Brick City Boxing

By: Moses Vered

This Wednesday Joe Deguardia’s Star Boxing showcased another successful night of boxing as they presented their second installment of “VIP Boxing”. The elegant Russo’s On the Bay Catering hall in Howard Beach, Queens again hosted the event. All Guests were treated to an open bar and a delcious 4-course dinner.

2004 Olympian Devin Vargas made a successful return to action as he outpointed a very game Terrell “Baby Bull” Nelson (8-9, 5 KOs). Vargas worked well on the outside as he kept the hard charging Nelson at bay for much of the first round. As the fight went into the middle rounds, Vargas (18-1, 7 KOs) found success countering Nelson from the outside as well as throwing effective hooks to the head and body when the fight transitioned to close quarters.

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Vargas’s amateur experience was on display as he was just too fast and too accurate. Although Nelson never stopped charging forward he was never able to get on track.

After 8 rounds of heavyweight action all three of the judge’s scorecards read, 79-73 for Vargas.

This was Vargas’s first fight after suffering a tough defeat to top American heavyweight Kevin Johnson in May. Vargas looks to continue to work towards another significant fight in a relatively weak heavyweight division.

The co-featured bout marked the return of highly touted former amateur standout Roberto Benitez. The 28-year-old was a ten-time national champion and a member of the 2004 Olympic team. Benitez, a Brooklyn native (6-0 3 KOs), was making a return to the ring after an almost 3-year absence. A hand injury had keep Benitez out of action since 2006 after a 5-0 career start.

Benitez completely outworked Angel Paneto (4-6-2, 2KO) over six entertaining rounds. The slick boxing Benitez fought a perfect fight as he used his superior footwork and hand speed to dominate his opponent. Benitez landed flush combinations, mixing it up to both the body and head. A left hook to the body drooped Paneto to a knee in the 3rd. Paneto was able to beat the count and to make it to the sixth and final bell.

All three judges turned in the same scorecard 60-52 in favor of Benitez.

If Benitez stays active and healthy he can surely has the potential to rise to the top in the 122-lbs division.

In the fight of the night, middleweights Lamar Harris and Marcus Bianconi engaged in an entertaining 6-round slugfest. From the opening bell both men came out throwing haymakers and the action didn’t let up for the duration of the bout. Throughout the fight Harris landed the harder shots while Bianconi was the busier man. In the end one judge had it 58-56 Bianconi while the other two scored it 57-57 resulting in a majority draw.

OTHER RESULTS:

Melchor Guillen TKO1 Jonathon Cuba
Gabriel Bracero W6 Ashanti Hendrickson
Eusebio Flores TKO1 Kamel Al-Olabi.