Crowder Dominantes Diaz, Infuriates Crowd

Baltimore’s Dominique Crowder (19-0, 11 ko) may have boxed effectively, but gave the crowd nothing to get excited about outside of a nice jab and good fundamentals, giving a sleepy performance at just the wrong time as the Barclay’s center crowd showered him in boo’s throughout a dominant decision over Fernando Diaz (16-6-1, 5 ko). Crowder, who’s footwork, jab, and ring IQ could give anybody problems at bantamweight, was just not going to get the crowds love 13 fights into a long overdrawn card. Maybe earlier in the night, but not then.

The crowd implored him to engage more, but it wasn’t in the cards. While I like Crowder’s skills, he didn’t read the room on this one and could have upped his work rate slightly in a fight he was so dominant in. Diaz for his part just couldn’t get Crowder to set for even a single moment and failed to pile up the kind of body work it would have taken to slow him down.

Knyba Passes Obligatory Dawjko Test

The only heavyweight fight of the night, Damian Knyba started walking to the ring around quarter of 11 eastern time after eleven previous fights on the night. And as the crowd seemed to start to disconnect from the fights themselves, Knyba had to find a way to open up the slick Joey Dawjko enough to score something big. It took him a while, but Knyba finally opened up Dawejoko and finished him in the seventh of a scheduled 8.

Dawejko commanded center ring early, throwing the occasional hail Mary while Knyba boxed nicely behind a jab but had trouble landing any clean power shots on Dawejko. He finally started to land some damaging shots in the third, and when Dawejko opened up in the fifth, Knyba made him pay and appeared to hurt Dawjko for the first time in the fight. A vicious combination finally dropped Dawejko and finished him in the 7th. Knyba (17-0, 11 ko) is a promising heavyweight who knows how to use his height and reach and has become increasingly destructive offensively in recent fights. Dawjeko has now dropped three fights in a row, two by knockout, and despite all of his skills and slickness, simply doesn’t have the condition to maintain any kind of work rate or game plan at the highest level.

Rosado Cruises for 2nd Straight Win

In a true crossroads fight between two guys who have taken very similar paths, Gabriel Rosado (28-17-1, 16 ko) had a little more left in the tank, boxing behind a jab to win a very workmanlike fight over fellow veteran Vaughn Alexander for his second straight victory. Rosado hurt Alexander towards the end of the sixth and closed the fight strong in the last two, going for the knockout but unable to get it against the crafty Alexander (19-17-2, 12 ko).

Rosado has been in with a who’s who of his era, which has now spanned nearly 15 years. He has spoken of trying to get to another world title opportunity, but after lackluster performances against Shane Mosley Jr., Ali Akhmedov and Bektemir Melikuziev (rematch), it was unclear how much he had left after so many hard fights. The time off seems to have benefitted Rosado, who looked refreshed and reinvigorated, albeit against another older fighter in Alexander, but nonetheless a solid performance all around.

Chris Colbert Continues to Struggle

Despite severely hurting and dropping Blas Caro with a hard body shot in the fifth round, Chris Colbert (18-3, 6 ko) struggled mightily in an eight round decision that frankly had no business being that competitive. The bottom line – Chris Colbert gets hit too clean. The fight ended with Colbert taking about six clean headhots along the ropes and was emblamatic of the last few years for him.

Colbert showed signs of greatness early in his career, and still at times shows flashes of the handspeed and IQ that once dazzled us. But in recent years, particularly since his fights with Rayo Valenzuela, Colbert has simply looked far too hittable and vulnerable. He walks himself to the ropes, his chins in the air, and there doesn’t look to be a gameplan to speak of. The knockout losses have happened for a reason – Colbert’s chin is there to be tested. Until there is some sort of technical change or a shift in approach, unfortunately Colbert’s chances of getting back to the top look slim as he struggled with Caro (12-9, 5 ko) who fought hard but a few years ago would not have been competitive with Colbert.

Undercard

• He may have won in his first fight back in over a year and a half, but middleweight prospect Reshat Mati (16-0, 8 ko) looked like he got more than he bargained for in an eight round decision over a motivated Jose Angulo (17-11, 10 ko). In the first two, it looked to be business as usual for Mati who used his typical beautiful footwork and jab to outbox Angulo. But in the third, Angulo would land a vicious left hook that would completely change the tone of the fight, hurting Mati and winning him both the third and fourth rounds. Mati would regain his composure, get his feet back under him, and do enough to win the final few rounds for a majority decision. Mati, Staten Island, looked spectacular in wins over Dakota Linger and Irving De Jesus Macias back in 2024, but was not the same guy tonight. The time off and ring rust clearly impacted him.
• In a highly competitive back and forth affair, Matthew Gonzalez (16-1-1, 10 ko) was able to land the cleaner shots and outbox the aggressive Wilfredo Flores (12-6-1, 5 ko). Ridgewood’s Gonzalez was pushed to limit against Flores but simply was able to land the cleaner mor effective shots in one of the better fights of the night.
• In a fight filled with grappling, holding, and the occasional burst of action, former middleweight contender Avantandil Khurtsidze (34-2-3, 23 ko) and Andres Martinez (6-4-1, 3 ko) fought to a majority draw. Khurtsidze, from the nation of Georgia, was once one of the most relentless aggressors at middleweight before a several year stint in prison for ties to an eastern European crime syndicate, and Martinez was fresh off an upset win over local favorite Nadim Saloum. On paper, this had the potential for fireworks, but didn’t quite deliver, with Khurtsidze unable to find his range without getting smothered, and Martinez unable to keep Khurtsidze off of him enough to get his shots off. The draw felt appropriate. Khurtsidze, now 45 years old, looked every bit of his age in this one in only his second fight since he was arrested in 2017 during preparation for a fight with Billy Jo Saunders.
• After an uneventful first couple of rounds between unbeaten jr. lightweights, Keith Colon Rodriguez (8-0, 8 ko) sent David Calabro (5-1, 3 ko) crumbling to the canvas with a body shot in round three. Colon had started to open up in the third after a slow start, but was struggling to get Calabro to engage or open up himself. The body shot a 2:23 would abruptly stop the fight as the referee called it off.
• The scores may have been wide, but jr. middleweight Cristian Cangelosi (12-0, 5 ko) struggled mightily down the stretch of a fight he was dominating against Victoriano Santillan (13-9-2, 8 ko) to score a wide but lackluster decision. Cangelosi, the Sicilian born Brooklyn resident, came out aggressive early, sitting down on hard combinations and finding his range early. In the third, he would start boxing effectively off the back foot as it became more apparent that Santillan was not going down anytime soon. He would land another brutal combination at the end of the fourth that would prompt the doctor to check Santillan between rounds. Santillan would come out aggressive in the fifth, which seemed to play into Cangelosi’s hands as he landed his jab and countered off the back foot. But inexplicably, Cangelosi seemed to take his foot off the gas in the sixth and Santillan with give him a competitive sixth and arguably winning the final two rounds as Cangelosi completely checked out defensively. Cangelosi showed some great pieces, but will have to stay consistent for the entire fight as he steps up in competition. Hopefully, the versatile Cangelosi won’t play with his food next time.

Prelim Bouts

• Jr. middleweight prospect Quincy Williams (6-0, 6 ko) contiuned his six fight knockout streak in as many bouts in a devastating knockout of Miami’s Christopher Rodriguez (13-2-1, 11 ko). Williams pinned Rodriguez in the corner at the end of the third and let go of a brutal combination that rendered Rodriguez defenseless and forced the stoppage.
• Super middleweight and Bronx native Jahanzeb Rizwan (1-0, 1 ko) made quick work of Travon Millage (0-2), stopping him in the second round in his pro debut. After having trouble finding his range and initiating offense in the first round and a half, Rizwan appeared to put Millage down with a body shot in the second, which the referee did not call, though Millage seemed very much impacted by the shot, getting dropped again moments later with the athletic commission stopping the fight after he was slow to get up.
• Middleweight prospect Zahir Abdus Salaam (1-0) of Newark won a hard fought majority decision against a game Eduardo Perez De La Paz (0-3)  in an impressive pro debut. After a feel out round in the first, punctuated by the first hard shot from Abdus Salaam about two minutes in, Abdus Salaam found his rhythm in the second and started tee off on Perez De La Paz, who responded well in the 3rd, pushing Abdus Salaam back and seeming to shift the momentum. Abdus Salaam would close the fourth strong with his best round of the fight, boxing off the back foot and landing beautiful counterpunches to close the show.