Despite the cancellation of a few bouts on what was a stacked card, Dmitry Salita’s Star Of David Promotion’s Brooklyn Brawl lived up to its name with 5 action packed bouts. On a frigid night in Brighton Beach Brooklyn, NY at the Millennium Theatre, the crowd came to see toe to toe action, and the boxers obliged.
The first bout of the night was between Bronx, NY’s Marcos Suarez (1-0-1) in a four round junior welterweight battle against the winless Samuel Mora (0-3) from Upstate New York. Suarez started the bout behind his jab as he looked to find his range on his shorter, south paw opponent. The action picked up in the second and third rounds as Suarez was able to land check hooks and straight right hands that had Mora back pedaling. The fourth and final round would start quickly as Suarez piled on the points in his patient style, and Mora looked to land a lucky shot, however it was the Bronx fighter who would find luck, or just pure accuracy; with a series of well-placed right hands that forced the referee to stop the fight as Mora was reeling on his feet. The time of the stoppage was 2:48 of the fourth round, and Suarez lands his first KO victory.
With the crowd growing, loud cheers were heard as local Brooklynite Angel Garcia 130lbs (6-2 2KO’s) originally of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico faced tough journeyman Micah Branch 130lbs (2-8-1) of Columbus, OH in a six rounder. Nicknamed “Dulzura” or sweetness, Garcia definitely had the better footwork and faster hands as he danced and used the whole entire canvas to confuse his opponent. After warming up over the first round and setting the pace, he made Branch miss and pay with short shots that knocked his shorter opponent off balance at times but never in real trouble. Frustration grew from Branch and his corner as they could not find the proper range to land anything significant but they did not stop trying to solve the puzzle put in front of Branch. The last round turned from a dance to a real brawl as Garcia decided to stay put and go head to head with Branch, both men had their moments but it was generally Garcia with the more effective array of hooks and straight from his southpaw stance that landed more frequently and effectively. In the end, all the judges were in agreement awarding Garcia his 7th win as scores of 60-54 59-55 and 59-55 as Branch falls down to 2-9-1.
Fighting for the first time in over a year Puerto Rican super welterweight Steve ”The Hitman” Martinez (13-1 10KO’s) residing in the Bronx, took on hard hitting and durable Rahman Yusubov (9-13 7KO’s) of Baku, Azerbaijou. The bout started rather slowly with both men flicking light jabs, but it wouldn’t last long as a left hook from Yusubov grabbed Martinez’s attention and he responded quickly scoring with a lunging left hook. The sustained action over the first few rounds of this six rounder had the crowd cheering loudly as the shots from Martinez could be heard in the small theatre. The body work and stiff jabs from Martinez took their toll but Yusubov fought back valiantly and even caused some swelling under the left eye of Martinez from the inside action when trading hooks. At the end of the third round Martinez looked to almost have Yusubov out on his feet but some clinching saved him for the next two rounds. Stalking his prey, Martinez looked confident and despite the long layoff; the fresher fighter overall, he proved it by connecting with a crushing left hook-right hand combo that put Yusubov on Queer Street. Reeling badly from the blows, Martinez went in for the kill unloading with about a dozen blows against the ropes as the ref jumped in to save Yusubov. The younger Martinez scores a TKO victory at: 26 of the 6th round as he looks to stay busy, the upset minded Yusubov complained of the stoppage but has the chance to spoil a few more fighters in the future, just not this one.
In the co-main event of the night, popular Staten Island fighter Dimash Niyazov (4-0-2 3KO’s) of Kazakh descent took his undefeated record against fellow lightweight Jonathan “Lil Big Man” Cuba (7-5-1 5KO’s) over four rounds of action. Fighting from Queens, NY by way of the Dominican Republic; Cuba could not match the speed but had the determination to try to get inside so he could trade with his younger foe. Niyazov, the taller and more agile fighter used a jab and landed a good left, right, hook combo that Cuba shook off as he tried to break the distance. The first two rounds were close as both men had their moments, “Lil Big Man” ducking under some fast punches and coming up with a few up-jabs and right hands of his own, and Niyazov dazzling the crowd with fast consecutive hits. After a fight that started to get interesting a hard charging Cuba finally got his opponent on the ropes but the young dynamo Niyazov loaded up a right uppercut and exploded it on the chin of Cuba knocking him out instantly as his head bounced off the canvas. The crowd was cheering and some were scared from the sight but luckily for the Queens fighter, he was up just after a short moment while Niyazov was elated to get a great one punch KO win. The official time was :18 of the third round giving Niyazov his 4th knockout victory.
The main event was quickly upon us all at the Millennium Theatre, the New York State Cruiserweight Title was on the line when Stivens Bujaj (10-0 7KO’s) from Yonkers, NY took on Elvin “Coco” Sanchez (6-2-1 5KO’s) of Paterson, NJ in a scheduled eight rounder. From the offset Bujaj had the crowd in his favor, his confidence showed in the ring as he tried to press Sanchez. While on the ropes an overhand right seemed to stun the favorite Bujaj but Sanchez was too desperate flailing away wanting a quick stoppage. Charging forward, Sanchez left himself open long enough for Bujaj to check him with a hook and put him down, he arose on unsteady legs and it looked like Bujaj would send his man home early. Sending his foe home early the undefeated fighter did, a follow up barrage put Sanchez on the ropes again trying to dodge everything he could but the punches were too accurate as overhands and hooks hurt him badly, Bujaj kept pressing as the ref jumped in. The fight was short lived but the action fierce, Bujaj wins the NYS Title and a dominant win in front of his fans with the 1st round TKO at 2:22 moving his ledger to 11-0 8KO’s to end the night.
