Joel Shojgreen floored Lyubomyr Pinchuk early in fight
The Paramount was filled to the rafters on Saturday night as the opening bell rang for a thrilling night of action at Star Boxing’s Rockin’ Fights 43. The exciting card brought the action and drama as fans in attendance and those watching around the globe were treated to a fantastic night of professional boxing.
In the ABO Cruiserweight Title main event, it was a question of which style would reign supreme between the heavy-handed JOEL “SHOTGUN” SHOJGREEN (14-3 13KO’s) and the athletic, LYUBOMYR “DEMOLITION MAN” PINCHUK (14-4-1 8KO’s).
This question was answered when Shojgreen landed a missile right hand that floored Pinchuk deep into the second minute of round one. Pinchuk rose at the count but was hobbled by an injury suffered to his right knee which seemed to buckle and land awkwardly when he fell. Shojgreen went into attack mode, but with Pinchuk both buzzed from the knockdown and unable to put pressure on his leg, Referee Al Lobianco stopped the action at 2:48 in the first round. With the TKO, Shojgreen secured a massive victory and the ABO Cruiserweight Title. Pinchuk was taken to the hospital for x-rays on his right knee, and all of us at Star Boxing wish him a speedy recovery.
In the co-feature, JOHN GOTTI III (1-0) made his highly anticipated pro debut against ALBERT TULLEY (0-2) in a 4 round light heavyweight bout. Gotti, who made the transition as a 5-1 professional MMA fighter, to the squared circle, impressed last night. From the opening bell, Gotti was deliberate and tactical with his offense. The raucous crowd was behind their man with every punch. At the close of the 4-rounds, Gotti earned the unanimous decision svictory in front of his home crowd (40-36 x3).
The trash talk was fast and fierce leading into the “RUTHLESS” RONNY REYES (2-0) vs TRAVIS “PRETTY BOY” CRAWFORD (0-2) and boy did it deliver. Reyes and Crawford absolutely threw down in their super featherweight bout. Both men were fearless in their pursuit of victory and had the crowd on their feet for almost the entirety of the 4-round bout. Reyes was more creative in his attacks, but Crawford refused to take a step back for the entirety of the fight. As the close fight came to the final bell, the crowd showered Reyes and Crawford with applause for their performance. Reyes received the majority decision victory (38-38 draw, 39-37 Reyes x2).
Also on the undercard, the light heavyweight rematch between “BE YOU” DEQUINT HILL (2-1) and LOU “IL MARTELLO” MAIETTA (1-3-1) went to the wire in yet another close fight. An accidental headbutt caused a cut under the right eye of Hill, but he would not allow it to affect him, as he kept Maietta at bay with his length and sticking jab. In the third round, Maietta rocked Hill and had him on unsteady legs, but wasn’t able to capitalize. At the close of the bout Hill secured the majority decision victory (38-38 draw, 40-36 Hill, 39-37 Hill).
Undefeated Queens super featherweight RAY “THE SCIENTIST” CUADRADO (5-0 1KO) opened the show against the very tough JOSEPH “THE JAGUAR” BROWN (3-5 1KO) over their 4-round super featherweight bout. Cuadrado was able to control the action from the jump and used his sharper boxing ability to foil any onslaught Brown tried to muster. Cuadrado secured the unanimous decision victory (40-36 x3).
Star Boxing CEO JOE DEGUARDIA had this to say about the night, “Rockin’ Fights delivered in every way. A sold-out crowd, exciting fights and action that had fans on their feet from the opening bell. Saturday night demonstrated the full essence of what we have built at the Paramount since 2011. Congratulations to all the fighters for delivering a thrilling show and thank you to everyone who came out to make last night a successful event.”
