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05/13/2004 Archived Entry: "New England Chatta"
New England Chatta
By J.D. Vena
While we've recently said goodbye to Vinny Paz, "Irish" Micky Ward and Dana Rosenblatt as boxers, New England fight fans are anxiously awaiting the new breed, so to speak, to be revealed. Fortunately, more than half of these hopefuls will put their skills on display Friday night at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence in a studded card that will be broadcast live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. Leading the way in the show's headliner, will be undefeated NABO jr. middleweight champion, "The Pride of Providence," Peter Manfredo, Jr. (20-0 with 10 KO's), who makes his first defense against his toughest opponent to date, IBA Middleweight Champion, Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante (24-3-3 with 13 KOs) of Shakopee, MN.
In Bonsante, Manfredo will be facing a naturally bigger foe who, just last year dispatched Tony Ayala, Jr. in a nationally televised fight and hasn't lost since June of 2001, when he was out-pointed by super middleweight contender, Tocker Pudwill. A win for Manfredo is expected and would be nice for his resume, but in participating in his first main event, in his hometown, on national television, much more is at stake for the 23-year old.
Manfredo (left) will face toughest test in Bonsante
Last week, Manfredo was among the many New England boxers who had auditioned for the anticipated NBC series, "The Contender" and you can bet that the executives of that show will be paying strict attention to Manfredo as well as few other prospects Friday night. All that aside, Manfredo knows what’s most important.
“I’m really not thinking about that,” said Manfredo of the Contender. “If it happens, it happens. (The Contender) is not my next step, Bonsante is. Boxing is my job and that’s what my mind is going to be on.”
Boxing and the struglle to make weight. Manfredo tipped the scales at 154 at today’s weigh-in while Bonsante came in at 152.
“I’ve been miserable lately trying to make weight,” admitted Peter. “I know I’m in tough. He’s coming to fight and I’m coming to fight; two Italian-Americans; let’s get it on!”
When Manfredo turned professional on September 22nd, 2000, the same night Scott Pemberton and Levan Easley fought their first war, I had informed fight fans that Manfredo was a sure-bet prospect. On the undercard of “Young Gunz,” Manfredo's stablemate and friend Matt Godfrey will debut as a professional. Since I’ve already warned you about Manfredo, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t forewarn you of Godfrey's promising future.
The 23 year old Godfrey, this year's U.S. Nationals Champion at 201 pounds had set his sights on joining fellow stable mate, Jason Estrada of Providence and representing the Team USA in Athens, Greece to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. Instead, he came up short in the Olympic Trials, losing a decision in the final to Devin Vargas and later to Chazz Witherspoon in the consolation round. There’s a few things you should know about Godfrey. For one, should he remain a cruiserweight for the next couple of years, I guarantee you he'll be a world champion if given the chance. Now for an even bolder statement: With the exception of Roy Jones, Jr., Godfrey throws the fastest punches I have ever seen from a fighter over 190 pounds. Yes, that includes Muhammad Ali. A veteran of over 200 amateur fights, Godfrey will face Glen Morgan (1-1) of San Antonio, TX in a 4-round bout.
“I’ve been building all of this experience over the years and I just can’t wait to turn pro,” Godfrey told the CBZ. “It bothered me for a few days when I lost (in the Olympic Trials), but now I get a fresh start.”
Godfrey is also eager for another first.
“I started boxing when I was thirteen and in all of those years, I had one fight in Providence, my hometown,” said Godfrey. “I fought in so many tournaments all around New England and the country and they were never (in Providence). Over the years, people from Rhode Island got to read about me in the newspapers and hear about me but they never had a chance to see me. Now, they will and I'm excited about that.”
Having accrued so much experience in some of the biggest amateur tournaments and in sparring sessions with Olympic Gold favorite Estrada, Godfrey is hopeful to groove into the professional phase at a quick pace.
“We want to have about four 4-round fights and then move right into 6 and 8-rounders,” said Godfrey. “Anything can happen without the head gear. If you’re in a 4-round fight and you suffer a flash knockdown, that can make a huge difference in the scoring. We want to get right through the 4-rounders. I don’t know much about (Morgan), but he can’t bring anything I haven’t seen before.”
A four round fight was what almost snatched the zero from the unblemished record of Manfredo. Instead, that very same 4-round fight removed Brockton-based Canadian, Ian “The Cobra” Gardner from the unbeaten ranks. At the time, both Manfredo and Gardner were raw but after four close rounds, Manfredo was awarded a split decision. In the co-feature Friday night, Gardner, now 15-1 with 7 KO’s, will hope to have a good night with New Haven’s “Bad” Chad Dawson. Dawson is 15-0 with 10 KO’s and is the WBC Youth Middleweight Champion. The “Youth” title is specifically a title for prize fighters under the age of 23. A win for either man will make him a top American contender whether they are youths or not. This fight easily could have been a main event.
Dawson (left) will look to keep his "O" in tact
Promoter Jimmy Burchfield has really outdone himself this time. Besides a terrific line-up for ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, the undercard is filled with some exciting fighters and intriguing match-ups. Joey “The KO Kid” Spina (10-0 with 7 KO’s) of Providence will take on his toughest opponent in Salah Zabian (5-2 with 4 KO’s) of Berkshire County, MA. Zabian’s losses were to undefeated fighters, including unbeaten Canadian, Anthony Russel who won a split decision over Zabian a the Roxy in Boston last month.
Former amateur stand-out “Steamin” Josh Beeman (2-0) of Providence takes on Felix Lora of Miami. Missy “The Fury” Fiorentino (8-0 with 6 KO’s) of Cranston, perhaps the world's most exciting woman boxer is expected to have an opponent and the exciting Reynaldo Rodriguez (4-0 with 2 KO’s) faces the rugged Bobby McAndrews (2-3-1 with 2 KO’s) of Worcester. Tickets are still available at the door of the Rhode Island Convention Center and may be purchased by calling 401-724-2253/ 2254. Visit www.cesboxing.com for additional information. Doors open at 6:00 P.M with the first bout at 7:00.
This past Saturday night in Concord, NH, unbeaten Jason LeHoullier of Dover, NH ran his record to 13-0 with 7 KO's when he registered another 6-round unanimous decision over journeyman Bruce Corby of Scranton, PA. Corby used every surviving tactic in the book, moving and holding excessively on the inside. He was also deducted 3 points for blatant low blows. Also that night, Martin "The Irish Assassin" Thornton made his first appearance since his controversial draw with Bobo Starnino, beating a determined Peter Kajevic of Long Island, NY over four rounds. Thornton, now 7-1-1 is also slated for a show on June 11th in Plymouth (MA), which will be headlined by Lowell's Jose Ayala. Hard-punching Denise "Mighty" Moses (3-0/ 3 1st round KO's) is also scheduled to appear. Stay tuned.
Speaking of which, sports marketing guru, Hank Touhy, of Hyannis, MA has secured another date for a boxing event held at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. In his first show last year, Touhy treated fight fans with "Battle at the Tent." The show included the Ray Oliveira-Bryon Mackie war as an appetizer and then the Richard Hall-Julian Letterlough barnburner in the main event. The first round, a real candidate for round of the year, saw both men on the canvas with Hall finishing Letterlough in the second round. Though no match-ups have been arranged for this event, it looks like August 10th will be the date you should mark on your calendars for "Battle at the Tent II." If all goes well, the show will be televised by ESPN2 as the date falls on a Tuesday night.
Touhy was the first promoter to pledge $1 of the each ticket he sold for "Battle at the Tent" to Gerry Cooney's F.I.S.T. (Fighters Initiative for Support and Training) organization. The day after (August 11th) "Battle at the Tent II," Touhy will present the first inaugural F.I.S.T. Charity Golf tournament in Hyannis. Among the other fundraising golf tournaments Touhy will promote this year include United Way Celebrity (Aug. 16) in Pawtucket (RI), Retired Boxers Foundation (Sept. 7) at Andover, TSE Tournament (September 27) in Sandwich (MA), Pilot House (October 18) in Bourne (MA), and Heroes In Blue (Oct. 24) in Myrtle Beach (SC).
