Star Boxing: Prospect James Moore KO’s Foe In The Bronx

It was a capacity crowd last night at the Utopia Paradise Theater for the 4th installment of Joe DeGuardia’s “Punchin’ at the Paradise” series. In the main event, rising Jr. Middleweight Contender Irish James Moore (12-0, 9KO’s) scored a sensational third round KO over Chris Overbey.

Headlining yesterday’s event was Irish James Moore of Queens, NY. Moore, a bronze medalist at the World Games and a highly decorated amateur, displayed his vaunted body punching to systematically break down the game Chris Overbey of Sydney, OH.

From the opening bell, several furious exchanges had the crowd jumping out of their seats with both men giving it their all. Overbey finally succumbed to Moore’s assault and was sent to the canvas in the 2nd for an 8-count. Although the bell saved Overbey Moore continued his assault in the 3rd round and dropped Overbey for the 2nd time—forcing Overbey’s corner to thrown in the towel.

“It was my body punching that setup the knockdown” said an elated Moore. “I feel good fighting at 154lbs and I’m looking to do big things this year. The crowd was fantastic here in the Bronx and I can’t wait fight here again.”

Moore was also awarded a special belt by Star Boxing naming him the “Rising Star of the evening.

In heavyweight action, Terrell Nelson (7-4, 5KO’s) returned from a 10-year hiatus to score an impressive 2nd round TKO victory over Brooklyn’s Rodney Ray (4-5-1, 4KO’s). From the first bell, Nelson uncorked some big right hands on Ray’s chin– forcing Ray to box the 290-plus pounds Nelson. Unfortunately for Ray he constantly was circling into Nelson’s power and paid the price when a big one-two combination deposited him on the canvas to end the fight.\

Former amateur standout Juan Carlos Herrera (0-1) was upset in his pro debut by the rugged One Shot Thomas (1-2). From the opening bell Thomas seemed to control the action with cleaner boxing and effective aggression. In the second round Herrera was clearly hurt and escaped a knockdown by clinching onto Thomas and taking him down to the canvs. Things never improved for the young Herrera who simply couldn’t find Thomas to land a meaningful punch.

Yonkers Cruiserweight Jon “The Fighting Marine” Schneider (4-1, 3 KO’s) sank Travis Waters (0-2) in just 40 seconds of the first round. Schneider opened the round boxing, but was quickly able to find an opening that led to the knockout.

The upset of the night saw the Bronx’s own and previously unbeaten Vaughn Parham (2-1, 2KO’s) bombed out in the first round by Jason Bergman (5-2, 4KO’s).

Welterweight Prospect Mike Ruiz (3-2, 2KO’s) put on an impressive performance by stopping the durable James Ventry (3-4, 2KO’s) at 1:36 of the first round. From the opening bell Ruiz’s unloaded a series of debilitating body shots that sent Ventry to the canvas twice before the referee decided to call a halt to the action.

The popular “Punchin at the Paradise” series has been garnering lots of media attention and is a magnet for boxing’s finest. The impressive list of boxing stars in attendance included Iran Barkley, Raymond Joval, Vinny Maddalone, Bobby Gunn, Tracy Harris Patterson, Junior Jones, Elvir Muriqi, Andrey Tsurkan, and Paul Malignaggi to name a few. Also note, a feature article written by Tom Hauser on the “Punchin at the Paradise” series is schedule to run in the Sun July16th.