Silveira Victorious In Quincey

By Stephen Tobey: QUINCY, Mass. – Because of what he wanted to do after his fight against Michael Clark, Derek Silveira put a little extra pressure on himself on Saturday, Aug. 5. The New England welterweight champion from Salem, Massachusetts didn’t have to change his plans. He earned a victory when Clark, of Columbus, Ohio, retired in his corner at the end of the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round non-title bout due to an injury to his right hand. After the bout, Silveira called his girlfriend, Ashley Myers, into the ring at the Marina Bay SportsPlex and proposed to her. She accepted. “If I lost it would have been on a different night,” said the 31-year-old Silveira, who improved to 13-1 with seven knockouts. “It was just a little pressure.” There were no knockdowns in the bout. Silveira, who was in his third fight after he returned to the ring in April following a 3 ½-year absence, was in control for most of the fight, He switched from a left-handed stance to an orthodox one twice. Each time after switching he landed some solid right hands. “I’m still working out the kinks,” Silveira said. “I got some good sparring with Rashidi Ellis [an undefeated junior middleweight prospect from Lynn, Massachusetts who has a promotional contract with Golden Boy]  I switched a few times to give him some different looks.” The 44-year-old Clark dropped to 44-17-1 (18). In his last fight, in September of 2016, he fractured his right hand while losing to New England lightweight champion Carlos Candelario. “I’d been off for eight months,” said Clark, who weighed 158 ¼ pounds to Silveira’s 152. “This is the heaviest I’ve been. I had not even been in the gym for eight months. I had not been hitting the bag. I took the fight on two weeks’ notice.’ After the sixth round, when Clark threw a bolo punch, he asked a ringside physician to check out his right hand. After an examination, referee Stephen Clark (no relation) stopped the fight. “Oh yeah,” Clark said. “In that last round, as soon as I hit him, I could feel it turn over.” Before the sixth, Clark and one his cornermen danced to the between-round music. Silveira plans to fight again at the end of September. “I’m back in the gym on Monday,” he said. In the co-feature, three-time world title challenger Aleksandra Lopes of Marshfield, Massachusetts won an eight-round decision against Lisa Garland of York,  South Carolina at welterweight. The scores were 80-72 (twice) and 79-73. Lopes (18-4-2, 1 KO) controlled the fight with her jab. Garland dropped to 15-8 (8). Chris Traietti of Quincy, Massachusetts won the vacant New England cruiserweight title with an eight-round unanimous decision over Nick Lavin of Shelton, Connecticut. All three judges scored it 79-73 for Traietti, who improved to 23-5 (19). Lavin dropped to 5-6 (4). Light heavyweight Brandon Montella of Saugus, Massachusetts, stopped Mike Sawyer of Orlando in the second round of a six-rounder. (8-0, 7 Kos) dropped sawyer three times in the second round before Mike Ryan stopped the fight just before the bell. Sawyer dropped to 7-9 (5). Mike O’Han, Jr. of Holbrook, Massachusetts won a four-round unanimous decision against Danny Amaro of Dorchester, Massachusetts in a welterweight bout. The scores were 40-34 (twice) and 38-36. O’Han (2-0) dropped Amaro twice in the first round. Amaro slipped to 0-3-1. Paddy Irwin, a native of Ireland now living in Quincy, Massachusetts, stopped Demetrius Thomas of Philadelphia in the third round of a scheduled four rounder at junior middleweight. Ryan stopped the fight at 2:15. Irwin improved to 4-0 (3). Thomas left the ring at 0-5. Carlos Gongora, a two-time Olympian for Ecuador who now lives in Brooklyn, New York, stopped Larry Smith of Dallas in the fifth round of a scheduled five at middleweight. Gongora (9-0, 8 KOs) dropped Smith with a right to the body in the fourth, In the fifth, he pressured Smith until he took a knee and Stephen Clark stopped the fight at 2:15. Smith dropped to 10-34-1 (7).