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Joe Smith Headlines LI April 23

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Joe Smith Headlines LI April 23

New York, April 11 — Star Boxing’s Joe Smith, Jr. (20-1, 16 KOs) looks to continue his climb up the light heavyweight ladder when he faces tough and dangerous Brazilian Fabiano Pena (16-4-1, 12 KOs) in the main event in the 23rd installment of Star Boxing’s Rockin’ Fights series on Saturday night, April 23, at the Paramount in Huntington, New York.

Dubbed the “The Beast” because of his knockout power, Smith is highly-regarded among the light heavyweight prospects during a young career guided by promoter Joe DeGuardia. The local hero fighting, out of Mastic-Shirley will be making his fourth appearance on his home turf at The Paramount.

Smith, Jr. has reeled off 14 straight triumphs, including nine by way of KO. In his latest win, The Beast scored a thrilling, unanimous 10-round decision over Will Rosinsky, while showcasing his talents in the Barclays Center ring on December 5.

The native of Mastic is a Union 66 laborer (concrete) in between fights. Trained by Gerard Capobianco, a former light heavyweight contender himself, Smith is training out of Unique Fitness Xtreme in Mastic, Shirley.

“Joe has all of the tools to be a top light heavyweight,” says DeGuardia. “His power and strength, combined with boxing skills and stamina have him earmarked for a big fight.”

The co-featured attraction is a “Long Island Showdown” when two popular Paramount regulars – Alan Gotay (8-2, 4 KOs) and Anthony Karperis (11-2, 4 KOs) – clash for the New York State Junior Welterweight Championship. Gotay hails from Huntington, while Kaperis is a product of Hicksville, so it will be a true “Battle for Backyard Bragging Rights.”

Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Long Island and New Jersey fighters will enter the ring in four other bouts to complete the action-packed card. In an eight-round junior welterweight contest, Daniel Gonzalez (10-0-1, 4 KOs) of Woodhaven faces Carlos Aguiliera (10-16, 4 KOs) of Nicaragua.

The “Battle of the Boroughs” will pit Brooklyn’s Courtney Pennington (8-3-1,
4 KOs) against Shawn Cameron (10-1, 5 KOs) of The Bronx in a six-round junior middleweight bout.

Two four-round fights complete the card: Elmont’s Terrell Bostic (1-0, 1 KO) squares off against Abdel Vera (0-2) of Patterson, NJ, in a junior welterweight bout, while Michael Stoute (1-0), fighting out of Coram, New York, takes on Newark, NJ’s Jonel Lorenzo in his pro debut in a junior featherweight contest.

Doors open at 7:00 PM; and first bout at 7:30 PM.

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.