For the 10th consecutive year, Bob Russo of Portland Boxing Club returned to the Portland Expo Center in Portland, Maine, for another successful, sold out event. Raising money for the New England Golden Gloves program, sponsors and fans crowded into Portland’s top sports arena for an exciting night of pro and amateur boxing.
Quirk wins New England Middleweight Title in Portland.
In the 8 round main event for the vacant New England Middleweight title, Portland Firefighter Jason Quirk, 11-0, 6 KOs got off to an early lead, outworking the determined and wild-swinging Rodrigo Lopes-Rodrigues, 8-7, 7 KOs, of Sao Paulo, Brazil via Boston. With seconds to go in the 6th round, Lopes landed a crashing overhand right, staggering Quirk in his corner. Attacking at the bell for the 7th, Lopes continued to chase Quirk around the ring, rocking him repeatedly. Quirk maintained his composure, tying Lopes up anytime he landed clean, resulting in them both falling to the canvas. Quirk seemed to regain his legs in the final round, maintaining his distance and avoiding the looping shots of Lopes. Judge Glen Feldman saw the bout 77-75 for Lopes while Martha Tremblay and Steve Weisfeld leaned 77-75 and 77-76 respectively for Quirk for the split decision win.
In an exciting co-feature, local favorite Casey Streeter, 11-2-1, 4 KOs, outworked South Boston’s Joe Farina, 11-2, 6 KOs in a competitive super-welterweight bout over 8 rounds. Farina started strong, mounting a viscous body attack against the much taller Streeter, but seemed to slow down by the fourth as Streeter got the attention of the crowd and judges with quick combinations, remaining busier and flashier than the steady body shots from Farina. Glen Feldman saw the bout 76-76 while both Martha Tremblay and Steve Weisfeld agreed at 77-75 for Streeter.
West Forks, Maine’s favorite fighter, Brandon Berry, had more than he bargained for with Argentina’s Andres Viera, 11-7, 8 KOs. The tall, lanky Viera kept Berry at bay with a steady stream of punches, many of which strayed low. Referee Tom Clark took points from Viera in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds finally disqualifying him in the 5th. From Fightnews.com’s vantage point, many of the blows appeared to be on the beltline, but from Berry’s reaction, were certainly painful. Berry improves to 26-7-2, 18KOs. One of the nicest guys in boxing, Berry was gracious in the outcome.
Michael Alvarez of Bath, Maine retained his clean record with a second round knockout over Brockton, Ma’s Lionel Young. Mixing up his punches nicely, Alvarez put Young on his knee twice in the first round, repeating the performance in the second, prompting referee Melissa Kelly to count young out at the 2:36 mark. Alvarez improves to 4-0, 3 KOs while Young slips to 1-7.
In an entertaining opening bout, Demitre Schooler, originally from Jamaica now living and fighting out of Albany, NY, got his second victory in as many outings against the slick boxing Babatunde Odomuso over 4 rounds in the super middleweight division. Pressing the action and looking for power shots, Schooler was able to land the more telling blows, although Odomuso had enough success to earn a draw on one score card, to be overruled on the other two raising his record to 2-0, 1 KO while Odomuso slips to 0-2-1. Training by the well respected Sam Bunch, Schooler looks to be a good prospect in the future.