By Marco Garcia
On a frigid night here in New York City, Lou DiBella and DiBella Entertainment packed the house at Roseland Ballroom for another showing of Broadway Boxing. The theme of the night was showcasing up and coming boxers along with the return of Puerto Rican prospect Thomas Dulorme; who after suffering a disappointing TKO loss to the rugged Luis Carlos Abregu, looked to erase that memory and continue his quest to become a champion. Showcasing New York area fighters, the crowd was loud and cheerful as almost every fight ended early.
The first bout on the card was between Washington Heights native Neuky Santelises (3-0 2KO’s) against Denis Madriz (1-0-1 1KO) who came in all the way from San Francisco, CA. The lightweight fight started as just that as a brawl broke out in the middle of the ring. Santelises who is known as “El Flaco Explosivo” was the sharper of the two and was able to land the harder, sharper blows on the inside while Madriz flailed away. As the fight approached its first minute; Santelises hurt Madriz who fell into the ropes, and he continued to pound on him with almost a dozen unanswered blows before the ref jumped in to stop the fight. With the clock being stopped at : 46 of the first round, “El Flaco Explosivo” moved his record up to 4-0 with 3 KO’s.
The next bout on this pack card featured welterweights Louis Cruz (1-0 1KO) from the Bronx, looking for his second win in two fights against Demond Brock (3-1 2KO’s) who made the trip up from New Orleans, LA. Cruz, with a huge crowd of supporters, opened up with a very educated jab that had Brock thinking twice before jumping in. Every time Brock tried to move forward with punches he would get countered by left hooks that started a welt around his right eye as Cruz dominated and even switched to southpaw towards the end of the first round. Round 2 started with more job from Cruz who opened up a cut on the right eye of Brock, every time he landed his hard and sharp punches; the crowd screamed for him to go for the kill. Trying in desperation, Brock came out for the third round swinging and very aggressive, but Cruz backed him up, and in an exchange Cruz landed the perfect left hook that dropped the Louisiana native like a rock. Thought to be out cold, Brock almost up by the count of 10 but the fight was waved off as the proud Bronx fighter earned his second KO in two fights.
Junior middleweights were next in line as 2012 USA boxing national champ; Patrick Day (1-0 1KO), and Dominique Foster (1-1-1 0KO) squared off in a four round bout. The Freeport resident, Day; looked ripped and his shoulders were that of a larger man and he used his many physical advantages to push Foster around. Foster, of Columbus, OH looked tentative and was easy to hit with the strong jabs from Day; he was strafed with straight power shots and hooks to the body to end the round. As the DiBella ring card girls entered the ring to signal the next round, Foster’s corner threw in the towel as their fighter appeared to have hurt his neck in an exchange giving the winner, Patrick Day the TKO win.
After a short recess the crowd welcomed well known Brooklynite , Keisher “Fire” McLeod (5-2 1KO) with cheers as they jeered Ontario native Jacqueline Park (0-1). “Fire” who was a female amateur standout in the NYC area, looked to control the ring and her opponent, with a well-timed jab. Seeking her first professional win, Park came forward and swung with all her might, only to be welcomed with jabs, left hooks, and straight rights that caused welts to cover her forehead. Going in to the fourth round, McLeod was easily controlling the bout and started to throw more as she was able to turn her opponent and land swift right hands. The sixth and final round probably brought out the most action as the shorter fighter, Park, threw all she had while the ring general, McLeod; continued to pile on the points and finished the round landing a sequence of 1-2’s. After beautifully boxing for six rounds, “Fire” got a unanimous decision bumping her record up to 6-2 with 1 KO.
In what was a display of ferocious power, Brooklyn favorite “Notorious” Travis Peterkin (6-0 3KO’s) put his pedigree to the test against Thomas “Samurai” Turner (3-2 2KO’s) from Weiser, ID. Turner who looked to be just as sculpted and strong as Peterkin, showed a lot of heart even in the first round; as he absorbed a severe beating from “Notorious” that caused swelling and a bloody nose. Nullifying the bobbing motion of “Samurai” with southpaw hooks from both ends, Peterkin threw uppercuts to consistently hurt his foe and put him in a shell. As the third round approached it looked like Turner was outmatched and outclassed, this was the case as when the bell rung “Notorious” Travis Peterkin backed his opponent into the ropes and unleashed with a savage barrage, giving the ref no other choice but to call the bout off at 2:10 of the 3rd round, awarding Peterkin another TKO win.
The co-main event was next on the agenda as the Miguel Cotto clone, and prospect Ivan Redkach (13-0 11KO’s) returned to New York after beating Edward Valdez by decision just eight weeks ago. Redkach a huge Cotto clone fighting out of Los Angeles, came out of his corner with a fierce game face and an aggressive southpaw stance. His opponent, the lanky Sergio Rivera (17-10-2 10KO’s) of Sonoma, Mexico; tried to start by throwing a jab, but that turned out to be a mistake. Trying to capitalize on his height advantage, Rivera tried to keep his distance, but the fighter they call “Junito”; charged in with hard right hooks to the body and head, backing his opponent up. Redkach sensing his foe was not up to task to handle his pressure, kept applying smart punches and had Rivera reeling as he touched the canvas. The referee ignored Rivera’s glove touching the canvas but after “Junito” backed him in to a corner, he unleashed a hard straight left that crumpled Rivera until he was counted out; Redkach improves his record to 14-0 with 12KO’s with his first round TKO.
In the main event, Thomas Dulorme (16-1 12KO’s) returned to the ring for the first time since his October TKO loss with a vengeance. With the crowd cheering him on as his name was announced, his opponent; the overmatched Edward Brooks (9-3 3KO’s) took the trip from Scottsdale, AZ to be sacrificed. The Puerto Rican prospect Dulorme charged Brooks and landed beautiful hooks to the head and body as he looked to dispense the unshapely fighter as quickly as possible. Brook for his credit took quite a few body shots and straights to the head, but he was unable to cope with a barrage that forced him to the ropes and crumpled to the canvas. Dulorme with a million dollar smile waited in the neutral corner as the referee counted out a fighter who stumbled along the mat trying to get up, the fight was waived off at 1:35 of the first round. Now with a win back on his ledger the 17-1 Puerto Rican standout must continue to find success, did he learn a lesson from his loss? Or is the junior welterweight fighter Dulorme just fighting below his standard? The future holds a lot for these prospects and that future looks bright.
