HYANNIS — Months of training and years of dedication will come to the foré tomorrow night for a dozen professional boxers but not before all are weighed in tonight by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission at Trader Ed’s at the Hyannis Marina at 4:00 pm.
Harwich native Paul Gonsalves (left) and Hyannis native Jesse Barboza will be two of Saturday night’s featured pro boxers in bouts slated at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center in Hyannis.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
For the first time since 2006, professional boxing returns to Hyannis with bouts slated to begin at 7:00 pm tomorrow night (Saturday) at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. The fights on tap include Hyannis native Jesse Barboza and Harwich’s Paul Gonsalves, with Barboza going for the Northeast Heavyweight Championship crown.
The doors open at 6:00 pm at the HYCC tomorrow night with a full slate of five professional boxing matches that include: Jesse Barboza vs. Jesse Oltmanns – eight-rounds for the Northeast Heavyweight Championship; Paul Gonsalves vs. Rafael Valenzuela – eight-rounds light heavyweights; Vinnie Carita vs. Jose Humberto Corral – eight-rounds cruiserweights; Tolan Tascoe vs. Lionel Young – four-rounds middleweights; and Malik Jackson vs. Oscar Diaz – four-rounds welterweights.
“The event is all-ages and will be very family-friendly,” according to Boston Boxing Promotions’ Peter Czymbor.
The August 8, 2015 event will be presented by Boston Boxing Promotions. It will be the first professional boxing event held in Hyannis since 2006. General admission tickets are $40 and are on sale now at www.CapeCodBoxing.com. Fans are urged to purchase tickets early due to limited availability.
There will be more than one distinguished guest on hand at tomorrow night’s five-bout spectacular, most notably former welterweight world champion Tony Demarco and Hyannis’ very own former fighter/trainer George Maddox. As a pro fighter from 1959 – 1960, Maddox is credited with accruing a record of 11 wins and 3 losses. Within that career, he fought twice in Cape Cod during the summer of 1959 in West Yamouth at Hill Arena and scored a third-round TKO over Pittsfield native Jerry Kelp and an eight-round decision win over New Bedford’s Eddie Sylvia. He also had an amateur career record of an astounding 160 wins, 12 losses.
He also made his mark on Cape Cod boxing as a trainer coaching Hyannis’ Kippy Diggs to a career that ended with him having a record of 30 wins, 5 losses and 22 of his wins coming by way of knockout. Diggs was also at one point world rated and held the NABF Welterweight title. He also trained Falmouth’s Jay Pina to a 16-3 career record and Hyannis ring veteran Terry Crowley – who pulled some major upsets in his career including a 1982 TKO over Kevin Rooney, who would go on to great fame as Mike Tyson’s trainer when he became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. He also lost a very close split decision to Dicky Eklund, Micky Ward’s brother who was portrayed by Christian Bale in the movie, “The Fighter”, during a bout in South Yarmouth in 1983.
Former world champion Demarco, once known as the “The Fleet Street Fury,” is a legend in Boston’s North End, where there is a statue in his likeness at the corners of Hanover and Cross Streets. He headlined the old Boston Garden more than any fighter in history and he won the welterweight world championship in 1955 with a 14th round TKO over reigning champ Johnny Saxton in Syracuse, NY. He would lose the title later that year to Hall of Famer Carmen Basilio in a brutal 12-round fight back at the Garden that was named “Fight of the Year” by Ring Magazine. DeMarco also headlined the last boxing event ever to be held at Boston’s Fenway Park in 1956.
Tomorrow night’s gala event will be headlined by the Northeast Heavyweight Championship fight between Hyannis’ Jesse Barboza (9-1-1, 5 KO’s) and Pennsylvania’s Jesse Oltmanns (10-5, 7 KO’s). It will also feature an eight-round light heavyweight fight between Harwich’s Paul Gonsalves (7-7-1, 3 KO’s) and Mexico’s Rafael Valenzuela (8-5, 1 KO).
The August 8, 2015 event is being presented by Boston Boxing Promotions. General admission tickets are $40 and are on sale now at www.CapeCodBoxing.com. Fans are urged to purchase tickets early due to limited availability.
Boston Boxing Promotions is dedicated to the resurgence of professional boxing at the regional level, particularly in the New England area. To learn more about the promotion, you can follow them on Twitter @BostonProBoxing, join the promotion’s official Facebook page “Boston Boxing Promotions,” and visit the promotion’s websitewww.BostonBoxingPromotions.com.
— Story and photos by Sean Walsh, sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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Best of luck to both Cape fighters!