Star Boxing: “Punchin’ At The Paradise” Rocks The Bronx Once Again

Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing presented the seventh installment of the popular “Punchin At The Paradise” series at The Utopia Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, NY last night and in what has become a tradition of the Paradise shows, those in attendance were treated to a memorable night of boxing.

Andre Tsurkan (25-3 16KOs) and Yuri Foreman (24-0 8 KOs) hooked up in an inter-borough battle which left those in the large crowd debating who won the fight. Tsurkan put his NABF Jr. Middleweight title on the line as he battled the undefeated Foreman over the course of ten rounds.

The pattern of the fight was clear from the opening bell, Tsurkan was the bull and Foreman was the matador. The question was who was more effective at their style. Foreman moved smartly in the opening frame while Tsurkan tried to apply pressure throughout the round. The second round saw Tsurkan get closer to Foreman and start to land effective jabs and hooks to the head of Foreman.

Round three was a big round for Tsurkan as was able to land numerous power shots eventually opening up a cut over the right eye of Foreman. Foreman seemed to gain back some composure in round four but Tsurkan’s attack was relentless. Tsurkan’s non-stop pressure continued through seven rounds with Tsurkan clearly the more effective fighter.

Foreman won rounds eight and nine as Tsurkan’s aggressive attack finally slowed down. The fight was very close entering round ten. Each fighter took turns having their moments in the round and it appeared Tsurkan finished the stronger of the two and walk away with his NABF title intact.

The crowd anxiously awaited the decision. The scores were given, 96-94 on two cards for Yuri Foreman and 96-94 on the third card for Andre Tsurkan, thus making Foreman a split decision winner and the new NABF champion.

Understandably, Tsurkan’s corner became irate and after a polling of the ringside media one could understand why. Most had Tsurkan the winner. In addition, the sentiment was that Foreman did not do enough to take away the title from champion, and Tsurkan clearly made the fight.

There has been an old adage in boxing that says the challenger must win the title from the champion. Most onlookers felt that Foreman did not do this. Nonetheless, the clocked was turned back to the glory days when two New York fighters went at tooth and nail and gave it their all.

Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing said “It was thrilling to hear the crowd cheering for Tsurkan and Foreman, as both had enthusiastic and supportive fans. I was disappointed with the decision as I felt Tsurkan won the fight. Certainly Tsurkan is a crowd favorite and deserves another big fight. I wish Foreman the best, and he showed that he came to the fight in tremendous shape as Tsurkan’s pressure was relentless.”

The semi-final saw Argentina’s WBC #3 Jr. Middleweight Sergio Martinez improve to (41-1-1 22 KOs) with a 4th round TKO over late sub Russell Jordan (14-5 9KOs). Heavyweight Monte Barrett (32-6 18 KOs) avenged a July loss by knocking out Cliff Couser (26-14-2 14 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled 6 round bout.

Other notable undercard results saw rising Welterweight prospect Ray Robinson remain undefeated (6-0 2 KOs) scoring an impressive 2nd round knockout of Oscar Rodriguez (9-10-1 3 KOs). Heavyweight Andre Purlette (40-2 35 KOs) pounded out a hard fought 6 round decision win over Andrew Greeley (13-19-2 7 KOs).

Edgar Santana (22-3 14 KOs) returned to winning form by defeating Mike Gonzalez (10-3-1 9 KOs) via 3rd TKO in a Jr. Welterweight bout scheduled for 6 rounds. Joe Hanks (1-0 1 KO) scored a 2nd round KO of Joe Rabotte (0- 2) in a Heavyweight bout scheduled for 4 rounds.

The show was promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, DiBella Entertainment, and Top Rank and televised live on the Versus network.