Brawl at the Mall

In December, Andrii Novytskyi was in Saudi Arabia.

On Friday, he was in a much smaller arena outside of Boston.

The fight didn’t last anywhere near as long as the one he fought against Edgar.Ramirez on the Oleksandr Usyk/Tyson Fury 2 undercard. 

This time, the WBC International heavyweight champion from Los Angeles via Ukraine needed just 33 seconds into the first round to knock out David Zegarra in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Melrose Memorial Hall in a non-title bout.

Novytskyi (15-0, 11 knockouts) ended the fight with the first power shot he threw, a right to the chin. Referee Marcel Varela waved off the count after Zegarra’s corner stopped it.

“I was hoping to get more rounds, “Novytskyi said “I was in camp for five months.”

In his previous outing, Novytskyi went the full 10 against Ramirez.

“It was 10 rounds,” he said. “I was recovering from Covid. I lost 14 pounds.”

Novytskyi’s next fight will be in London in July on the Usyk/ Daniel Dubois undercard.

Zegarra of Lima, Peru, dropped to 35-13-1 (22).

Jarrod Digangi of Medford, Massachusetts, won the Massachusetts state cruiserweight championship with a fourth-round TKO against Wakefield, Massachusetts’ Leo Ladeira in a scheduled six. Ladeira’s corner stopped the fight after the fourth round. Digangi is now 5-0 (5). Ladeira is 6-11 (6).

Nicky Tejeda of Haverhill, Massachusetts, stopped Pablo Ernesto Olivetti of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the first round of a scheduled six at super lightweight. Tejeda improved to 11-0-1 with 8 knockouts. Olivera dropped to 13-15-1 with 4 KOs.

Boston heavyweight Sione Tu’okofe Finau knocked out Cleverton Rodriguez of Boston in the first round of a scheduled four. Finau (3-2-1, 2 KOs dropped Rodriguez twice before Varela stopped the fight at 1:44. Rodriguez dropped to 0-3.

Light heavyweight Alex Nineve of Plainville, Massachusetts, knocked out Eric Alvescof Boston in the first round of a scheduled four at 1:28.  Nivenevis 2-0, both knockouts. Alves is 0-8.

Junior welterweight Andrew Paltanavich of Parkman, Maine, won his pro debut with a four-round unanimous decision against Boston’s Igor Santos. All three judges scored it 40-36. Santos is 0-9.

At junior welterweight, Jacob Riley Solis stopped Edgar Valenzuela of Mexico in the first round of a scheduled four. Solus 7-0-1 (6) dropped Valenzuela twice before referee Marcel Varela stopped the fight at 2:07. Valenzuela dropped to 7-3 (6).

Super welterweights Brian Urday of Brockton, Massachusetts, and Alfred Keenan Raymond of Providence, Rhode Island, fought to a six-round majority draw. The scores were 57-57 twice. and 58-56 for Urday, who is now 3-1-1. Raymond left the ring at 4-12-4 (2).

Heavyweight Jodh Popper of New York knocked out Oswaldo Ortega of Salt Lake City at 1:59 of the first round in a scheduled four. Popper dropped Ortega with a left hook to the body, and Varela counted him out. Popper is now 4-0, all KOs. Ortega is 11-8 (7).

Chris Jay of Ventura, California, stopped Bruce Richards of Montpelier, Vermont, in the third round of a scheduled four at junior welterweight. Jay dropped Richards once in the third and drove him into the ropes before Eddie Claudio stopped the fight at 2:06. Records: Jay 3-0 (2); Richards 0-3.

Koby Khaul Williams of Brooklyn stopped Angel Varela Urena of Douglas, Arizona in the fourth round of a scheduled six at super featherweight bout. The time of the stoppage was 24 seconds. Williams 5-1, 4 KOs) dropped Urena with a left hook in the third. Urena dropped to 11-8 (6).

The evening started with a battle of debuting super middleweights. Bernie McDonagh, a 17-year-old native of Ireland living in Boston, outpointed Matheus Pereira, a Brazilian now living in Philadelphia. The scores were 39-36 (twice) and 40-35. McDonagh dropped Pereira in the first round with a right hand.