Local Hero Upset in Paramus

Surrounded by the major boxing meccas of NYC, Philly and Atlantic City, the North Jersey towns have always had excellent small promotions bolstering the fight game. The present era is alive through the efforts of promoter Scott Abella (Abella Sports Boxing Prom’ns) and matchmaker Diana Rodriguez at the upscale catering hall of The Terrace At Biagio in Paramus. On 4/1/23, a sellout crowd of 600 enjoyed dinner boxing. This is the way small club boxing should be run, with the heroes forced to win through their own efforts against challenging opposition, not the cooperation of the opponent. The visiting corner this night did not cooperate! Every bout was competitive and afforded solid action.

The main event was a scheduled six between local hero Nicky Vitone, 142, Pine Brook, 9-2-1 (7), and well-tested Jordan Rosario, 140, Jersey City, 5-10 (1). Rosario’s effort centered on a vigorous physical attack and a clobber right while the better-schooled favorite maintained the proper distance and boxed smartly. The mix of styles made for constant action and drama. Nicky sustained a bloody nose in the third but kept his poise into a fateful fourth. Early in that round, Jordan reacted to a clinch by vigorously attempting to toss Vitone off with his right shoulder, which spun Nicky into a left hook brought up from the floor. The favorite went down hard but got up and rallied gamely to carry the rest of the dramatic round with better boxing. The underdog landed some more clobber rights in the fifth, but Vitone had poise and picked his punches well. This continued into the final round, with Nicky in control. When he caught Rosario along the ropes and drove his head back with a straight right, the favorite appeared on his way to the win. That all changed in a split second when Nicky missed a sweeping left hook and spun off balance. Jordan nailed him with a sweeping right hand to the back of the head that crashed him to the canvas. Nicky gamely arose but could not get his feet planted under him as he reeled on rubbery legs in several directions at once, leaving ref Sparkle Lee the only option to stop the fight at 2:11.

Michael Lee, 146 ¾, Newark, 10-2 (7), gained a hard-earned unanimous verdict over battle-scarred Antonio Sanchez, 147, Toa Alta, PR, 7-17-3 (3), six. The contest was tense and riveting despite lacking sustained fireworks. The favorite quickly established the jab and it served him well. The visitor trudged forward for the whole fight, trying to force action to close quarters, but Lee would pepper him with counters and slip away. This started to change in the fifth as Sanchez at last began to corral Michael on the ropes with a physical attack. The last round saw plenty of punches and grappling, but Lee may have clinched it with some sharp reposts in the last moments. The verdict was unanimous for Michael, Anthony Lundy 59-55, Jacqueline Atkins, and Steve Weisfeld 58-56. The local favorite should have come away a better fighter from this. Ref, Lee.

Raymond Cuadrado, a/k/a “The Scientist”, 134, Brentwood, LI, 6-0 (2), stopped Usiel Hernandez, 134, Acapulco via Geneva, NY, 2-2, in 2:55 of the third of six. Amid all the Rockys, Bulls, and Kayos, there haven’t been many “Scientists”, perhaps no others. But it was size more than science that helped Cuadrado to victory.

The stocky underdog trudged forward and tried to gain trading at close quarters but the notably bigger Cuadrado skillfully took him apart, one punch at a time. Raymond switch hit, left and right-handed, in the second, with Hernandez going down but ruled only a slip by referee Ricky Vera. Cuadrado eased off a bit and the fight went into the third. Raymond was back to orthodox when a right to the body hurt the underdog and began a prolonged volley of punishment. Hernandez was game and trying to get into the fight but just unable to force the action inside where his size would no longer be a disadvantage. Instead, he gave ground, hurt, and taking punishment, until Vera stopped it, at 2:55 of the third. A game effort by the loser and a good win for The Scientist.

Christian Otero, 134, NYC, 5-3 (2), gained a unanimous shutout from Vinnie DeNierio, 135, Elmira, NY, 3-8 (1), in a good four. The lanky southpaw DeNierio threw long right jabs and one-twos, but couldn’t fight on the inside. The more compact Otero positioned himself well at medium range and got off short  the first that reopened throughout the bout. Otero dominated clearly by keeping the action close while smothering Vinnie’s long reach and managing to get his own hands free. A strong finish by the favorite with precision targeting in the final round nailed down a unanimous shutout from Weisfeld, Lundy, and Ron McNair. Ref, Vera.

Dane Guerrero, 164, Ridgefield Park, NJ, debuted against rugged and ambitious Andre Hinmon, 164, Phila., 0-2-1, in an exciting and hard-fought four. The two battled back and forth in a wild and careening contest that the judges couldn’t agree on. The muscular Hinmon got off to a menacing start with vigorous swings. But he had the bad luck to lunge into a right counter with feet close together for a fluke knockdown that threw the opening round into dispute. Andre lost just a bit of steam while Guerrero gained just a bit of composure in a close second. A tiring Hinmon lunged into counters in the third while both warriors were tiring and struggling but still battling in a close final round. Guerrero may have gained an edge with slightly sharper countering after gathering himself from a confused start in the first. But only McNair gave him the fight, 39-37, while Lundy had Hinmon by the same score and Atkins made it a split draw, 38-38. Mary Glover refereed.

Kevin Hernandez, 153 ½, Bergenfield, 1-0-1 (1), and George Gethers, a/k/ Elijah Muhammad Ogun, 153, Phila., 0-4, opened the show with a short but crowd-pleasing scheduled four. Hernandez swarmed Gethers/Ogun on the ropes with a non-stop two-hand barrage. Kevin had better balance and leverage, landing solid left hooks to the ribs. Gethers/Ogun was game and punched back in relentless exchanging, but was forced to lean back and lose leverage and steam on his punches. The good contest ended in confusion as the doctor stopped it after the first with no visible injury to Gethers/Ogun and his corner protesting vigorously.

Matt Competello was ring announcer, Fred Blumstein kept time, Robert Rizzo handled PR, and the show was telecast on Bergen Audio Visual with Rich Mancuso doing commentary.