Awesome! 50 Rounds Matched and 50 Rounds Made, Boyd Melson Wins DiBella Main Event As Roseland Ballroom Goes Out With a Bang!
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent-Ringside
As she exited Roseland Ballroom in New York City after the final boxing card in history was held there, New York State Athletic Commission Malvina Lathan noted “50 rounds matched, 50 rounds made! Who said boxing is dead in New York? Boxing is alive! Awesome!”
In the main event of a nine bout card, the final fight card ever to be held at historic Roseland Ballroom, promoted by DiBella Entertainment, West Point graduate and southpaw light middleweight prospect Boyd ‘Rainmaker’ Melson won a close but convincing six round majority decision over Donald ‘Bulldog’ Ward.
Melson, age 32, now 14-1, four knockouts, White Plains, New York, had his hands full with Ward, in a bout marked by close infighting and frequent exchanges on the inside, along with single power shots traded on the outside. Melson was clearly the busier fighter, but Ward consistently scored whenever Melson stopped throwing. This made for an interesting fight and a hard fought thriller. Melson, who sells many tickets for every local venue to fights at in the New York City area, had to be careful. Ward, age 24, now 6-4 with three knockouts, Memphis, Tennessee, had lost to three opponents with a combined record of 35-0. Despite drawing on one card, Ward clearly was behind on the cards.
The bout became interesting when Melson, nursing a bruised right eye, apparently injured his right arm as well in the fourth round, and fought the bout mostly one handed from that point on. Ward was unable to take advantage of his opponent’s situation, as Melson simply engaged in a bout of give and take the rest of the way, and took Ward’s best shots.
Result: Boyd Melson Win 8 Donald Ward, Light Middleweights
Scoring: 76-76 Draw. 79-73, 78-74 Melson. Referee: Ron Lipton
This bout was the final bout of the final boxing card held at historic Roseland Ballroom.
One undercard bout was of interest, if only for the tactics employed. 11-0 southpaw light heavyweight prospect Travis ‘Notorious’ Peterkin won a six round unanimous decision over 18-12 Ghana journeyman Michael Gbenga, whose 18 wins all came by knockout. Gbenga has lost his last ten bouts outside of Ghana, and had no game plan against Peterkin. Instead, Gbenga decided to lean with his head and butt, finally cutting Peterkin about the left eye in round four. Referee Eddie Cotton penalized Gbenga for charging with his head to try to butt Peterkin some more later in the round. Gbenga should have been disqualified, but somehow hung on for dear life and managed to go the distance. All three judges gave Peterkin scores of 60-53. In the least, Peterkin got some work in. Gbenga proved to be a cagey survivor.
In a minor upset on the undercard, unheralded 3-4 light welterweight Ray Velez of Troy, New York, earned a four round majority draw with DiBella prospect Daniel Gonzalez of Woodhaven, New York. Also on the undercard, DiBella super featherweight prospect Bryant ‘Pee-Wee’ staggered Joshua Reyes of Millville, New Jersey across the right through the ropes for an official knockdown at a 10-8 round, and hung on to win a six round unanimous decision. Reyes appeared to outbox Cruz, but the rounds were extremely close and difficult to score in an extremely exciting and hard fought bout.
Roseland Ballroom Undercard Results
Referees: Eddie Cotton, Sparkle Lee, Ron Lipton
Heather Hardy Win Split Decision 8 Christina Fuentes, Female Super Bantamweights
Joe Smith Jr. Win 6 Otis Griffin, Light Heavyweights
Bryant Pee Wee Cruz Win Split Decision 6 Joshua Reyes, Super Featherweights
Ryan Martin Win 4 Jose Del Valle, Lightweights
Donte Strayhorn Win Majority Decision 4 Jose Gomez, Lightweights
Chris Galeano Win 4 Travis McClaren, Light Middleweights
Daniel Gonzalez Majority Draw 4 Ray Velez, Light Welterweights
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