Star Boxing’s Catskills Clash, the first professional boxing card at the newest and closest integrated casino resort to Manhattan (Resorts World Catskills), debuted on Friday night.
In the main event, unbeaten cruiserweight Richie “Popeye The Sailor Man” Rivera (12-0, 10 KOs) took an eight round unanimous decision over Brian “MVP” Howard (14-3, 11 KOs) to claim the ABO America title. Scores were 79-73 across tn=he board.
Welterweight Dennis “Billabong” Okoth (3-2-1, 2 KOs) surprised previously unbeaten Dylan “The Real Deal” Moran (10-1, 5 KOs). Okoth dropped Moran three times in round three to end it.
Unbeaten super lightweight “Action” Anthony Laureano (11-0, 4 KOs) stopped Dieumerci Nzau (11-9, 8 KOs) in the seventh round.
In a 4-rounders, Jermaine Corley (2-6, 1 KO) outscored Robert Duran Jr. (3-1, 2 KOs) 39-37, 39-37, 40-36, and Lawrence King (2-0, 2 KOs) halted Perez Aughtry (0-2) in three rounds.
Star Boxing CEO Joe DeGuardia had this to say about boxing’s return to the Catskills, “We knew that we had a great card for boxing’s much needed return to the Catskills at beautiful Resorts World Catskills and Friday night went beyond expectations. Three fantastic ABO Championship bouts, two phenomenal undercard bouts, and a night of boxing that had fans on their feet from the opening bout. Congratulations to Richie Rivera, Anthony Laureano, and Dennis Okoth on their title wins. We hope that this is the first of many thrilling cards in the Catskills, and we cannot wait to be back here.”