CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Northeast Heavyweight Champion Jesse Barboza raises his belt Saturday after successfully defending his title against Francisco Mireles of Mexico. Members of the Barnstable High School football team joined Barboza in the ring after his victory
HYANNIS – Professional boxing returned to Cape Cod Saturday night for second time this year with five fights on the card at Barnstable High School, including the marque fight featuring defending Northeast Heavyweight Champion Jesse Barboza of Hyannis that ended in a flash.
Barboza, an up and coming fighter and Barnstable High School graduate, took less than 2 minutes to put Francisco Mireles of Mexico on the mat several times before the fight was called for the “Hytown Hitman.”
Mireles went down just seconds into the first round after a quick jab from Barboza and appeared to want nothing to do with the fight after that. The referee quickly called the bout in a knockout for Barboza.
“It was disappointing to me. I like a real, clean knockout. I like to leave guys knocked out where they can’t get up. He could have fought some more, so I was really disappointed in that,” said Barboza after the win. Members of the Barnstable High School football team joined Barboza in the ring to celebrate his win. Barboza was a standout football player during his years at BHS.
The light heavyweight division featured Harwich native and local fan favorite Paul Gonsalves in a rematch from this past summer’s fight against Mexico’s Jose Humberto.
Gonsalves unleashed a barrage of punches in the second round, staggering Humberto, before he recovered from the corner. Both fighters unloaded on each other with seconds to go in the round, but neither hit the deck.
Humberto went down early in the third, but jumped up quickly, showing an ability to absorb Gonsalves’ punches. Humberto taunted the Harwich fighter toward the end of the third, waving him on to land punches.
Both fighters traded jabs in rounds 6, 7 and 8, with Gonsalves securing a unanimous decision win at the end of the fight.
CCB MEDIA PHOTO:
Paul Gonsalves is tended to by his corner team during his match Saturday night in Hyannis
“I was expecting a tough fight, a long fight. I was hoping to get him out of there, but the kid had a head like iron.” Gonsalves said.
In an 8-round cruiserweight fight, Vinnie “The American Nightmare” Carita fought Mexican Rafael Valenzuela with both matching each other punch for punch in the first two rounds.
Valenzuela went down early in the third, recovered briefly, but went down for good a few moments later following a punishing body blow, giving Carita the knockout win.
Welterweight Malik Jackson knocked Bryan Abraham down in the fourth round of their fight after both men spent the first three rounds mostly dancing around each other, looking for the right moment to land a punch. Abraham got up but was quickly put down for good seconds later for a knockout fourth round win.
In the first fight of the night, featuring junior middleweights, Tolan Tascoe of Montclair, New Jersey beat Paulo DeSouza of Cianorte, Brazil in a unanimous decision.
Boston Boxing Promotions brought professional boxing back to Cape Cod in July for the first since 2006.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com News Director
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