Team Puerto Rico welterweight Kenny “Battlestar” Galarza (15-1, 14 KOs) overcame the tough challenge of fellow Puerto Rican Irving Garcia (17-6-3, 8 KOs) by winning a 10-round split decision last night at Boricua Invasion I at Roseland Ballroom in NYC.
Fighting in the main event, Galarza’s hard punching, especially early, was the difference in a good action fight that went back and forth. Garcia came on strong in the later rounds, but time ran out on his comeback. The scores were 96-94, 97-94 Galarza and 96-94 Garcia.
“It was a tough fight,” admitted Galarza post-fight. “Garcia is a veteran with a lot of experience and I give him a lot of credit. He fought well.”
“Kenny showed a lot of toughness in the face of adversity tonight,” said Galarza’s co-promoter, Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions. “I think Garcia had a number of veteran tricks up his sleeve tonight and Kenny stayed tough, landed the harder punches and gutted it out. I was happy with his performance against a very difficult opponent.”
Galarza had trained for the bout with fellow Team Puerto Rico welterweight Thomas Dulorme. “I’m happy with the decision because I really worked hard for it and I know I earned it.”
Tonight’s second half of the special tribute to Puerto Rican boxing at the Roseland Ballroom, Boricua Invasion II, will feature three more members of Team Puerto Rico: featherweight Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (12-0, 10 KOs) vs. Dat Nguyen; junior middleweight Jonathan “Mantequilla Gonzalez (12-0, 12 KOs) vs. Richard Gutierrez for the NABA and WBO Latino Youth Middleweight Championships; and light welterweight Jorge “Machito” Maysonet Jr. (3-0, 2 KOs); plus a special off-TV appearance by Puerto Rico-born light welterweight Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (15-0, 1 KO) of Brooklyn.
The main bouts of Boricua Invasion II will be broadcast live on ShoBox: The New Generation at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.
Tickets for Boricua Invasion II on Saturday, June 11 are priced at $200, $150, $85, and $55 and are available through Ticketmaster.com, charge-by-phone, or at any Ticketmaster outlet. On Saturday, doors will open at 7:00 pm and the action starts at 7:30.
For VIP Package tickets to both nights, please call DiBella Entertainment at 212-947-2577.
The Roseland Ballroom is located at 239 West 52nd Street in New York City.
All bouts are subject to change.
For more information, visit www.teampuertoricoboxing.com orwww.latinoboxing.com. For more information on the Roseland Ballroom, visitwww.roselandballroom.com.
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