On Wednesday night DiBella Entertainment, Broadway Boxing presented an exciting night of boxing at BB King Blues Club in Manhattan.

Gabriel Bracero vs Hector Alatorre – Light-welterweight

The main event of the night was crowd favorite Gabriel Bracero (12-0) of Brooklyn, NY, who scored an eight round unanimous decision over tough Hector Alatorre (16-11) of Tulare, CA, this was a Light-welterweight bout. “Tito”, as Bracero is known, brought his usual all action style to the ring and landed with various combination shots throughout the fight, including a good number of right hands which seemed to catch Alatorre`s attention. The rugged Alatorre gave a good account of himself and both fighters showed the marks of a tough battle, with Bracero cut to the left eye, caused by a head butt and Alatorre a nasty gash on the left side of his head.

All three judges scored the fight 80-72 to Bracero  (13-0) and Alatorre drops to 16-12.

Javier Fortuna vs Victor Valenzuela – Super -featherweight

The most exciting fight of the night which didn’t even make it out of the first round was between explosive punching Dominican Republic native Javier Fortuna (12-0) and Victor Valenzuela (8-ll0) of Passaic, NJ at Super-featherweight. From the bell both fighters came out blasting, throwing bombs to the pleasure of the crowd. Southpaw Fortuna managed to back Valenzuela up against the ropes and landed a right hook which had Valenzuela out cold on his feet, Fortuna then followed up with a powerful left hook and Valenzuela crashED to the canvas. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr immediately waved the fight off at 1:10 of the first round.Fortuna now marches to 13-0 and Valenzuela falls to 8-1.

Tor Hamer vs Demetrice King – Heavyweight

In a heavyweight contest, New York’s Tor Hamer (12-1) scored a systematic eight round unanimous decision over game trial horse Demetrice King (14-19) of Flint, MI. Hamer boxed and moved well during the bout, using his jab to set up a variety of combinations. In round three, Hamer appeared to hurt King against the ropes but was unable to get the stoppage. At the end of the contest Kings swollen face showed the amount of punishment he took throughout.

All three judges scored the fight 80-72 to Hamer, now 13-1.

Sonya Lamonakis vs Tiffany Woodard – Heavyweight

New York’s Sonya Lamonakis (2-0) by way of Greece returned to BB Kings once again to excite her fans with a six round unanimous decision over Tiffany Woodward (3-3) of Wilson, North Carolina. Woodard came out boxing and landed some clean jab right hands on the face of Lamonakis, however, it was the overall strength and harder shots of Lamonakis which proved the difference between the two fighters. Woodard was not at all fazed by the stronger Lamonakis and gave all she could to the final bell with some great exchanges and inside work by both. Judges  scored the fight 58-56, and Mc 58-57. Lamonakis now improves to 3-0 and Woodard falls to 3-4.

Alex Perez vs Doel Carrasquillo – Welterweight

Southpaw Alex “The Brick City Bullet” Perez (12-0) of Newark, New Jersey made a hard fought and very entertaining debut under DiBella Entertainment with an eight round unanimous decision over extremely tough and durable Doel Carrasquillo (14-16-1) of Lancaster PA. Perez came out throwing some heavy artillery, landing with numerous straight rights, left hands and hooks. Carrasquillo kept walking forward with a very high guard, soaking up everything Perez had to offer. On many occasions Carrasquillo seemed to mock Perez by lowering his hands and taking deep breathes. This continued up until round five when Perez seemed tired from his own constant movement and the heavy punches he had been throwing. Carrasquillo still marching forward took advantage of the tired Perez and caught him flush with a left hook, Perez went down but arose at around seven and finished the round. From round six onwards Perez regrouped and boxed his way to the final bell. Judges scored the fight 72-78 73-78. Perez now improves to 13-0 and Carrasquillo drops to 14-17-1.

Steven Martinez vs David Lopez – Light-middleweight

Steven Martinez (6-0) of the Bronx, New York had won all of his previous six fights by KO, however, he was extended for the first time in his young career when he won a six round unanimous decision over the crafty and durable David Lopez (3-2-3) of Caldwell, ID. Martinez came out holding the center of the ring throwing an abundant number of left and right hooks to the body of Lopez, which had him clinging on. This pretty much continued up until the end of round five, although round six saw the southpaw Lopez come out firing, throwing clusters of shots to the predictable Martinez having some success. Martinez fought fire with fire and retaliated back with his own shots which brought an end to a decent contest. All three judges scored the fight 55-59 to Martinez. Martinez now goes to 7-0 and Lopez to 3-3-3.

Delen Parsley vs Eberto Medina – Light-middleweight

Delen Parsley (3-0) of Brooklyn, NY, scored a four round unanimous decision over rugged Eberto Medina (5-4) of Newark, NJ. The taller Parsley trying to establish his jab by using his height and reach advantage over his opponent, this was met by strong hooks from Medina as he waded forward under the reach of Parsley forcing him backwards. Parsley figured this out and worked to the body of Medina forcing him to spit/lose his mouth piece twice in the first round. Medina did have some success in the second round as he worked on the inside of Parsley. However, by round three Parsley had found his range and worked well behind the jab, also connecting with solid straight right hands as Medina jumped in. Parsley hurt and staggered Medina into the corner at the end of the fourth and looked on the verge of a stoppage, but Medina hung on and made it to the bell. All three judges scored the fight 39-37 to Parsley. Parsley now improves to 4-0 and Medina falls to 5-5.

Angel Gonzalez vs Borngod Washington – Light-heavyweight

Angel Gonzalez (1-2) of Yonkers, NY, disposed of Borngod Washington (0-6) in 43 seconds of the first round. Washington came out swinging for the fences, hitting and backing up Gonzalez. Gonzalez furiously retaliated with a series of wild punches, he then backed Washington up against the ropes and landed a left hook which sent Borngod numb on the ropes, forcing referee Arthur Mercante Jr to stop the contest. Gonzalez moves to 2-2 and Washington sinks to 0-7.



Pacquiao out punched Cotto from the fourth round on, and like he has done with previous opponents he used speed and power to his advantage/. Pacquiao also becomes the first seven-time division champion and up next is a potential lucrative pay day with the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“The strategy of the fight was to take time and not hurry,” said Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38KO’s). “We were very careful in the early rounds,” he said as Cotto tried all he could to use his devastating left hook that had little impact on Pacquiao.  “Im trying to test his power in the early rounds that’s why I wanted to get hit in the body and the head,” he said.

Pacquiao also used good strategy against Cotto that his trainer Freddie Roach preached in their intense training camp. “I was looking for a knockdown shot, he said. “That’s why I didn’t throw a lot of punches. That’s why in the last seconds, I threw the good right hook.   I kept pressuring him and was very careful of his counter.”

But the counter never seemed to work for Cotto. After the fourth round it was all Pacquiao who knocked down Cotto with a left hook in the third round, and he knocked Cotto down again late in the fourth round as Cotto advanced to him.

The first four rounds reminded many about the Hagler-Hearns wars of the 1980’s with Cotto and Pacquiao trading and taking some punches, but Pacquiao was able to do more and took command of the fight after that. It was all Pacquiao, who led on all of the judges scorecards as it appeared Cotto took the first round and he barely won the fifth with some good counter punching.

“We were trying our best to try and knock him out because that is what my trainer said,” commented Pacquiao. But Cotto with a swollen face and blood flowing form his nose, with cuts showed his pride and determination by refusing to quit. His trainer Joe Santiago thought about stopping the fight earlier but saw that his fighter had the ability to continue,

“I thought in the 11th round they were going to stop the fight.  I was surprised,” said Pacquiao about the fight not being stopped sooner. Pacquiao also said that he would not consider moving up in weight class again. “154 is too big for me,” he said.

On a possible fight with Mayweather, a name the sold old crowd at the MGM Arena started to chant, Pacquiao said “My job is to fight in the ring and that depends on my promoter Arum (Bob) to negotiate that fight.”It was a hard fight. Cotto is a tough opponent,” he said.,

A battered and defeated Cotto (34-2 27 Ko’s) will take some time and think about his options. His last fight back in June he barley defeated Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” he said, “Its part of my job. I’m pretty proud of what I have done in the ring.”

He added, “ I did not protect myself from the punches   I fought everybody  Miguel Cotto came to fight all the big names and Manny is one of the best of all time.”   And about his trainer stopping the fight earlier, Cotto said, “I told Joe to stop the right when the round was over,,” he commented about the 11^th,” but I think better it was my decision.   I will continue fighting.”

Now fight fans await the negotiations. Roach wants Mayweather and Arum will have a rough time at the table because Mayweather is an adversary. “I said we were going to break him down and we did,” said Roach about Cotto.” Manny put pressure down and early in the fight he was assessing Miguel’s power.”

MORE TO COME     e-mail Rich Mancuso Ring786@aol.com