What To Know
- Promoter Joe DeGuardia built Star Boxing on a modest venue called The Paramount in Huntington, New York.
- Its boxing series known as Rockin’ Fights has given dozens of boxers a chance to develop their skills and test their talent, including champions Chris Algieri and Joe Smith Jr.
- Rockin’ Fights 55 takes place on Saturday, October 10.
On the North Shore of Long Island sits a village called Huntington, New York. There is a familiar hustle and bustle with restaurants, bars and a concert hall called The Paramount.
There is a din of an anticipatory crowd, the heavy bass of a walkout track rattles the brick walls, and for a few hours, a concert hall on Long Island transforms into a blast furnace. The concert hall does its best imitation of the famed Philadelphia Blue Horizon.
Six years ago, I chronicled this exact phenomenon for The Ring, noting how Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing was “Rockin’ the House” and breathing life back into the local boxing scene at The Paramount Theater in Huntington.
This Saturday night, October 10, the venue ignites once again for Rockin’ Fights 55, as a fresh crop of hungry prospects steps into that very same ring to begin their own journey toward boxing glory. While we look to the future, it’s worth taking a minute to look back.
Boxing Legacy of the Paramount
Dozens of regional belts have been fiercely contested and proudly defended inside these ropes over the past decade, but those local honors ultimately serve as stepping stones toward one supreme pinnacle: the World Championship. Looking back today, with the benefit of hindsight and a half-dozen more titleholders forged in that room, it is clear Joe DeGuardia didn’t just build a great show, he built a forge.
Over more than 50 Rockin’ Fights events, that ring has served as the anvil where raw talent is relentlessly hammered into championship steel. While several have tried and come up short, eight distinct world champions have passed through these doors, proving that the venue is far more than an entertainment stage. It is a manufacturing plant for boxing royalty.
For a local prospect to evolve into a global contender, they can’t just be polished. They must be tested under immense heat and pressure. The true genius of DeGuardia’s Rockin’ Fights is found in its matchmaking and promotion.
Boxing Matchmaking and Promotion 101
Star Boxing mastered the art of placing rising, ticket-selling prospects against the exact type of durable, dangerous veterans who act as the anvil. These opponents don’t lay down. They strike back, testing a fighter’s chin, stamina, and ring IQ to ensure the steel won’t crack when it finally reaches the world stage.
It also gives fighters an opportunity to build a fan base by winning these highly competitive contests. Many prospects have been derailed on this journey, but a select few have gone the distance.
Nobody embodies this metallurgy better than Chris Algieri. Long before he shocked the world by rising from the canvas to dethrone Ruslan Provodnikov for the WBO World Junior Welterweight strap, the “Pride of Huntington” was the lifeblood of the early Rockin’ Fights cards.
Joe DeGuardia: Pressure Creates Champions
Star Boxing didn’t feed him easy knockouts. Instead, they thrust him into the fire, culminating in a bout against Emmanuel Taylor, a phenomenal step-up fight specifically chosen to drag Algieri into deep waters.
The energy in the building during that era was undeniable. “We are putting our show there constantly,” Algieri noted about the Paramount’s impact on the local boxing ecosystem back when he was getting ready to challenge Manny Pacquiao.
“Star Boxing shows at the Paramount have drawn big crowds over the years, and there is a lot of up-and-coming talent there now. You see more and more gyms with competitive professional fighters.”
Joe DeGuardia knew exactly what he was building by using that raucous, claustrophobic atmosphere to pressure-test his fighters. Ahead of Algieri’s grueling 2013 test against Mike Arnaoutis, DeGuardia noted the unique dynamic of the venue: “Algieri always brings a great crowd and this time so will his opponent. The Paramount is always a great place to watch the fights and have a good time.”
Chris Algieri Comes Home To Huntington
Following the hard-fought victory that night, DeGuardia confirmed the strategy was working: “Chris Algieri is up and coming no matter who’s in front of him and he keeps progressing and developing. Tonight, he certainly passed his biggest test so far.”
Years later, when Algieri needed to rebuild and launch his comeback following a tough two-and-a-half-year layoff, he didn’t look for a soft landing on a random undercard. He returned home to the forge.
In November 2018, Algieri stepped back through the ropes at The Paramount for Rockin’ Fights 33, shaking off the rust with a hard-fought ten-round unanimous decision over Angel Hernandez to successfully jumpstart the second act of his career.
Smith Jr., Andrade Hone Their Craft At The Paramount
Not far behind him was Mastic’s own Joe Smith Jr. The “Common Man” brought his lunch-pail work ethic and concussive power to the Huntington ring repeatedly throughout 2014 and 2015. For Smith, the forge was about proving his heavy hands could translate against upper-echelon durability.
Grinding down rugged veterans like Cory Cummings taught Smith how to pace his power. Those precise, grueling tests laid the physical and mental foundation for the man who would knock Bernard Hopkins out of the ring and eventually capture the WBO World Light Heavyweight title.
The venue wasn’t just a cradle for Long Island locals. Demetrius Andrade brought his elite amateur pedigree to Huntington, headlining with a dominant decision over a highly experienced Freddy Hernandez. It was the exact type of veteran resistance required to temper his skills before a title shot.
Ten months later, “Boo Boo” was wearing the WBO World Junior Middleweight title. He would capture championship gold twice more, winning the WBA Junior Middleweight Championship and the WBO Middleweight Championship.
Undercards Provide A Training Ground
Even the undercards quietly operated as a kiln for future kings and queens, like when Canadian bantamweight Amanda Galle ground out a six-round unanimous decision over Jaica Pavilus Green exactly two years before raising the IBO World Female Bantamweight title.
But a forge isn’t just for creating new weapons; it is where master craftsmen bring their prized blades to be sharpened. Established kings and international champions have repeatedly sought out the claustrophobic heat of the Huntington crowd to test their edge.
When former IBF Welterweight Champion Joshua Clottey needed to shake off the rust in September 2013, five years after winning his world title and eventually sharing the ring with Manny Pacquiao, he didn’t head to Vegas. He came to Rockin’ Fights 10, scoring a unanimous decision over the relentlessly tough Dashon Johnson in a gritty co-main event. It was a classic Star Boxing battle: an established star facing a live, hungry opponent who made him earn every round.
International champions have similarly crossed oceans for that exact Long Island atmosphere. Australia’s Zac Dunn made his U.S. debut in Huntington at Rockin’ Fights 21 in October 2015, just four months after capturing the IBO Super Middleweight title. True to form for the venue, he successfully defended his status in an all-out war against the granite-chinned veteran Derrick Findley.
When Italy’s Michael Magnesi brought his freshly won IBO Super Featherweight championship to the States for his highly anticipated U.S. debut at Rockin’ Fights 40 in November 2021, he wanted to send a message. He found a willing dance partner in Eugene Lagos.
Magnesi walked Lagos down with a terrifying 60% knockout ratio. In the third round, Magnesi caught him, dropping Lagos hard. Lagos bravely beat the ten-count, but with blood in the water, Magnesi immediately resumed the onslaught. Unable to defend against the barrage, referee Al LoBianco stepped in and waved off the fight at 1:56 of the third round, giving Magnesi an emphatic, crowd-pleasing TKO.
The violence at the top level continued a few years later at Rockin’ Fights 46 in February 2024. Australian veteran Blake Caparello, who had captured the IBO Light Heavyweight title more than a decade prior, stepped through the ropes on New York Avenue to prove his veteran power was still lethal.
Squaring off against Italian Simone Federici for the NABA Gold Cruiserweight title, Caparello put on a clinic. Relying on his championship experience, Caparello systematically broke Federici down before delivering a brutal, definitive knockout that left the Long Island crowd stunned, handing Federici his first loss in seven fights and cementing Caparello’s successful comeback.
Caparello is set to fight for the IBO Cruiserweight Championship at the end of October.
Star Boxing Establishes The Paramount Proving Ground
Whether they were raw prospects learning to navigate deep waters, or grizzled champions looking for a legitimate fight, they all left their sweat on the same canvas. The Paramount isn’t just a concert hall that occasionally hosts boxing. Through brilliant promotional architecture, unforgiving matchmaking, and the blistering heat of the Long Island crowd, it is the forge where the modern championship lineage is built.
While Saturday marks the 55th edition, there are no signs that Star Boxing is slowing down. Three more shows are planned for 2027, and negotiations for 2028 will lead to the 60th show.
“Look, it’s our home; I am proud of what we have done. Not just the champions, the people who have developed outside the ring as well, from executives to our national anthem singer to ring announcers, and also the fighters that didn’t become world champions, but were successful outside the ring, it’s all part of what Star Boxing does,” said DeGuardia.
Rockin’ Fights returns for its 55th edition Saturday, October 10. There are seats still available. The
Paramount, located in Huntington, was voted the #1 Pollstar venue in the country. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Fans who can’t make it in person can watch on StarBoxing.TV.
A lifelong resident of Long Island, New York, Matthew Pomara, MMP, has always followed the sweet science. He caught the tail end of the Ali era, was a staunch follower of the Four Kings of the 80’s, loved the great expansion of the sport in the 90’s and has stayed with boxing through the 2000s. He has been published in The Ring Magazine and loves contributing to @NYFights. He can be found on Twitter @pomara_matt
