The Main Street Boxing Club (310 Main St, New Rochelle) finished the first week of the New York Golden Gloves competition with mixed results. On January 21, debuting 152 lb. Novice Anthony Ferulle was eliminated from the tournament by Long Island Boxing Club’s Orlando Rodriguez. The next day, Bryan O’Connor traveled to Rockland County to defeat Daniel Burnam of Gleason’s Gym in the first round of the 141 lb. Open Division.
According to Head Coach Ryan O’Leary, the usually diffident and tactical Ferulle surprised everyone by unleashing a dominating whirlwind attack from the opening bell. Behind effective jabs and combinations Ferulle had Rodriguez, also debuting in the simon-pure ranks, huffing and puffing. “Anthony owned him and the referee was about to step in to stop the fight.” With a few seconds left in the round, Ferulle dropped his guard just as Rodriguez unleashed “a sweeping left hook that hit him just below the chin.” While not quite performing the Zab Judah dance (see Tsysu-Judah on youtube), Ferulle clearly was affected. Even with the minute’s rest, he did not recover sufficiently. The rejuvenated Rodriguez swarmed Ferulle at the onset of the second round and the referee stopped the contest at the 1:51 mark.
The 141 lb. Open Division provides the stiffest competition of the entire tournament from O’Leary’s viewpoint. As well as O’Connor, top seeds for this year’s crown include Metro Champ Patrick Day of Freeport Boxing Club, Carlos Teron of Cops N Kids, and last year’s titleholder Wesley Ferrer of Brotherhood Boxing. O’Connor emerged victorious via a three round decision. Burnam “provided no significant competition and the match served mostly like a sparring session for Bryan”, said O’Leary. In 1945, Willie Pep won a round over Jackie Graves while not throwing a punch, aweing the cognoscenti with his defensive wizardry. O’Connor nearly duplicated Pep’s feat in one of the rounds by slipping all of Burnam’s sallies, following up with but three punches of his own. While this particular masterpiece of Pep, nee Guglielmo Papaleo, was not filmed, one can download via youtube the legerdemain of contemporary fistic matadors Pernell Whittaker, Buddy McGirt, Joe Calzaghe, and Bernard Hopkins. O’Connor must be studying these pugilistic philosophes, as he certainly is an honors student thusfar. His path remains a difficult one, as even the unacclaimed in his weight class are dangerous.
The schedule for this week’s fights follows. The opponent will not be announced until shortly before the event.
Wednesday, January 26 at Mount Vernon High School:
Patrick Byrne 152 lb. Novice Division
Henry Kasjonovic 165 lb. Novice Division
Kevin Martin 165 lb. Novice Division (See 1/9/2011 “Boxing Pantheon Greets Main Street Boxing Team and Grand Central Commuters”)
Adam Ricciardi 165 lb. Novice Division
Kevin Rooney, Jr. 165 lb. Novice Division
Thursday, January 27 at Yonkers PAL at 127 North Broadway:
Mikey Brogan 152 lb. Novice Division (See 1/9 “Boxing Pantheon” article)
Alejandro Ramirez 152 lb. Novice Division
Michael SanFillipo 165 lb. Novice Division
Friday, January 28 at Bishop Kearney High School in Brooklyn:
Terry Ferguson 178 lb. Novice Division
Anthony Pegues 178 lb. Novice Division (See 1/3/2011 article “One Time New Rochelle Gridiron Standout Anthony Pegues Blitzes Toward Golden Gloves Title”)
In other Main Street Boxing news, former Golden Gloves champion Jose “Chili” Rivera won his January 19 junior bantamweight contest with fringe contender Eilon Kadem. A former Israeli Defense Force Navy Seal, Brooklyn resident Kadem entered the ring with a record of 11-4-4. In front of a mostly partisan crowd at Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple, Rivera and Kadem exchanged leather fast and furiously for six rounds. In winning the majority decision, Rivera moves to the #8 spot amongst US fighters in the 115 division. Rivera now possesses a 3-2-1 mark.
For further information on the Main Street Boxing Club’s Golden Gloves schedule, call 914-636-2811. To inquire about Main Street Boxing Club and Fitness and any of its exercise programs, you may also reach owner Michael Stellate at michael@mainstreetboxing.com or Ryan O’Leary at ryan@mainstreetboxing.com.
Late word: Show at Mount Vernon High on January 26 is cancelled and rescheduled for February 7 at 7:30.
