It’s unanimous! Saturday night’s all right for fighting. In a clean sweep for Joe DeGuardia at Barclays Center, Star Boxing’s Long Island contingent, Chris Algieri, Joe Smith, Jr., and Johnny Hernandez
made the LIE trek to Brooklyn, and the homegrown fighters delighted their fan base.
Former world champion Chris Algieri (21-2, 8 KOs) got back in the win column in his 10-round welterweight bout against a tough-minded Erick Bone (16-3, 8 KOs). Though it was a hotly-contested battle, the Pride of Huntington knocked the Ecuadorian to the canvas in the eighth and let it all hang out in the ninth to take a unanimous decision in the main event on Showtime Extreme.
Algieri’s scorecards read 97-92, 97-92 and 95-94.
“I’m back in the win column, and that feels good,” said Algieri. “I love fighting at Barclays Center. Bone is a helluva fighter.”
Algieri’s Star Boxing “Stablemate” Joe Smith, Jr.(20-1, 16 KOs), notched a unanimous 10-round decision over Will Rosinsky(19-2, 10 KOs) in their light heavyweight tilt. The “Irish Bomber” effectively worked his left jab and right uppercut to win the contest on all three judges’ scorecards, 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. Smith was relentless, and a fifth round uppercut opened up a gash over Rosinsky’s left eye.
Smith’s scorecards read 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
This contest featured a frenetic pace, a real crowd-pleasurer, with chants of “Jo-ey, Jo-ey” for Smith, and “2-3-4” for Rosinsky’s fire company, echoing from their fan sections.
Fighting out of Mastic, Smith is a Union 66 laborer (concrete) in between fights, while Rosinsky is a firefighter from Engine Co. 234 in Lyndbrook.
“I kept the jab going because I saw it was working,” said Smith. “Then I started working his body.
“I sparred with him a lot in the past, so it definitely was a little different fighting someone I knew, but I was able to stay focused.”
Another Huntington product, Johnny “Hit Man” Hernandez (6-1, 1 KO) completed the DeGuardia trioka, turning back Jack Grady (0-3-1) in a unanimous decision triumph (40-36 on all three scorecards) in the four-round lightweight affair that kicked off the proceedings Saturday night.
Hernandez’s scorecards read 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36.
