Brick City Boxing

Italian Crumbles in “Battle of Prospects”
By: Declan Hughes
Photos By: Robert Delacruz

Last night’s boxing match between two of boxings budding lightweight prospects, Danny McDermott and Floriano Pagliara, had it all in the 4 minutes and 26 seconds that it lasted for. From the start it had suspense, drama and action and the end came with a bang! With a crushing right hand, hometown Hudson County hero, Danny “Little Mac” McDermott, from Jersey City, NJ, now 8-1 (3kos), made a dramatic statement to the lightweight division that he is to be taken seriously.

In many ways, this was a break through match up for both fighters, with McDermott coming out the victor. Floriano Pagliara, now 9-3 (6kos), who was the number 6 lightweight in Italy, was looking at this fight to be his coming out party in the USA. But it wasn’t meant to be.

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Round 1 was a text book feel out round for the two. Neither committed to any serious combinations early for fear of each other’s power I suppose. The busier Pagliara, who has 6 kos in his 9 wins, seemed to take the opening round.

In the 2nd heat McDermott continued to try and box, by establishing his jab and bouncing on his toes. The pro-McDermott crowd, who grew worrisome since the end of round one, seemed to be waiting in suspense for their hero to start opening up. Finally McDermott started to throw some leather, ripping Pagliara to the body and back to the head. The two boxers clashed heads during an exchange that left McDermott with a nasty cut over his right eye. McDermott who isn’t a stranger to blood showed something else he isn’t a stranger to either, heart, guts and the will to win. Before the crowd got even more nervous over the cut, McDermott dropped Pagliara with a crushing right to the skull that sent him down in a heep. The crowd exploded as the weary Pagliara got up at the count of 6. The gutsy Pagliara walked back towards the lion across from him, just to get finished by a wicked left hook-right hand combination that landed flush on the Italians chin. This time Pagliara’s corner jumped into the ring as the referee called a halt to the bout. As the winner was announced, the North Bergen Schuetzen Park ball room hall was filled with chants of “DAN-NY-DAN-NY-DAN-NY”.

With the win, McDermott establishes himself as a true prospect and not just another protected fighter. McDermott will have a month layoff due to the cut, but he doesn’t think it will derail his July date for a possible WBF Americas title shot.