Main Street Boxing has four fighters remaining in the Golden Gloves tournament after the exit of four more fighters in recent competition. The three scheduled to compete in the women’s quarterfinals this coming week are Michelle Herzl, Natalie Gonzalez, and Lindsay Tolpa. Anthony Pegues (see 1/3/2011 article) advanced to the semi-finals of the 178 lb. Novice Division after receiving a bye in the quarterfinal round. His upcoming fight has not been scheduled to this point.
On February 23, New Rochelle High School’s Colleen Moriarity made her amateur debut against Sylvia Yero of the Willis Avenue Boxing Club in the 125 lb. division. In the female competition, there is only one draw, without differentiation between Open and Novice. The 20 year old Yero has been in the gyms since age six and has logged about eighty fights. According to Head Coach Ryan O’Leary, Moriarity came out aggressively and engaged in a few good exchanges with Yero. A straight right hand from Yero stunned Moriarity, with a resultant standing eight count. After two more exchanges, the wary O’Leary observed that Moriarity “was heading backward and the other girl was just warming up.” At Ryan’s request , the referee stopped the fight despite Moriarity’s protests.
Christian Salazar was unsuccessful in his efforts to advance to the 141 lb. Novice Division quarterfinals. Julio Arce of the Tiger Schulmann Gym scored a unanimous decision over the Main Street fighter. Salazar had a difficult time deciphering the southpaw Arce’s style, and, resultingly, was outhustled over the three rounds.
On March 3, Bryant Cruz (see 1/9/2011 article) was matched against Marco Suarez of Atlas Cops and Kids in the quarterfinals of the 132 lb. Open Division. Suarez is ranked #1 in the country in his weight class and is the defending Golden Gloves champion. According to O’Leary, Suarez displayed his full fistic armamentarium from the opening bell. After dancing around the ring and switching stances fluidly, Suarez stopped to unleash a blistering salvo of nearly thirty punches. Cruz did not wilt, dodging many of the blows, and firing back as well.
The second round followed a similar pattern, albeit with Cruz stalking Suarez to a greater extent and landing with rights to the body and head. The fight turned definitively towards Cruz in the third and he stunned Suarez several times. Approximately thirty seconds before the final bell, the desperate Suarez attempted to reprise Kid McCoy ‘s legendary “your shoelaces are untied” ruse, claiming he heard the bell ring for the end of the round. Cruz responded with an expletive, followed by a flurry of punches which brought the crowd to its feet. Amongst the judges at ringside sat Yussel the Dybbuk (see 2/8/2011 article). Needless to say, Suarez received the 3-2 decision over Cruz. Despite the seeming injustice, O’Leary stated that Cruz remained stoical, in part because he realizes “that he can fight at the highest level.”
On March 5, Bryan O’Connor (see 1/26/2011 article) faced Mikkel Les Pierre of Gleason’s Gym in the quarterfinals of the 141 lb. Open Division. Despite having won two close decisions over Les Pierre previously, a back injury in sparring made O’Connor somewhat tentative in his efforts. At the end of the first round, O’Connor told O’Leary that he was having trouble “turning on the left hook.” Les Pierre remained the busier fighter over the three rounds and was awarded the close 4-1 decision.
The upcoming schedule is as follows:
Friday, March 11: Michelle Herzl 145 Lb. Women
Glen Cove High School, 150 Dosiris Lane, Glen Cove 11542
Saturday March 12: Natalie Gonzalez 106 lb. Women (see 11/25/2010 article)
Suffolk PAL, 99 3rd Ave, Brentwood, L.I. 11717
Wednesday March 16: Lindsay Tolpa 119 lb. Women (see 1/29/2011 article)
Atlas Foundation, Petrides H.S., 715 Ocean Terrace, Staten Island 10301
To inquire about membership in Main Street Boxing and Fitness (310 Main Street, New Rochelle) or any of its various exercise programs, call 914-636-2811 or contact owner Michael Stellate at michael@mainstreetboxing.com or Ryan O’Leary at ryan@mainstreetboxing.com.