The evening card of another Granite Chin day-night doubleheader (separate admissions) is headlined by the 10-round main event for the vacant NABA United States Heavyweight Championship between Vukosa (13-1, 5 קאָס) who will possibly be fighting for the final time – win, פאַרלירן אָדער ציען — and reigning New England heavyweight champion Marshall.
וווקאָסאַ, fighting of out Quincy, מאַ, is a former WBC U.S. Heavyweight Champion, which he captured in 2019 when he won an 8-round unanimous decision against Joe Cusumano (18-2, 16 קאָס). During his 20-year pro boxing career, Vukosa’s gained invaluable experience sparring at the famed Wild Card Boxing gym in Los Angeles as a sparring partner for world champions יעקב טאָוני, עוואַנדער האָליפיעלד און וולאַדימיר קליצטשקאָ. He’s also driven a bus for the past 15 years for the Mass Bay Transportation Authority, סטאַרטינג בייַ 4 פּ.ם. and finishing around 2 אַ.מ., after which he does his run in. But he’s now 44 with a wife and three children and his boxing clock is ticking.
“I’m still fighting because I love it,” Vukosa explained. “It’s hard to walk away from something you’re good at. This one fight and it could be the end. My wife will be happy. My body is starting to fall apart: הענט, back and knees. They’ve been killing me. I used to be quick and fast, now I’m slow. I just want to have a good fight, געווינען, or lose, but I want to win. I really enjoyed by days at Wild Card, those sparring sessions were like real fights, and my amateur days with trainer Jimmy Farrell.
“I saw my opponent when he won the New England title, I was impressed. (פאַרשפּרייטער)קריס (Traietti) called asking if I’d fight him, I accepted because I like to fight and a good challenge. I’m looking forward to the fight.”
The 36-year-old Marshall, fighting out of Danbury, קאָרט, has won his last two fights, both on Granite Chin shows at the same venue as his upcoming match with Vukosa, including his N.E. title-winning performance last November against Justin “Crazy Train” Rolfe. Marshall isn’t looking at his opponent as over the hill because of Vukosa’s advance age, but he does plan to make a statement that, hopefully, will get him positive exposure outside of New England.
“I know he’s a veteran pugilist, a pupil of Hall of Fame trainer פרעדי ראָוטש, who was an awesome fighter in his own right,” Marshall remarked. “This is boxing, עפּעס קענען פּאַסירן. My job is to prepare for anything. I’ve had the best quality sparring in house with the No. 1 amateur heavyweight, Fernely Felix, דזשוניער. My team works very hard, My manger, אַ.דזש. גאַלאַנטי, asked me to be sharper in my last fight (3-round KO of Tracey Johnson this past April), so I did what he asked me to do. My cornerman Austin Ampeoquio keeps me sharp with the mitts, and my head coaches David McDonough און Bennie ‘The Jet’ Little do a good job pushing me as well.
“I know Steve comes to fight and I’m looking forward to an exciting night of boxing. We are two warriors going toe-to-toe in the ring, putting on a show for boxing fans who really enjoy the sport of boxing, not this YouTube celebrity garbage that’s going on right now.”
“Steve ran into some bad luck after the Cusumano win,” Granite Chin president Chris Traietti commented. “A few fights fell through, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We literally had a fight in Germany fall out the day we were set to leave for the airport. After that we lost a lot of the steam from the Cusamano fight and kind of had to reassess. He picked up a tune-up fight a few months ago, but we now have to either regain some momentum by winning a fight like this or finally have Steve ride off into the sunset. This fight with Marshall will be no picnic. He has burst upon the local scene with some impressive performances.
“Like many coming to the fight, I have no idea how this fight shakes out, which makes for a great main event. One thing I will say, despite what Steve like to make people believe, in the event he wins this fight, it won’t be his final fight. Zero chance of that! If Marshall wins, I have no doubt he will get a television fight in the very near future on a major network.”
In the 8-round co-featured event, former N.E. heavyweight champion Rolfe (5-2-1, 4 קאָס), פון פאַירפיעלד, מיר, will takes on Mexican challenger Jose Humberto “Olimpico” Corral (20-26, 12 קאָס) for the vacant ABF Atlantic heavyweight title.
New England welterweight champion Mike “Bad Man” Ohan, דזשוניער. (12-1, 6 קאָס), fighting out of Holbrook, מאַ, will defend his title in an 8-round match against upset-mindedTyrone “Hands of Stone” Luckey (13-14-4 (9 קאָס).
Undefeated Holyoke, MA welterweight Denzel “Double Impact” Whitley (4-0, 3 קאָס) will be in his first scheduled 6-rounder versus Anthony Andreozzi (0-1), of Swansea, מאַ. Indianapolis junior welterweight Dewayne Wisdom will be in his 66טה pro fight against Nelson “Chino” Perez (2-0, 2 קאָס) in a 6-rounder.
Also slated to be in action on the undercard, all in 4-round bouts, is Weymouth, MA welterweight Eric “Gladiator” Goff (1-0) ווס. Aquilando Brandao (0-3), Holyoke junior middleweight Carlos Abel Castillo (1-0, 1 קאָ) ווס. Jay Gregory (0-3), Woburn, MA middleweight Julien “Black Dragon” Baptiste (2-0, 2 קאָס) ווס. ראָדריגאָ אַלמעידאַ (2-10, 2 קאָס), Framingham, MA light heavyweight Saul “Spider” Almeida (0-13-4) ווס. פּראָ-דעבוטינג Steve Sumpter, לאָראַנס, MA junior lightweight Kevin Rodriguez (0-1) פנימער Ryan Venable (2-4), ונדעפעאַטעד פּאָרטאַ ריקאַן סופּער מידדלעוועיגהט דזשעלאַמע גאַרסיאַ (7-0, 6 קאָס) ווס. Larry “Slo Mo” Smith (12-47-2, 8 קאָס), and Worcester’s (מאַ) 3-time New England Golden Gloves champion Demek “Hightower” Edmonds (1-0, 1 קאָ) ווס. פּראָ-דעבוטינג Wallace Nass Silva.
The pro segment of the afternoon’s Pro-Am card will be headlined by ABF Atlantic Cruiserweight Champion Yan “Wild Thing” Pellerin (11-1, 5 קאָס) defending his title against Lewiston, ME challenger Cristiano Pedro, fighting out by way of Angola, in an 8-round fight.
Other pro fights, all 4-rounders, include Canadian heavyweight Alexis Barriere (1-0, 1 קאָ) ווס. New York’s pro-debuting Andrew Nolan, Methuen (מאַ), ליכט כעוויווייטAndrew Perez in his pro debut vs. Jesus Cintron (1-18-2), Springfield (מאַ) יבער לייטווייט Ian “Dinamite” Garcia (0-0-1) ווס. Andy Aiello (1-4-1), of Bridgewater, מאַ, New York light heavyweight Scott Lampert (1-2, 1 קאָ) ווס. Yhago Goncalves (0-3), of Portsmouth (מיר) by way of Brazil, and Springfield’s pro-debuting super middleweightLaurent Humes vs.pro-debuting Philipe Martins, of Marlborough, מאַ.
The inaugural “Granite Chin Invitational” tournament, pitting some of the best amateur boxers in New England in the semifinals round, in the USA Boxing-sanctioned event during the afternoon portion of the day-night doubleheader. The semifinals winners will advance to the tournament’s championship final August 28טה at New England Sports Center.
Some of the top N.E. amateur boxers expected to compete include 2021 USA National Championships gold medalist Arika Skoog, the 2-time N.E. Golden Gloves champion out of Newton (מאַ); 2-time N.E. גאָלדען גלאָוועס מייַסטער Tashawn Ward, a featherweight from Providence (רי); און מידדלעוועיגהץ James Maner, 2019 N.E. Golden Gloves champion from Providence, and 2-time N.E. גאָלדען גלאָוועס מייַסטער Mike Fontanez, of Nashua (נ.ה).
טיקקעץ זענען אויף פאַרקויף און זענען פּרייסט בייַ $25.00 (Day Show) / $40.00 (Night Show) for general seating (unassigned). Unassigned ringside seating will be available at $35.00 per seat during the day show. The night show will offer ringside tables (assigned and seats 4) פֿאַר $300.00 and are available to purchase online at www.ticketriver.com(זוכן: Granite Chin Invitational for the day show, Breakout for night show).
דאָאָרס עפענען בייַ 12:15 פּ.ם. און און 7:15 פּ.ם. און (נאַכט) with the first bouts, ריספּעקטיוולי, בייַ 12:30 פּ.ם. און און 7:30 פּ.ם. און.
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