The first doubleheader in Massachusetts’ long professional boxing history, “Road 2 Stardom”, presented by Granite Chin Promotions, was a success last night, at Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, Massachusetts. (photo by Emily Harney)
In the evening card’s main event, rising welterweight prospect Denzel “Double Impact” Whitley (8-0, 6 KOs) methodically and thoroughly outboxed upset-minded Maycon Oller Da Silva on his way to career win No. 9 without a loss, by way of a one-sided 6-round decision (59-54 X 3).
After a “feeling out” first round, Whitley came out in the second controlling the pace, landing some sweet combinations on his much taller opponent’s head and body. Whitley showed his high ring IQ, poise and solid all-around skills in the third as he started breaking down Silva, who had been dropped only seconds before the end of the second round by a sneaky right. Whitley’s dominance continued, whether he counter punched or led, right to the end of the fight. Whitley, who was unmarked, won all six rounds on the three judges’ scorecards.
Billed as a potential Fight of the Night, the co-featured event more than lived up to its pre-fight billing, as Bryan “Mex” Urday (2-1, 0 KOs) and “Nasty” Nate Balakin (3-1, 1 KO) stood toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring, trading punishing shots from the opening bell to the end. Urday seemed to take control in the fourth when he clipped Balakin with an overhand right that temporarily turned the tide, but the equally tough Balakin came back strong in the same frame.
The back-and-forth momentum continued as both fighters left everything in the ring, somehow neither fighter showing signs of tiring, and Urday was awarded a 6-round unanimous decision (59-55, 58-56 X 2) for the vacant Massachusetts Welterweight Championship.
Constantly developing welterweight Josniel “TG” Castro (9-0, 7 KOs) blasted out Bryan Goldsby (5-17) in the opening round, hurting Goldsby with each punch he connected with until he ended the bout a little more than one minute into round one. Goldsby landed on the mat and referee Tom Clark had seen enough.
2020 New England Golden Gloves Champion David Ribeiro (1-0, 1 KO) had an impressive pro debut, dropping welterweight Rakim Johnson four times en route to a second-round technical knockout. Fighting out of the City of Champions, Brockton (MA), Ribeiro displayed his full arsenal, effectively using both hands from various angles to deck Johnson three times in the opening round, once in the second, after which referee Tom Clark waved off the fight.
Fighting in his first main event, as well as his first scheduled 8-rounder, super middleweight Steve Sumpter (6-0, 6 KOs) needed rounds but opponent Manny “Shake Em’ Up” Woods (17-17-1, 6 KOs) didn’t cooperate as Sumpter took Woods’ soul with some masterful boxing and power punching. Woods went down twice in the second, once in the third, and referee Paul Casey ended the fight in the fourth with Sumpter pounding Woods on the ropes.
Heavyweight hopeful Quintin Sumpter (5-0, 4 KOs) – Steve’s older brother – outclassed journeyman Tracey “The Titan” Johnson (4-11-6, 0 KOs), dropping Johnson with a right hook at the end of round one. Sumpter broke through Johnson’s high peekaboo-like defense and in the fourth round of this entertaining bout, Sumpter blasted Johnson with a powerful right that hurt Johnson and referee Marcel Varela immediately waved off the fight for a 2nd round TKO victory for the continually improving Sumpter.