CES photo courtesy of Will Paul
UNBEATEN WELTERWEIGHT NICK DeLomba (foreground) puts the finishing touches on Joe Wilson Jr. during their April 3rd, 2015 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The 7-0 DeLomba returns to the same venue Friday, July 15th, 2015 in his toughest test to date when he faces 12-2 southpaw Juan Rodriguez Jr. of Union City, N.J., in the six-round co-feature of CES Boxing's "Rhode To Redemption" card, headlined by Providence's Vladine Biosse.
(July 8th, 2015) -- Juan Rodriguez Jr. stopped short of making any predictions in advance of his Friday, July 17th, 2015 bout against unbeaten welterweight Nick DeLomba, but has little doubt as to which fighter would benefit more in an old-fashioned slugfest.
"Every boxer has a puncher's chance. If you get caught with the right one, that's it," said the Union City, N.J., southpaw, "but the record shows I have the advantage if it becomes a brawl."
The 5-foot-9 slugger with five knockouts on his record represents the toughest, most dangerous test of DeLomba's young career. The 29-year-old Rodriguez Jr. enters next Friday's bout at 12-2, a lengthy resume that includes showdowns against welterweight standouts Sammy Vazquez and Taras Shelestyuk, the latter on ESPN2. He and DeLomba will square off in the six-round co-feature of CES Boxing's "Rhode To Redemption" card at Twin River Casino.
"I think he's going to be a good opponent to make us look and put us on that next level," DeLomba said. "He's a traditional, tough opponent. Comes forward.
"Like I said before, I can adapt to anything in the ring. We just come up with a game plan and take to it and I adapt to whatever he throws out there."
The soft-spoken DeLomba (7-0, 1 KO) has every reason to be confident after putting together his most complete performance April 3rd in a knockout win over regional rival Joe Wilson Jr. His road to 7-0 was an unlikely one, starting exclusively with six-round bouts, which merely meant the competition across the ring was guaranteed to be as tough, if not tougher, on a nightly basis.
The truth is, DeLomba's never had it easy; his professional debut in 2013 was a six-round slugfest with ex-Marine Jimmy Smith, a bloody battle in which DeLomba emerged victorious on the scorecards. In his fourth fight, he beat 12-fight vet Edwin Soto in Soto's backyard in Connecticut. Now it's a 12-2 southpaw with twice as many fights.
Regardless of the challenge, DeLomba is at his peak both physically and mentally working with coach Victor Fagnant, a welcome change from the early days when he bounced from gym to gym with no real positive influence in his corner. The results showed April 3rd when DeLomba scored his first career knockout just days after forecasting his improved power in training camp.
"We trained hard. Our training camp was phenomenal. Preparation, everything was perfect. I felt phenomenal in that fight," DeLomba said of his April 3rd win over Wilson Jr.
"Vic's just working on my technique, making me sit down on my punches more, getting away from my amateur style of on your toes, up and throwing fast flurries and instead waiting a half second and cracking a little more."
Though DeLomba doesn't watch much video - "I leave that up to coach Vic," he said - he might be able to glean some useful information from Rodriguez's two losses, particularly the one against the rising prospect Vazquez in which he hit the canvas three times before the referee stopped the bout.
But Rodriguez admits he was tentative in those fights. He held back and didn't let his hands go as much as he's done in previous fights. That, he predicts, will all change July 17th.
"You're going to see a different Juan Rodriguez," he said matter-of-factly. "More accurate, more precise with my punches - busier. I laid back sometimes in those other fights. I went back into boxing mode a little too much, and that really doesn't favor me.
"I'm ready to rock and roll," he added. "If I have to brawl, I'll brawl. If I have to box, I'll box. My record shows when a fight come my way, I don't back down from anybody."
Tickets for "Rhode To Redemption" are priced at $40.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and available for purchase online at www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com, by phone at 401-724-2253/2254 or at the Twin River Players Club. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Super middleweight Vladine Biosse (15-6-2, 7 KOs), known in his hometown as "Mr. Providence," returns to Rhode Island for the first time in two years when he faces the hard-hitting Chris Chatman (12-5-1, 5 KOs) of Jersey City, N.J., in the 10-round main event.
The undercard features several regional rivalries, starting with a four-round junior middleweight bout between Wilson Jr. (3-2) of Hartford, Conn., and Andy Gonzalez (1-0, 1 KO) of Worcester, Mass., and a four-round heavyweight rematch between Jean Pierre Augustin (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of Lawrence, Mass., and Solomon Maye (1-4-1, 1 KO) of New Haven, Conn. The two fought to a draw in April.
Unbeaten Worcester, Mass., junior middleweight Khiary Gray (7-0, 5 KOs) also returns in a six-round bout.
Framingham, Mass., super lightweight Julio Perez makes his pro debut against Boston's Rafael Francis (0-4) and New Bedford, Mass., welterweight Scott Sullivan (1-1, 1 KO) returns to face Providence's Angel Valdez (0-2), both four-round bouts. Lawrence, Mass., lightweight Jacob Solis (1-0) will make his Twin River debut and fight for the first time since 2012 when he faces Salem, Mass., vet Matt Doherty (2-1, 2 KOs) in a four-round bout.
For more information on "Rhode To Redemption" visit www.cesboxing.com, follow @CESBOXING on Twitter and Instagram and "like" the official CES Boxing Facebook fan page.
-- CES -- |
FACES (2)
Fan-favorite Chatman returns to Rhode Island to take on Contender alum Brewer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (March 18th, 2014) -- As far as out-of-town fighters are concerned, Chris Chatman has had so much success at Twin River the casino might want to consider adding his name to the deed.
The hard-hitting fan-favorite from Jersey City will return to his second home Friday, March 28th, 2014 when he faces The Contender alum Grady Brewer in the eight-round middleweight main event of Classic Entertainment & Sports' upcoming professional boxing card at the Event Center.
The event also features the return of Cape Cod, Mass., heavyweight Jesse Barboza (7-1-1, 5 KOs); unbeaten Providence middleweight KJ Harrison-Lombardi (5-0-1); welterweight Nick DeLomba (2-0) of Cranston, R.I., and undefeated Springfield, Mass., welterweight Zack Rasmey (6-0, 3 KOs).
Tickets for the event are priced at $41, $76 and $126 (VIP) and can be purchased by calling 401-724-2253/2254, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Players Club at Twin River. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Originally from San Diego, Chatman (11-3-1, 5 KOs) first won over the Rhode Island crowd in 2009 when he fought tooth and nail against former Olympian and Providence native Demetrius Andrade, at the time the toughest fight of Andrade's young career. He returned two years later with a knockout win over Rahman Yusubov and made his third appearance at Twin River in July of 2013 by beating hometown favorite Thomas Falowo by unanimous decision.
The muscular, 5-foot-8 southpaw has become an unlikely fan-favorite in Rhode Island with both his colorful interviews at press conferences and no-nonsense approach in the ring. Now, with the crowd firmly in his corner, he'll face the veteran Brewer (30-18, 16 KOs), who fought alongside Rhode Island's Gary "Tiger" Balletto on Season 2 of The Contender and won the $500,000 cash prize by beating former world-title challenger Steve Forbes by split decision in the finals.
Like Chatman, Brewer is no stranger to New England; the Lawton, Okla., native fought in 2008 on the undercard of the CES and the Tournament of Contenders' co-promotion at The Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, beating Season 2 teammate and former light middleweight world champion Cornelius Brundage by split decision. In 2009, he stopped unbeaten Nigerian prospect Albert Onolunose in the second round of their scheduled 12-round bout and two years later handed world-title challenger Fernando Guerrero -- 21-0 at the time -- the first loss his career via fourth-round knockout. Brewer has also faced World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight champion Erislandy Lara, current World Boxing Organization (WBO) champ Andrade and unbeaten Russian prospect Matt Korobov in his 15-year career.
With Chatman-Brewer at the top, the undercard is stacked with the region's top talent, including rising stars DeLomba and Harrison-Lombardi, who've quickly become household names in Rhode Island. A protégé of Balletto, DeLomba will fight a four-round bout in his first appearance since September while Harrison-Lombardi will aim to keep his perfect record intact in a four-round bout against Jason Bakanowski (0-1) of Worcester, Mass., following his win over Antonio Fernandes in February.
Coming off a knockout win over veteran Arthur Saribekian in November, Barboza will look to stay on track against East Stroudsburg, Pa., heavyweight Glenn Thomas in a four-round bout while Ramsey takes on veteran Shakha Moore (11-19-3, 2 KOs) of Norwalk, Conn., in a six-rounder.
Louisiana cruiserweight Alvin Varmall Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs), who made his Twin River debut in February with a knockout win over Andre Ward, will return to face Devon Mosley (0-0-1) of Capitol Heights, Md., in a four-round bout and Chattanooga, Tenn., lightweight prospect Ryan Martin (3-0, 2 KOs) will face Justin Robbins (2-5, 1 KO) of Springfield, Ill., in a four-round bout.
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