Who Won the Weekend? Tony DeMarco Gets The W

March petered out and we moved into April, with one final weekend of fisticuffs to play out. As per usual, by and large, fight fans were blessed with ample quantity to take in. Fightnight Live ran on Friday, doing 222,000 views and counting, on Facebook, and DAZN and ESPN+ and ESPN proper also showed fighting.

And whose qualitative superiority stood out most for the fabulous NYF staffers?

Said Abe Gonzalez: “Miguel Cotto Promotions won the weekend! Angel “Tito” Acosta showed the boxing world why he is one of the best at 108 lbs showing patience and a high boxing IQ. Danielito “El Zorro” Zorilla is a bright prospect who Cotto himself has worked with in the ring as he sees something in him.  Zorilla showed some solid fundamentals and a explosive left hook in Indio. Miguel Cotto has something to smile about after this weekend as he has some rising stars.”

“Scott Fitzgerald won the weekend for me in the UK,” said Chris Glover. “5/1 underdog (whom I had money on and won me $1000). Fitz went in to Anthony Fowler’s hometown of the great city of Liverpool, and received a great reception despite being the away fighter. It was an enthralling battle, with the right man in Fitzgerald emerging victorious and crashing into the WBA top 15 in the process.”

“Joet Gonzalez was a real winner this weekend for me,” said Jonathan Leir. “While the attention was on the other two prospects in Indio, Gonzalez arguably had the most dominating performance. Rodrigo Guerrero, former super flyweight champion, had never been KOd let alone knocked down in his whole career. In under three minutes, Joet had Rodrigo on the canvas- the first of two knockdowns before Cantu mercifully stopped he fight long past due in the 5th. With the victory, he sets himself for interesting opportunities with DAZN, with plenty of depth in the division and a lot of large undercards to fill in the coming year.”

DAZN featured Ryan Garcia, on a Golden Boy promotion, March 30, 2019.

“I'll tell you what, I totally concur with Jonathan,” said John Gatling, when asked Who Won the Weekend?  “Joet Gonzalez, with the balls of a fucking rhinoceros, just sauntered into the ring completely adamant about annihilating a man in Guerrero who'd made up his mind that he not only wasn't going to be annihilated, but that he was going to annihilate Gonzalez. How do we know this? The way the fight unfolded. There was no feinting and zero subtlety. It was 💯% trench warfare and a test of wills and Joet absolutely BROKE HIM. To me, it was the most impressive performance of the weekend and I will be following his career with GREAT interest. I think a star was born.”

Joet Gonzalez impressed NYFights staff in his March 30, 2019 outing.

David Phillips, what say you? “I'm having a hard time getting excited about the results this weekend. But I'll go with Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Sure, he won by an odd and unsexy TKO (leading on all cards at the time of the 5th round leg injury retirement) over journeyman Doudou Ngumbu (fun name to say, by the way) to hold down the WBC Light Heavyweight title. However, considering he went into the ring for the first time since putting Adonis Stevenson in a coma and won, I'll go with him. It cannot have been an easy thing to put on gloves again after nearly killing someone.”

Me, I will go outside the box. On Friday night, at Memorial Hall in Melrose, Mass., on a Murphy's Boxing show headlined by Greg Vendetti, Boston-based Hall of Fame to be Tony DeMarco was honored. He received the Warrior's Code Award, along with amateur standout Mike D'Ampolo, in center ring during the show.

Murphys Boxing founder Ken Casey, the front-man for The Dropkick Murphys, spoke of the honor, and the award, referring to one of the Dropkick Murphy’s signature songs, “The Warrior’s Code,” a tribute to another New England boxing hero, Micky Ward.

Sean Sullivan, of Murphy's Boxing, Tony DeMarco and Dropkick Murphys/Murphy's Boxing boss Ken Casey on March 29, 2019. Joseph Kelley pic, from Murphy's Boxing.

“The idea stemmed from Tony DeMarco finally being inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. We wanted to celebrate Tony at one of our local shows before his big day and in talking we realized their were so many other retired New England based fighters both professional and amateur that, like Tony, deserved more recognition. The Warrior’s Code Award is a way for us to honor those locally who have come before us and given so much to the sport we love. Boston and beyond has such a rich boxing history, it’s important for Murphys Boxing to respect and honor that as well as educate a new generation about these warriors that have paved the way.”

Yes, the 58-12-1 ex welterweight champ who enters Canastota in June, you won the weekend.

Congrats, Tony DeMarco.

Listen to 90 year old Art Lovely share his burning desire to get Tony DeMarco into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on the Everlast “Talkbox” podcast.