Almost a year after the first New Legend Boxing Promotion’s at the new Resorts World Casino in Queens, NY; the promotional outfit celebrated their anniversary with an exciting night of boxing. The card was a stacked nine bout sheet with everything from a heavyweight bout, a female match, and two title bouts; one being for the New York State junior middleweight title and the other for the junior featherweight WBA Fedelatin title. With the venue quickly filling up to its capacity the fans were ready for the action to start off.
The first match of the evening was between junior lightweights Allan Phelan (2-2 2KO’s) of Brooklyn by way of Ireland against Pennsylvania’s Benjamin “The Shadow” Burgos (1-4) in a scheduled four rounder. Action started fairly quickly as Phelan started off with a jab but halfway through the first round the fans were being treated to a war as Burgos was able to counter the shorter man’s shots at time with his own looping punches. During the inside fighting Phelan was able to land several right hooks but a head butt would soon add drama to the bout as Phelan was bleeding over his left eye. Sensing blood in the water Burgos opened up but it was just enough for the Irishman to land a solid left hook that started off a vicious barrage that forced his opponent to crumble in the neutral corner, although rising rather quickly the referee had seen enough and waved the bout off at :34 of the second round. With the victory Phelan rises to 3-2 with all of his wins coming by way of knockout, Burgos on the other hand has slid down to five straight losses since his pro debut win.
In the next match, MMA and Muay Thai fighter Villi Bello of Queens, NY; made his pro boxing debut in a four round match against Brooklyn bred Anthony Birmingham (0-1-1). The two junior middleweights looked to set the pace with Bello, a switch hitting southpaw; landing straight lefts and right hooks to back his foe up. Action would continue with both men looking to land the harder shots inside but Bello would switch to an orthodox stance and land two consecutive looping right hands, the second one landing so hard that it was a surprise to many that Birmingham was able to get back to his feet and fight back like he did. Keeping behind a jab, Birmingham tried to stay on the outside for the remainder of the bout and by doing so possibly won the last round as he finished strong landing quick uppercuts and short hooks as Bello continued to stalk. The decision was announced and judges scored the bout 39-36 39-36 38-37 all in favor of Villi Bello who makes his start in boxing a successful one.
Walking in to the ring, the ever popular cruiserweight Jay Rodriguez (1-0-1 1KO) of Queens, NY; was showered with cheers and support as he prepared to face off with durable but unlucky Eric “Night Night” George (0-4) of Niagra Falls, NY. Rodriguez, the much taller fighter; used his reach and jab to score on the outside as George tried to bull his way in, eating a counter and being off balance, George stumbles and a knockdown is scored in the local fighter’s favor. Having found success in the first round, the second started off with a confident Rodriguez scoring with hard hooks and right hands as George tries to keep himself up with the ropes, his glove touches the canvas again and a standing eight count is given to him, moments later Rodriguez would open up with a vicious combination giving the ref no choice but to halt the action at 1:44 of the second. Awarded the TKO win, Jay Rodriguez moves his record to 2-0-1 with 2 stoppage wins as he continues to improve his craft.
The next bout would feature Puerto Rican junior lightweight Angel “Dulzura” Garcia (5-2 2KO’s) out of Brooklyn against the always tough and durable Nuwan Jayakody (1-2 1KO) from Sri Lanka but training out of Washington, DC in a four rounder. The fight would be exactly to Garcia’s liking as he started off circling wide on the outside and shooting single and double jabs that kept Jayakody at bay, off balance, and confused. The game plan would continue to be executed as Jayakody was unable to figure out his southpaw opponent and could only manage to land a punch at a time on the more active and mobile Garcia who was slick enough to get out of danger with his footwork proving his name “Dulzura”. After four quick rounds the three judges agreed with scores of 40-36 across the boards all in favor of hometown favorite Garcia.
In an intriguing heavyweight matchup hard hitters Evan Nedd (5-0 2KO’s) of San Nicolas, Aruba and Ytalo “The Bull” Perea (4-1 3KO’s) a former Olympian from Ecuador but now training out of Queens; waged war over four exciting rounds. Looking to start and finish the fight early, Perea quickly rushed like “The Bull” he is as the bell rang and landed a double jab, right hand to Nedd’s face, but he would return fire and make it a brawl. Hard leather would continue to be swapped between the two pugilists with Perea generally getting the better of Nedd by landing the crisper shots, midway through the third round a left-right hook combination puts Nedd on the canvas and in serious trouble, rising up proudly he would finish the round trying to keep the surging Perea off of him as he survived the third stanza. The final round would see Perea take a step back and catch his breath as he seemed tired from the effort of the previous round, Nedd would back him up but wasn’t busy enough to actually land a game changing blow on Perea who intelligently countered off the ropes. After an entertaining four rounds the judges all scored the bout 39-36 in favor of Perea who gets back in the win column after a dubious decision loss in Nevada just last month.
Bringing his usual sea of fans wearing green shirts with his nickname written across them, junior lightweight Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz (6-0 5KO’s) of Portchester, NY; went into his first scheduled six round match against Jesus “Chu Chu” Bayron (5-8 4KO’s) of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. In what is his normal speed, Cruz came out like a “Chu Chu” train trying to derail Bayron with a constant barrage of uppercuts, hooks and jabs that opened up his opponent’s defense and landed. Not giving up so quickly nor crumbling under the immense pressure from Cruz, Bayron fought back the best he could despite being cut by a punch in the second round and finding himself on the ropes trying to land counters. Looking to stop his opponent, Cruz continued his onslaught and landed hard hooks both upstairs and downstairs but Bayron was tough enough to endure the abuse and in the final round has his own moments as he decided to turn off the ropes and counter, but it was too little, too late as “Pee Wee” simply outworked him the whole match. Scores of 60-54 were read out three times all for Bryant “Pee Wee” Cruz who celebrated with his jubilant group of supporters.
In the next match, a stay busy female bout between super featherweight Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (18-1-1 13KO’s) of Brooklyn; and late replacement Keri Hill (4-25-1 1KO) of Little Rock, AK who fights at the junior welterweight limit were set to battle over six two minute rounds. To be fair both fighters weren’t given much time to prepare for each other but Serrano had the same game plan she always does…destroy! Coming out the gate winging hard hooks and straight lefts, the southpaw slugger had Hill on the retreat and desperately trying to survive behind a tight guard. Showing off the vast difference in speed, skill and power, Serrano continued the pounding into the second round where a series of about a dozen punches landed cleanly on Hill as she was against the ropes forcing the referee to save the fighter from further punishment at 1:07. The winner by TKO Amanda Serrano takes her win as she continues to rise and seek opponents, while Hill goes back to the drawing board.
In the co-feature of the night and first of two title bouts, Frank “Notorious” Galarza (10-0-2 6KO’s) from the fighting borough of Brooklyn, went against Long Islander Rich “Kid Brasil” Neves (6-0-1 3KO’s) for the New York State Junior Middleweight title over eight rounds. Using his superior reach, Galarza pumped a double jab and circled as Neves moved forward to find a spot to throw his left hook over the top but Galarza would begin to time and land a short right uppercut in close quarters. With a solid game plan, Galarza would employ a right hand behind the jab that really cracked while sustaining enough movement to keep the determined Neves off balance. Trying to slow his opponent down, Neves reached inside and landed some shots to the body and head but Galarza would pivot out of this situation and land a sweeping left hand and straight right that had Neves reeling in the third round as “Notorious” went for the kill. Making it out of the third round, Neves not wanting to let his “O” go tonight, did everything he could to muster up enough strength to carry on but Galarza would prove too much as he started the fourth with a wicked right hand that put Neves on dream street. Seemingly out on his feet, Neves, held and fired back with his own shots until another right hand put him on the canvas as the crowd went crazy, sensing the end was near, Galarza loaded up upstairs and down until the referee jumped in to save Neves from any further damage as he was on really bad legs. Elated and in front of so many supporters, Frank “Notorious” Galarza lifted the vacant NYS title with the win and left no doubt to the observers in attendance that he has arrived.
After solid performances all night long, the main event was finally set to kick off with a very important WBA Fedelatin Junior Featherweight title between Leone “Hurry Up” Moore (30-2 24KO’s) of Georgetown, Guyana against the once beaten Rafael “Dynamite” Vazquez (8-1 6KO’s) in a 10 round bout. With the crowd support split between both fighters, it seemed as if every punch landed would end the fight after a cautious first round, Vazquez would have his spurts of action and success landing to the body and scoring with uppercuts upstairs but the more experienced Moore would shoot and land repeatedly a southpaw straight left that hurt Vazquez at times and kept him out of range. Coming off a one year layoff and his first loss as a pro, Vazquez was game and hungry, and although he was outgunned in experienced he showed a lot of heart and grit and fought inside very well until a straight left wakes him up as it puts him on the seat of his pants. Moore would control the action over the next few rounds as he seemed to not take too much damage from the tired Vazquez who landed some punches worthy of the name “Dynamite” but couldn’t sustain an offense long enough to put Moore in real trouble. In a bizarre turn of events, midway through the seventh round both fighters were trading jabs in the center of the ring when the top rope snapped in a neutral corner pausing the action for close to 20mins as technicians repaired the rope for safety. When action resumed Vazquez looked to be fresh from the long resting period and owned the second half of a very awkward round by landing a double fisted attack downstairs. After finishing strong, Vazquez started the eighth round circling behind a jab but Moore pinned him against the ropes and unleashed several hard shots much to the dismay of the hometown fighter’s supporters, looking desperate, Vazquez would throw his own hard winging shots to ward off “Hurry Up”. Down on points and visibly spent, Vazquez lured Moore into a close quarters slug fest and after having gotten hit with a few good shots, Moore backed out straight as Vazquez dipped down and unleashed a devastating left hook that landed cleanly on the chin knocking Moore out cold with his head bouncing off the canvas. Silence existed at the moment only momentarily as the crowd erupted with cheers and screams, having had his own fair share of hard times inside and out of the ring, Rafael “Dynamite” Vazquez vanquished his foe in what was the most important fight of his life inside the squared circle, now with the WBA Fedelatin belt, the 35 year old hard hitter could be in line for bigger fights and better pay days.
