Philadelphia Area Boxing Preview - January 2024

By Frank Bartolini

Kings Promotions (Marshall Kauffman) ushers in the new year on Friday, January 12th at the Live Casino in Philadelphia, PA. Eight fights are scheduled with Philly favorite junior featherweight Christian Carto in the main event. Carto will square off against Filipino Ardin Diale in a bout slated for eight rounds.

Eight years ago, Carto successfully turned pro a few weeks after graduating from the prestigious Saint Augustine Prep. A meteoric rise followed as Carto fought regularly drawing large crowds. A hot commodity, Carto was being courted by every major promoter. After winning his first seventeen contests, Carto was iced by a no name from south of the border in February 2019. Then the COVID pandemic hit, and like many other fighters his career came to a halt. Then when it appeared Carto was back on track, he suffered a shoulder injury that needed surgery. Now fourteen months have passed since Carto was last in the ring. Training in Philadelphia under the tutelage of Bozy Ennis, look for Carto to be more polished even as he shakes off rust.

The following night, January 13th, in Atlantic City, promoters Mis Downing and Joe Frazier Jr put on eleven boxing matches at Boardwalk Hall. Heavyweight Joey Dawejko of Philadelphia, PA., looks to make it seven straight wins. Beginning in September 2022, J Russel Peltz began guiding Dawejko's career. Malik Titus, Baltimore MD is slated to oppose Dawejko in an eight rounder.

Undefeated Bantamweight Dylan Price, Sicklerville, NJ, faces Gilberto Mendoza of Mexico in the ten round main event. Unfortunately, the very talented Price's career was slowed down by the COVID pandemic. At one time, Price was under contract with Mayweather Promotions and is currently a free agent. With his skill set, Price will catch the eye of one of the games major players.

Dylan Price Interview

By Luis A. Cortes III

Dylan Price (10-0) (7 KO's) defeated Elias Joaquino (12-5-2) (6 KO's) by TKO in the sixth round of a scheduled eight round contest this evening in Las Vegas. Following his victory, I caught up with this 2017 Briscoe Award winner and Mayweather Promotions' prospect tonight in Las Vegas. 

You can stream our interview on both SoundCloud and iTunes:

Dylan Price Interview with Luis Cortes on SoundCloud

Dylan Price Interview with Luis Cortes on iTunes

Photo - BoxRec.com

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John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Interview Part I

John DiSanto of Philly Boxing History.com and the Briscoe Awards recently sat down with Matt Ward to discuss the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards. The Briscoe Awards is an annual award ceremony that honors the best of Philadelphia boxing from the previous year. "The Briscoe Awards are named in honor of legendary Philly middleweight Bennie Briscoe and the trophies given away – the Briscoe Statue and the Briscoe Medal – all bear the deceased icon’s likeness.  The event brings together the local boxing community, including the award winners, their families, past and present boxers, fight fans, other boxing people, and general sports fans."

Check out their first of two Bonus Round interviews on both SoundCloud and iTunes:

Bonus Round - John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Part I on SoundCloud

Bonus Round - John DiSanto of the 11th Annual Briscoe Awards Part I on iTunes

This year's award ceremony will take place at the Veteran Boxers Association-Ring 1 Clubhouse at 2733 E. Clearfield St. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets to this event are $20.

For more information on the Briscoe Awards, please visit the official website or contact John DiSanto at 609-377-6413 for tickets and more information on how to support this great event!

MW

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Errol Spence Jr. vs. Lamont Peterson

This Saturday, January 20th, IBF World Welterweight Champion, Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) will defend his title against Lamont Peterson (35-3-1, 17 KOs) in a 12 round bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This bout is part of an 11 bout Premier Boxing Champions' card that will air on Showtime. Spence is coming off of an 11th round knock out victory over Kell Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) in Brook's hometown of Sheffield, England last May. Peterson won his last two fights, since losing a controversial majority decision to Danny Garcia (33-1, 19 KOs) on April 11, 2015. He bounced back from this loss with two victories over Felix Diaz (19-2, 9 KOs) on October 17, 2015 and David Avanesyan (23-2-1, 11 KOs) last February.

The card also features an exciting 12 round match between lightweight fighters Robert Easter Jr. (20-0, 14 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (33-1-1, 23 KOs). The two men will fight for Easter's IBF World Lightweight Title. Easter captured this title in 2016 with a split decision victory over Richard Commey (25-2, 22 KOs) in Reading, Pennsylvania. Since winning this title, he successfully defended the title twice in 2017, beating Luis Cruz (22-5-1, 16 KOs) and Denis Shafikov (38-4-1, 20 KOs) both by unanimous decision. Fortuna, the former WBA World Super Featherweight Champion, is looking for his fifth straight win since losing his title to Camden's Jason Sosa (20-3-4, 15 KOs) on June 24, 2016 in China. Fortuna's most recent victory was a ten round unanimous decision victory over Nicolas Polanco (17-1, 10 KOs) on September 14, 2017.

The card also features the following bouts:

Marcus Browne (20-0, 15 KOs) vs. Francy Ntetu (17-1, 4 KOs) - 10 rounds, light heavyweights

Adam Kownacki (16-0, 13 KOs) vs. Iago Kiladze (26-1, 18 KOs) - 10 rounds, heavyweights

Anthony Peterson (37-1, 24 KOs) vs. Luis Eduardo Florez (23-8, 19 KOs) - 10 rounds, junior welterweights

Ivan Golub (13-1, 11 KOs) vs. Fidel Monterossa Munoz (38-15-1, 30 KOs) - eight rounds, welterweights

Richardson Hitchins (3-0, 1 KOs) vs. Preston Wilson (4-2-1, 3 KOs) - six rounds, welterweights

Mathew Gonzalez (2-0, 2 KOs) vs. Alexander Serna (1-1, 1 KO) - six rounds, middleweights

Desmond Jarmon (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Charles Clark (1-4-1, 1 KO) - four rounds, junior lightweights

Keyshawn Williams (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Denis Okoth (1-0, 1 KO) - four rounds, welterweights

Dylan Price (4-0, 4 KOs) vs. Nestor Ramos (7-7-1, 3 KOs) - four rounds, bantamweights

MW

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King's Promotions Presents Premier Boxing Champions: Miguel Cruz vs. Alex Martin - Tuesday, June 27th (Bethlehem, PA)

The opening bout of the evening featured super flyweights, Dylan Price (3-0, 3 KOs) and Manuel Guerra (1-3-1). Price, the Philadelphia native, made quick work of his Mexican opponent with a right hand to the head in the first round of a scheduled four round contest. Price won his third straight fight by knockout at the 1:09 mark of the first round. 

37-year-old rookie, Rick Pyle (1-0) fought Devin McMaster (1-2) in a four round, junior middleweight bout. Pyle demonstrated solid defense throughout the contest, and McMaster’s punches appeared to the have no effect on his opponent. McMaster came out swinging in the fourth round, but was unable to secure the knockout. All three judges scored the contest 40-36 in favor of Pyle. 

The third bout of the evening featured a battle between two Allentown, Pennsylvania fighters, Jesus Perez (3-0, 1 KO) and Christian Molina (4-3, 3 KOs). Molina was the aggressor early in the first round, but was knocked down in the first round with a big right hand to the head. Perez landed several hard shots on Molina, who left himself open on several occasions after throwing several wild hooks. Molina survived the first round, and came out far more cautious in the second round. Molina fought valiantly throughout the final two rounds but was defeated by unanimous decision, losing on all three judges’ scorecards by a score of 49-37. 

Philadelphia fan-favorite, Avery Sparrow (7-1, 3 KOs) fought the previously undefeated Isaelin Florian (6-1, 3 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in a six round, featherweight contest. Sparrow, who is promoted by Hall of Fame promoter J. Russell Peltz, went for a big hook to the head when Florian tried to touch gloves after the opening bell. Sparrow missed, and the featherweight battle began. Florian was knocked down in the first round by a Sparrow multi-punch combination. Florian recovered to knock Sparrow down later in the round with a right hook, which caught the Philadelphian off-balance and sent him crashing into the ropes. In the second round, Sparrow connected on a right hook to Florian’s head that sent him to the canvas. The final knockdown of the contest came in the fourth round when Sparrow was knocked down by a left hook to the jaw. All three judges scored the bout 58-54 in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Avery Sparrow. 

Local fighter, Ismael Serrano (4-2, 1 KO) stepped into the ring against veteran fighter, Jesus Lule (11-22-1, 2 KOs) in a four round, lightweight bout. Lule fought the bout of his career against the younger man. In the second round, he landed a vicious combo that pinned Serrano up against the ropes. The referee stopped the abuse at the 2:10 mark of the round. Lule stunned the Bethlehem crowd with the upset victory. 

The sixth bout featured Nicholas Hernandez (7-2, 1 KO) and Grayson Blake (6-5-1, 2 KOs) in a six round, junior middleweight bout. The two fighters fought a competitive bout filled with late-round fireworks. The fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds all ended with intense exchanges between the two fighters. Both fighters’ efforts were recognized by the judge’s scorecards. One judge scored the bout a draw, 57-57, while the other two judges scored the bout in favor of Hernandez (59-55 and 58-56). 

Anthony Mercado (10-3, 9 KOs) and Clarence Booth (15-3, 8 KOs) opened up the televised portion of Premier Boxing Champions on FS1. Mercado, an awkward Puerto Rican fighter, effectively used his right hand throughout the first three rounds of action. In the fourth round, Mercado was knocked down by a Booth right hand to the face. Mercado rose to his feet only to fall victim to an onslaught of punches, which left him defenseless against the ropes. The referee called an end to the action at the 1:30 mark of the fourth round. 

The main event featured a rematch between welterweights, Miguel Cruz (16-0, 11 KOs) of San Juan and Alex Martin (13-2, 5 KOs) of Chicago. Both men had previously met in Florida on January 13th of this year. Cruz walked away the winner of the previous match by a close, split decision. Cruz knocked down Martin with a short left to the jaw as the end of the first round neared. The third round was highlighted with a brutal exchange of punches between the fighters at the center of the ring. Martin was knocked down again in the fourth round by a right hook to the head. A low blow sent Cruz to the canvas in the fifth round. Cruz took his time to recover from the punch below the belt, but it appeared to take its toll on the fighter throughout the second half of the contest. The judges scored the ten round contest 96-92, all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Miguel Cruz. 

Following the conclusion of PBC's broadcast of Miguel Cruz vs. Alex Martin (6/27/2017), Marcus Browne, who was providing commentary for PBC, spoke briefly with me about the evening's main event and his July 15th bout with Sean Monaghan at Nassau Coliseum in New York.

Bonus Round - Boxer Marcus Browne Discusses the 6/27 PBC main event and his Bout with Sean Monaghan on SoundCloud 

Bonus Round - Boxer Marcus Browne Discusses the 6/27 PBC main event and his Bout with Sean Monaghan on iTunes 

MW