Photos by Tony Mangia
There was plenty of action to go around Friday evening, when DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing returned to the Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn for the latest installment of the popular show.
The main event featured a battle of the boroughs between Bronx’s Chris “Golden” Galeano and Brooklyn’s Shawn “Killa” Cameron with the two 156-pounders vying for the vacant New York State Middleweight title at stake. The 10-round affair was a classic boxer versus puncher matchup of styles between two southpaws with each displaying their strengths. Many rounds consisted of exciting exchanges when the two engaged on the inside. Cameron appeared to control the early rounds with his pressure and aggression, throwing in combination. However, by the fifth frame, he was winded and Galeano’s slick boxing skills took over. Over the second half, Galeano calculatingly countered Cameron’s wide-open advances with pinpoint straight lefts until the final bell.
The judges tallied scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93, all for Galeano, who improved to 10-0 (1 KO) with the unanimous decision verdict. Cameron suffered his first defeat, bringing his record to 10-1 (5 KOs).
Before that, Brooklyn’s own former two-time world champion Amanda Serrano battled the much shorter Djemilla Gontaruk, of Liege, Belgium, in an eight-round Junior Welterweight contest. Serrano began throwing in combination at the outset, and was particularly effective with her right hook.
Though Gontaruk nicknamed "The Pitbull" showed tremendous heart, referee Sparkle Lee felt she was taking too much punishment and elected to halt the action at 1:38 of round three. With the victory, Serrano upped her record to 25-1-1 (17 KOs), while Gontaruk fell to 9-3 (1 KO).
A native of County Cork, Ireland, the 21-year-old Noel Murphy improved to 5-0 (2 KOs) with a very impressive performance against the tough Anton Williamson of Brooklyn.
The aggressive Murphy applied pressure and overpowered Williamson in every round. A right hook dropped Williamson in round four, but the referee ruled it a slip. The Irishman landed thudding hooks to the body, accurate countershots, and demonstrated deft footwork and defense to earn a four-round unanimous decision with three scores of 40-36.
Murphy has quickly become one of the more popular up-and-comers throughout the New York area.
In his pro debut, Welterweight Tyrone James of Elmont, NY, outworked the awkward David Perez, now 0-2, of Pittsburgh, PA, before halting him in round three.
Russian Middleweight southpaw Artur Akavov, 160¼, and current WBO European titlist, made an impressive US debut demolishing Fredy Lopez, 157½, of Chiapas, Mexico, with a TKO at the 2:04 mark of the second round.
Patrick Day, the former #1-rated U.S. amateur and NY Golden Gloves champion from Long Island, was shockingly upset by Carlos Garcia, of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. An overhand right hurt Day right off the start and Garcia threw a follow-up barrage to force a referee stoppage at 1:19 of the first round. A stunned Day fell to 11-2-1 (6 KOs), while Garcia upped his record to 9-14-1 (8 KOs).
The opening bout saw Canadian Super Middleweight prospect Francy Ntetu, 168, of Montreal, tactically outboxed Oscar Riojas, 169½, of Monterrey, Mexico, over eight rounds, often switching stances to mix up his attack. Scorecards read 77-74 and 76-75 for Ntetu, and 76-74 for Riojas, improving the Canadian’s record to 16-0 (3 KOs). Riojas fell to 9-4 (3 KOs).
