By Mark Vaz
Local favorite Casey Streeter, 15-2-2, 6 KOs successfully defended his New England Jr. Middleweight title over eight entertaining rounds via unanimous decision over Holyoke, MA’s Denzel Whitley, 14-2-1, 8 KOs. Whitley seemed content for the majority of the bout to hold his ground in the center of the ring and look for counterpunching opportunities while the busy Streeter kept the action going with his non-stop punching style. Maintaining an impressive pace and punch output throughout, Streeter left little doubt in the judges minds. Whitley, considered a solid prospect prior to a pair of poor performances in his last few outings, did land some solid shots, but appeared to be waiting for the big opportunity that never materialized. Judge Frank Lombardi saw the bout 80-72 while both Eddie Scunzio and Steve Weisfeld agreed at 78-74.
West Forks, Maine’s popular Brandon Berry improved to 33-8-2, 24 KOs with a 4th round TKO over Providence’s Juan Carlos Pena in a welterweight scrap when the latter refused to answer the bell. Both fighters met in the center of the ring and immediately began exchanging shots as though each though the other insulted their sister. After a give and take first round, Berry began to settle in and box, making the slower Pena miss, giving Berry counterpunching opportunities both to the head and body. The steady body punching eventually paid off with Pena’s corner calling it quits after the 3rd. Pena drops to 32-16-1.
Young prospect and former New England Golden Gloves champ Wade Faria of Portland picked up his 5th win in as many fights with a hard fought decision over Dallas’s Victor Pradis in 6 entertaining rounds. Much tougher than his 2-4-2 record, Pradis came to fight, landing nice combinations throughout. Faria kept focused on boxing, putting impressive combinations together, and maintaining good defense and showing an excellent chin in the process.
In a pair of international bouts, middleweight Lucas Vogt of Staudt, Germany made a successful move to the pro ranks with a 4 round decision win over Beijing’s Wanxuan Lin. Although only 0-2, Lin entertained with his aggressive, all offense style while the more classic European style of Vogt kept him enough ahead to win a highly competitive but one sided decision, with scores of 40-36 across the board. Credit to Vogt to take such a tough opponent in his pro debut, particularly in another country.
Vogt teammate Franck Vianey Kakou, originally from the Ivory Coast of West Africa, now residing in Wiesbaden, Germany easily game but outgunned last minute replacement Willian Amaral of Brazil, with a beautifully placed left hook to the body at 2:15 of round one. Although Amaral did come out swinging, Kakou showed skill and composure, covering up and picking his spots, rocking Amaral with a counter right, then finishing the show to the body.
Both German fighters are trained by Nicky Lavinge, a former fighter out of the Portland Boxing Club stable, now based in Germany.
In an exciting light heavyweight 4 rounder, Framingham’s Saul Almeida, 2-21-4, scored a come from behind dramatic knockout at 2:30 of the second round over debuting prospect Nicholas Pecora of Fairfield, CT. Pecora came out strong, looking to end it early, throwing hard combinations which were mostly blocked by savvy former MMA standout Almeida. Growing bolder but wilder in the second and leaving openings, Pecora’s low hands gave Almeida the opportunity to land a picture perfect 1-2, dropping Pecora for the count.
Dublin Ireland’s Cian Duggan improved to 3-0, 3 KOs with a quick stoppage of North Carolina’s Theodore Sessoms in a very peculiar bout. Sessoms came out with a few wild swings, then took a knee before Duggan was able to answer. Referee Johnny Callas called it a slip and implored him to get up, but rather than continuing the fight, he again took a knee, claiming to have a cramp in his calf or a sore ankle, unable to decide what excuse to use to quit. This, apparently, has been a standard MO for 0-5 Sessoms who is now indefinitely suspended as well he should be. The disappointed Duggan, traveling all the way from Ireland for the fight, took the result with a grain of salt like a gentleman.
In the amateur portion of the show, 3 Portland Boxing Club fighters came out with decision victories, 2 over Irish National amateur champs. Ilyas Bashir outboxed Karl Sheridan, Abas Nboboka squeeked by with a close decision over James Uzell. Tiger Diaz beat Lowell’s Josue Mercade by decision.
