NYC Ringside Report - Monaghan and Bracero dominate at Roseland

Monaghan pounds Saunders to stay undefeated

NEW YORK, N.Y. - In the fifth installment of Broadway Boxing this year, promoter Lou DiBella treated fight fans yesterday night to nonstop action on a fight card that featured seven bouts. The card did not disappoint and it had a little bit of something for everybody - boxing, brawling, plenty of blood, and of course everyone's favorite - the one round knockout!

The evening featured undefeated light heavyweight prospect "Irish" Seanie Monaghan from Long Beach N.Y. and experienced Rayco Saunders in a fight that had plenty of action, and a ninth round that saw both fighters throw more than a hundred punches. 

Here are the results:

Seanie Monaghan W10 Rayco Saunders (light heavyweights) - In the main event for the WBC Continentals America light heavyweight championship, Monaghan was matched against Rayco Saunders, an experienced fighter with over forty fights, and a dependable chin. At the bell. Saunders came out jabbing to the head and body, while Monaghan dipped, and ripped right hands to the body, as well as the head. Saunders 22-17-2(9KO's) landed a decent right to the head in the second, and Seanie responded with hooks to the body and head. He nodded in approval to his opponent at the bell. The fight followed a pattern that suited Seanie, who likes to fight inside, before dropping the right hand to the head. He backed his opponent up for most of the bout, which didn't go unnoticed by the judges. He didn't allow the taller Saunders to use his reach, and forced him to trade. He did find some success in the fifth with the jab, and a left hook, but it didn't seem to faze Monaghan.

The veteran Saunders did just enough to survive, but not enough to win.

In the eighth, Saunders landed some solid straight right hands, but Seanie 16-0(10KO's) may have stolen the round as he blasted his opponent against the ropes. In the ninth, Seanie kept his opponent on the ropes for almost the entire round, ripping uppercuts, and hooks to the body, before firing the sneaky right hand to the head. Both fighters easily threw over a hundred punches that round. In the final round, both men traded bombs, although Saunders may have won it because of the jab. Monaghan retained his title with scores of 98-92 and 99-91 twice. After the bout, announcer Steve Farhood asked the winner to describe what it felt like to fight the wily veteran, and who he would like to fight next. He gave the tough Saunders his much deserved respect, and indicated he would fight whoever they put in front of him.

Ivan Redkach KO1 Tebor Brosch (junior welterweights) - Anyone who attempted to go to the rest rooms before the main event missed this bout. Redkach 11-0(10KO's) made it look easy, as he went right to the body in the opening seconds of the bout. A straight right hand, followed by a left to the body, backed his opponent up. Once he got his opponent to the ropes, he doubled the left to the body, before firing the left hook to the head. Brosch 7-3-5(2KO's) tried to fight back, and fired a right hand, but a left hook, followed by a left hand, bounced him into the ropes, and the referee had seen enough. Redkach by TKO 2:02 in the first.

"Tito" Bracero wins in NYC

Gabriel Bracero W8 Eric Cruz (junior middleweights) - This match up featured two skilled fighters who relied on technique. Both men relied on the jab to set up their punches. Bracero landed a solid left hook, and Cruz responded with a straight right hand. Chants of "Tito" rang out from the crowd for Bracero whenever he landed. Bracero 19-1(3KO's) made some adjustments, and chose to counter his opponent, whenever he lunged in. Bracero had his opponents timing down, and repeatedly landed the right hand. "Tito" landed a good left hook at the bell. The experienced Cruz 16-10-3 (16KO's) tried to lure his opponent in on the ropes, and tries to land the uppercut. Bracero returned an uppercut of his own, near the end of the round. Bracero opened up the lead with the double jab right hand, along with some sneaky right hand leads. In the seventh, it's all Bracero as he lands the left hook repeatedly behind the right hand. In the eighth and final round, Cruz fired the jab, and threw one punch at a time, while "Tito" landed in combination. The fans chanted "Tito" right to the bell. Bracero, who is trained by Tommy Gallagher, won by the scores of 79-73 and 80-72 twice. This was a solid win for Bracero, who had to make adjustments during the course of the fight.

Travis Peterkin W4 Hamid Abdul Mateen (light heavyweights) - Mateen 3-3-2, no knockouts, tried to jab to the body, but paid for it, when a big Peterkin left hand put him against the ropes. The pattern continued into the second, and a fight broke out in the stands during the action. In the third, Peterkin 5-0(3KO's) added a straight left to the body. In the final round, Peterkin added the double jab, and added the right hook behind the straight left right before the bell. All three judges vote in favor of Peterkin with the identical scores of 40-36. Although the scores don't reflect it, this was a very competitive bout,with the winner shading each round.

The southpaw Peterkn was all business, and his blazing hand speed and straight left hand, made all the difference.

Floriano Pagliara W8 Jeremy McLaurin (junior lightweights) - The tall McLaurin came forward without much of a jab, right hand cocked, while Pagliara fought out of a crouch, firing hooks to the body, and right hands to the head. In the second, McLaurin 9-5(5KO) fired the double jab and straight right hand, while Pagliara 14-4-2(6KO's) stayed close to his opponent and made the fight ugly. Both men traded, but the heavier hands belonged to Floriano. In the seventh, he switched gears, and kept the fight outside using angles. The last round was bombs away, as McLaurin landed the right uppercut and left hook, while Pagliara answered back with looping right hands and hooks to the body. Pagliara landed a nice right hand at the bell. Showing good sportsmanship, the fighters hugged after the bell. The three judges favor Pagliara by the scores of 76-74 and 80-72 twice.

Heather Hardy W4 Unique Harris (female featherweights) - Heather Hardy went to 2-0, both wins by decision last night, against a tough, and polished Unique Harris, who was making her pro debut. Unique got off to a pretty good start, using a double jab and a straight right hand, along with some good head movement in the first round, doing fairly well against Heather who tried to out box her. Once it became clear that long range was going to work for her, Heather went to work on her opponent with body shots, uppercuts, and hooks. Once Harris had no room to punch, Hardy took over. She suffered a gash on her right eye, but Hardy just wiped the blood away, and kept coming. In the final round, chants of "Heather" could be heard throughout the arena. She fired a double left hook to the head and a hook to the body, while Harris returned fire with the uppercuts. A big left hook, followed by a right hand, bounced Harris into the ropes at the bell. Hardy won by scores of  40-36 and 39-37 twice. Overcoming a knockdown in her debut, and a cut last night, Hardy now has two exciting wins under her belt.

Delen Parsley W6 Ibaheim King (middleweights) - The opening bout of the evening featured the taller Parsley electing to trade rather than use his reach on his southpaw opponent. King 10-8(4KO's) focused on lead left hands to the head, and body shots, while Parsley 9-0(2KO's) hooked off the jab. In the second round, Parsley went to the jab, but was caught by a lead left to the head, followed by body shots, and a sneaky right hook to the head. Parsley made adjustments in the fourth, and landed a nice check hook, on his onrushing opponent. King came forward behind a high guard, and forced Delen to trade, and his back hit the ropes on a few occasions. There was an accidental head butt near the end of the round, and the fighters traded heavily at the bell. All three judges vote in favor of Parsley by the scores of 58-56 and 59-55 twice.

Also in attendance at the Roseland Ballroom this evening were Brooklyn's own Paulie Malignaggi and former bantamweight king, Junior "Poison" Jones. The crowd was definitely feeling it this evening.

Another great night at Broadway Boxing.

Ringside Report by David McLeod, exclusively for KO Digest
Monaghan & Bracero photos by DiBella Entertainment/Ed Diller
Redkach photo by David McLeod