Results from Springfield, Mass - "New England's Future 13" & Pagan's Retirement Announcement

Boxing returned to Springfield, Massachusetts at the Springfield AIC campus. Headlining the event was super middleweights, Laurent Humes of Springfield who controlled the action with body/head combinations against Luis Eduardo Florez of Colombia. During round 2, the pace picked up and Humes dropped Florez and again in the 5th Humes connected with a great body shot. After the fight continued Humes was laying on the punches and a water bottle was tossed into the ring. It could have come from Florez’s corner to get the ref’s attention to stop the bout. The ref stopped the bout at 2:46 of round 5 and Humes gets the KO win and increased to 9-0-0 and Florez 26-28-0.

Super Lightweights, Oscar Bonilla of Bridgeport, Connecticut went the distance against Nathan Balakin of Lowell, Mass. After 6 rounds fighting for the USBF International Championship, both fighters kept the fight at a very short distance back and forth action, along with holding. Balakin had the height advantage. After round 3, Balakin breathing heavy out of the corner. After 6 repeated rounds, the judges scored the bout 57-57; 59-55; 59-55 in favor of Bonilla. Bonilla gets the victory by Majority Decision and increased to 9-3-2 and Balakin decreased to 5-3-0.

47 year old, Shakha Moore of Norfolk, Connecticut accepted this fight, took on the challenge to train hard to win the USBF Intercontinental Championship when he met up against 43 year old Wilfredo Pagan of Southbridge, MA. Moore the craftier veteran in the ring had better composition while moving his body well in defense but on the slower side compared to Pagan who was lighter on his feet. Pagan was frustrated at times, while Moore missed his punches. Pagan landed some great shots but it doesn't seem to faze Moore. It seemed that during the 10 second count, the pace picked up during the rounds with a flurry of punches. Round 6 was a slug fest against the ropes. It could be Anyone's round. After 6 rounds the judges scored the bout a split decision in favor of Moore, 58-56 Moore, 58-56 pagan, 58-56 Moore. Moore increased to 13-24-3 and Pagan is now 7-3-2. During an interview, Pagan made an announcement that he is retiring from Boxing. Boxing Northeast wishes you the best for your future endeavors.

Welterweights, Denzel "Double Impact" Whitley of Holyoke, Massachusetts took on a slip and sliding opponent, Daniel Sostre of Puerto Rico. Unfortunately due to Sostre’s sneakers not being able to grip the canvas it was very difficult for Sostre to connect, keep his feet planted and engage in this match up. The corner tried to tape Sostre’s sneakers but I’m thinking didn’t put enough of tape around his sneakers between rounds. Sostre for the most part was hitting Whitley’s gloves. Round 7, Whitley landed a right and Daniel received the count. I would like to see a rematch of the bout. The judges after 8 rounds scored the fight 76-74; 78-72; 78-72 in favor of Whitley. Whitley increased to 11-0-0 and Sostre decreased to 13-24-1.

This is the 2nd time that Carlos Gonzalez of Southbridge, Mass met up against the Hawaiian, Richard “Hit to Hard” Barnard. The 1st fight had a no contest due to a fight that broke up in the crowd ringside during the 1st bout that end up cancelling the rest of the show. Richard has a huge heights advantage. The end of round 1 Gonzalez is head hunting trying to take Barnard's head off. Round 2, Carlos backed up against the ropes and let go his hands while Barnard dropped to a knee the referee stopped the bout after the ref counted to 10. Gonzalez gets the KO victory and increased to 6-0-0 and Barnard decreased to 1-12-1. This was scheduled for 4 rounds.

Fan favorite Carlos Castillo of Holyoke, Massachusetts out boxed Alfred Raymond of Warwick, RI while setting up Raymond with the jab. During the bout, mouth pieces came out and Castillo kept sticking his tongue out. Castillo landed more punches, after 6 rounds and no knock outs the judges scored the bout in favor of Castillo 58-56; 59-55 and 60-54. Castillo keeps his perfect record to 7-0-0 and Raymond is now 1-6-1.

Featherweights, Joshua Orta of Springfield, Massachusetts controlled the bout going body/head. During round 3, Mike Flower of Milwaukee, WI got the count. After 4 rounds all three judges scored the same, 40-35 in favor of Orta who increased to 10-0-0 and Fowler decreased to 8-50-0.

Anthony Ortiz of Hartford, Connecticut didn’t waste any time controlling the fight against Antonio Lucaine of New York and landed a straight right at 1:13 of round 1 and gets the KO victory after the Ref stopped the bout. Ortiz increased to 4-2-0 and Lucaine can’t seem to get a win and decreased to 0-8-0.

Heavyweights, Jake Paradise of Worcester, Mass ended up with a bloody nose after three rounds and a win by TKO against Erick Alves De Oliviera from Brazil who made his pro debut wasn’t afraid to let his hands go. During round 3, there were exchanges between both fighters, but Jake going to the body drops De Oliviera to a knee, after the 2nd body shot, the ref stopped the fight at 2:55. Paradise increases to 5-3-0 while de Oliviera suffered his 1st loss. After the fight, Paradise stated “Get my belt ready”.

Steven Sumpter of Pittsfield, Massachusetts at 1:36 of round 2 dropped Miguel Angel Suarez of Argentina three times, then the ref called a halt to the match up. Sumpter victorious by TKO and increased to 8-0-0 and Suarez 15-12-0.

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