The PAL Gym in Yonkers, NY is geographically close to Madison Square Garden but is far from the World’s Most Famous Arena. It’s a small venue, maintenance was in dire need and a poor sound system made the ring announcer difficult to hear throughout the evening. While the aforementioned issues could hurt attendance when the facility is used for another event, anyone involved in the sport will tell you that venues like the PAL Gym are a major part of boxing’s club circuit.
The main event of the Friday night’s card was an eight middleweight scrap between local favorite Jose Angel Rodriguez of New York, NY and renowned tough guy Darnell Boone of Atlanta, GA. Boone, who defeated up and coming prospects Chris Archer, Ronald Johnson, Willie Lee, James Countryman, Rasheem Brown and James Johnson, was once again looking to upset the hometown favorite, and almost got it done early on.
Boone had a solid opening round and rocked Rodriguez with a left hook in the second, providing a scare for the latter’s fans. Then Boone, like many unpredictable journeyman, completely changed his game plan; albeit not for the better. In rounds 2-8, Boone’s punch output drastically decreased, giving the speedy Rodriguez an easy opening to outbox him. Boone rarely attempted to remount an offensive attack and spent far too much time lying on the ropes, ultimately costing him the fight.
Scores were 79-73 and 78-74 twice for Rodriguez, who improves to 15-1-1 (2 KO’s). Boone, who asked promoter Brian O’Shea for a rematch following the decision, falls to a decisive 16-4-2 (6 KO’s).
Harlem based African junior welterweight Issouf Kinda remained unbeaten after a sloppy six round unanimous decision over Stephane Malenou. Kinda had success early on with a jab/right hand combo, but Malenou clinched excessively, making the bout a difficult watch.
Kinda continued to be victimized by Malenou’s holding, which cost him a point in round three in addition to a chorus of boos. Malenou had a few good moments in round four and five, but Kinda finished the bout strong.
Scores were 58-55 twice and 57-56. Kinda – pronounced Kin duh – improves to 7-0 (3 KO)’s. Malenou, a New York based Frenchman, drops to 5-6-1.
“Kinda is a solid fighter but my kid (Malenou) has been off for a year and a half”, said trainer Joey Gamache, a former two time world champion. Stephane is 5-6-1, but he wasn’t taken care of early in his career, so we are working on changing that around”.
Good looking prospect Nydia “Da Phenomenal” Feliciano of The Bronx upped her record to 2-0-1 after an impressive four round unanimous decision over Puerto Rico’s Norma Faris. Feliciano dominated the action from bell to bell, tagging Faris with solid body punches and crisp hooks to the head in close quarters ala Juan Diaz. Faris was game, staying on her feet throughout the contest, but simply didn’t have enough to keep Feliciano off. All three judges scored the contest 40-36. Faris drops to 3-2 with the defeat.
In the fight of the night, Allentown, PA junior bantamweight Miguel Diaz sent shockwaves through the building after upsetting local favorite Jose “Chili” Rivera. The opening round was action packed, with the shorter Rivera pressing the action while Diaz attempted to box and move. Diaz took control in the second, using his reach advantage to tag his hard charging opponent with clean punches to the head. Both men had solid success in the third round, as the two traded shots in close range.
Rivera was cut in the fourth round from a headbutt, but the blood only added fuel to the fire. Following the accidental clash of heads, a fired up Rivera pressed the action and stole the round after being outboxed in the opening minute. The score of 38-38, the same way I had it, was overruled by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 for Diaz. Although Diaz of New Rochelle, NY dropped the decision, he did more than enough to warrant a rematch.
Super Featherweight Jonathan Cuba, 2-1 (2 KO’s), viciously stopped 0-2 Takashi Sato in the battle of Manhattanites. Cuba dropped a very timid Sato in the opening round and finished the contest in the third with a huge left hook, which sent his opponent crashing to the canvas. Sato was motionless for a moment but was able to get up under his own power to a standing ovation. Time of stoppage was 0:19.
In the opening bout of the evening, former New York Golden Gloves champion Chazz McDowell, of Yonkers stopped the Bronx’ Alex Cooper in the second of their scheduled four round super featherweight fight. McDowell dominated the action, dropping Cooper in the first round wit a jab and twice more in the second, forcing referee M.S. Murdaugh to halt the contest at 2:24. McDowell is now 1-0 (1 KO), while Cooper falls to 0-3.
The card was promoted by O’Shea Brothers Boxing, who deserve all the credit in the world for putting together a well organized and better than advertised fight card, which had a number of bouts fall off at the last minute. Notables on hand included surging heavyweight Derric Rossy and 2004 Olympian Carlos Tamara, who takes on Brian Viloria this Saturday in the Philippines for the IBF junior flyweight crown.