Looking to make one more run at a heavyweight title shot, Queens, NY’s Vinny Maddalone took on up and comer Richard Carmack in the main event of a Star Boxing show at The Paramount. Returning to The Paramount in Huntington, Long Island, Joe Deguardia put together a six bout card featuring local talent and some heavy hitters. An entertaining Saturday night was about to begin as an eager crowd filled the theater.
In the opening bout, a four round fight between Uniondale Marcus Beckford (0-0-1) and Carlos Lopez (0-1) of the Bronx took place in the middle weight division. The southpaw Beckford started by using his reach and a jab to keep Lopez at bay who used looping shots and a stiff right to the body to score. Lopez continued to out-work Beckford by staying busy with a variety of uppercuts but Beckford came back strong in the last two rounds and even rocking Lopez with hard straight lefts in the final round. In the end the judges scored it a majority draw with one judge seeing Beckford the victor, leaving both men winless.
Next we had the debut of local guy Dave “Scarface” Meloni against the unlucky Shuman Abdoulaye (1-6 0 KO’s) of Brooklyn. The two junior lightweight men came out swinging at the bell as an eager Meloni looked to impress the cheering crowd. Trying to land the quicker and shorter shots, Abdoulaye was able to get under Meloni’s shots and land his own, and as they traded shots he hurt and then dropped Meloni with a quick barrage. Getting up before the count of ten, “Scarface” was on wobbly legs and couldn’t get his equilibrium back as a desperate Abdoulaye chased him down landing shots as the referee waved it off at 1:41 of the first round awarding the Brooklyn fighter his first Ko win.
Coming off his first loss at the same venue just a few short months ago, Hicksville fighter Anthony Karperis (3-1 2 KO’s) looked to get back in the win column against the winless Carlos Nieves (0-3) of the Bronx. The stocky Karperis entered the ring on a mission and with the crowd cheering him loudly as he opened up behind a jab and looking to land body shots on the lanky Nieves who tried for his own jab-hook combination. The next three rounds would be more of the same as the stronger Karperis continued to land more and more hard body shots as he roughed up Nieves who couldn’t find proper range. Using his speed and quick weave, Karperis landed a strong uppercut that dropped Nieves as he cruised to a unanimous decision win in four rounds getting his career back on track.
The fourth fight would be one of the most entertaining of the night as referee Arthur Mercante overlooked a bout between Alan Gotay (4-0 2 KO’s) versus Bryan Acaba (3-3 2 KO’s). Scheduled for six rounds in the lightweight division, Huntington hero Gotay, ran to the center of the ring to trade hard shots but Acaba who’s nickname is “the beast”; landed a sharp left that momentarily staggered Gotay who returned the favor with a right to the temple to drop Acaba as the seconds ran out. Seeing that he’s sharing the ring with a fellow warrior, Gotay looked to capitalize on previous successes by shooting a good uppercut and straight right hands that landed without fail, but Acaba would come back in the third round to outbox and outland his opponent while using a check hook. With the fight looking to have been swung into Acaba’s favor; Gotay knew he needed a knockout to win the fight and landed right hands to come over the lazy left hand from Acaba, trading hooks in the corner Gotay lands a lovely right hand that stiffens his foe’s legs and proceeds forward landing a dozen answered shots as the ropes hold Acaba up, Mercante jumps in to save the fighter. With the stoppage, Gotay rises up to 5-0 as the Beast let his prey slip away.
The co-feature of the night had light heavyweight hopefuls Yathomas Riley (8-0 6 KO’s) from Albany, GA face off with Buffalo, NY’s Lionel Thompson (13-2 9 KO’s). The fight looked to be a mismatch as Riley looked a lot more muscular and longer than Thompson but from the opening stanza it seemed as if the southpaw Riley wouldn’t bully Thompson. Fighting on the outside against the taller Riley; Thompson landed jabs and check hooks while his opponent took away his reach advantage by awkwardly stepping in too close. What was supposed to be a coming out party of sorts turned out to be a boxing lesson since Thompson out landed Riley with precision shots and the better arsenal of shots that busted up Riley’s face as he pierced his tight guard. In the end the judges awarded Thompson a closer than expected decision while Riley fell short for the first time falling to 8-1.
The main event was finally upon us and the crowd was completely full with chants of “Vinny Vinny” drowning out David Diamante’s announcing as the very large Richard Carmack (12-0 10 KO’s) of Kansas City stared to the other side of the ring as Vinny Maddalone (36-8 27 KO’s) took in the crowd’s enthusiasm. The bell rang to start the fight and that’s what it was as Maddalone charged Carmack looking to land a jab and right to the body combo, but Carmack was faster and was able to catch his shorter opponent with uppercuts. At 324lbs, the Missouri fighter was faster and generally landed crisper shots that cut Maddalone over both eyes, but he was also beginning to get caught more often and lay against the ropes as Maddalone tried to make it a brawl. Landing hard shots back and forth a one two pushed Carmack back in the third round as a short left uppercut by Maddalone rocked his opponent; and the rough and tough Queens fighter went for the kill blasting Carmack with hooks on both sides as Carmack slumped almost through the ropes as the fight was stopped with three seconds left. This victory could possibly put the nearly 40 year old fighter back into contention for a big fight but at the very least it provided the fans with a memorable fight and finish.
