carina “La Reina” Moreno, will now be televised this Friday May 22, 2009. All times remain the same. The story will air in the San Francisco, Fresno and Las Vegas during Telemundo’s (Channel 48) “Conteo De Noticias” at 6:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM. In other cities such as, Tucson, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antionio and Houston, the story will appear at 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM.