By Matt Thompson at ringside
New England jr middleweight champion Greg “The Villain” Vendetti took care of business in a decisive manner in the headliner of the Murphys Boxing card in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at the Plainridge Racetrack and Casino in Plainville, MA, as he scored a first round destruction of Brazilian veteran Alex Sandro Duarte.
Vendetti (19-2-1, 12 KOs) – from nearby Stoneham – entered the ring to the boisterous cheers of his loyal fanbase. Duarte (13-5,10 KOs) was not discouraged from the enthusiasm of his opponent and assaulted Vendetti from the opening bell with an all-out, though undisciplined attack, throwing haymakers but showing a total disregard for defense. Duarte’s bombardment quickly proved a mistake as the compact Vendetti stayed low under the barrage while landing solid counters until a perfectly timed right hand dropped Duarte two minutes into the round. Beating the count although clearly hurt, Duarte again returned fire, only to take a perfect left hook, overhand right counter dropping him for the second time. Pulling himself up with the help of the ropes, Duarte, still on unsteady legs, crashed back down to the canvas, prompting referee Jackie Morrell to call a halt to the bout at 2:49 of the first.
In the highly anticipated co-feature, William Foster III (8-0, 6 KOs), of Hartford, CT, remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision win over Sulaiman Segawa (10-1, 3 KOs) of Silver Springs, MD in a junior lightweight encounter. The orthodox vs southpaw matchup proved frustrating at times as neither fighter was able to establish a good jab. Both fighters tended to load up with power shots which for the most part missed, bringing the fighters together for numerous clinches throughout the contest. Foster, with the superior hand speed, was able to land combinations in spots while Segawa was only able to connect with a clean shot sporadically. Both fighters showed the talent that had kept them undefeated to that point, and though it looked to be a great matchup on paper, the styles did not leave the combatants or the crowd clambering for a rematch. With the win, Foster captured the NABA Youth Super Featherweight Title.
Mike Ohan, Jr. from Oldham, MA, stopped Pennsylvania’s Bryan Goldsby with a clean right uppercut counter to the solar plexus at 2:05 of the second round in their welterweight matchup. Ohan boxed well in the opening round against the aggressive Goldsby, maintaining distance behind a clean jab and chipping away with short punches on the inside. Ducking inside a looping overhand right, Ohan landed a text book body shot, driving the wind out of his opponent. Ohan improves to 7-0 with 5 KOs and Goldsby slides to 4-7.
Lightweight Ryan “The Polish Prince” Kielczweski of Quincy, MA, made quick work of journeyman Israel Rojas of Sonora, MX, dropping him three times in the first round for the TKO victory. Kielczweski now stands at 28-3 with 10 KOs and hopes to again compete at a world-class level.
Power-punching Abraham “Super” Nova (11-0, 9 KOs) from Braintree, MA, saw the final bell for only the second time at the end of an impressive performance over the tough and determined Fatiou Fassinou (28-10-3, 15 KOs) in a six-round jr lightweight bout. Showing his power early, Nova put Fassinou on the seat of his pants with a right hand to the forehead in the second and cut him over the eye with an equally impressive straight right, but the Ugandan boxer, now living and training out of Washington, DC, refused to quit, firing back immediately whenever he was hurt, making for an extremely entertaining bout. The durable Fassinou allowed Nova to showcase his skills and get in a solid six rounds of work.
Junior welterweight Anthony Laureano (7-0, 3 KOs) of East Hartford, CT, remained unbeaten with a majority decision over Tobias Green (7-2-2, 2 KOs) from West Palm Beach, FL. Green started fast, easily outworking Laureano from the outside, with impressive hand speed and combinations. Over the next few rounds, Laureano was able to find his range. Laureano was most comfortable fighting off the ropes. Laureano took command of the contest and utilized a solid body attack against his taller opponent to grind out the victory.
In the evening’s opening bout, Elvis Figueroa of Hartford, CT, picked up the second knockout of his young career as he scored a TKO over journeyman Saul Almeida of Framingham, MA in the opening stanza of a super middleweight bout. Figueroa opened a bad cut over the left eye of Almeida with a right hand at 2:48 of the first round, prompting the ringside physician to call a halt to the action. Figueroa now stands at 4-0 with 2 KOs while Almeida drops to 0-9-2.