From the Fox Theater at Foxwoods Casino: ShoBox Results

Galarza(L) steps in to launch a jab at Bouchard(R)

Galarza dominates Bouchard; Diaz Jr. outworks Asselstine in 
ShoBox Double Header from CT
words & crappy cellphone pix by Alex Pierpaoli
(live tweets from ringside)

Brooklyn junior middleweight Frank Galarza stole the show last night with an impressive 8 round thumping of previously unbeaten Canadian Sebastien Bouchard in the co-featured bout of a 6 bout card in the Fox Theater at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Mashantucket, CT. Junior lightweight Joel Diaz Jr prevailed over Tyler Asselstine in the Main Event of the night and both bouts were broadcast live via Showtime as part of their ShoBox: The New Generation series.

Frank Galarza, 153lbs, whose nickname is the "The Brooklyn Rocky" looked a lot more like Apollo Creed as he blasted away at the ever-pressing Sebastien Bouchard, 154lbs, using smart movement, a jaw-thumping jab and punishing body work to dominate their 8 round bout. Bouchard, of Quebec, Canada, won just three rounds, collectively, on the official's scorecards, one of which was in the final frame when Ref Joey Lupino

deducted a point from Galarza for repeated low blows. Despite the infraction, Galarza put his punches together well throughout the bout and bedeviled the pursuing Bouchard with lateral movement and punished him with combinations. At the end of 8 rounds the officials saw it 78-73, and 77-74 x 2, all in favor of Frank Galarza who improved to 14-0-2 (9) while Bouchard picked up his first defeat and dropped to 8-1 (2).

Joel Diaz Jr., of Palmdale, CA, got off to a great start versus Tyler Asselstine, of Toronto, Canada, hurting him with a jolting left hand that forced him to clinch before the end of round one. Although the action was
more competitive than in the co-feature with Asselstine doing a lot more throwing than catching, it was still one-sided, with Diaz controlling the often rough, chaotic action. Several times Tyler Asselstine, 130lbs, lost his mouthpiece, sometimes due to well-placed shots by Diaz and other times why it fell out seemed a

Diaz(in white) drives Asselstine(in black) into a corner

mystery. Whatever the reason Ref. Danny Schiavone grew tired of having to halt the action to get it replaced and he took a point from Asselstine in round 7. In the final round it looked as though Diaz might score a knockout when he had Asselstine badly hurt and grabbing after a nasty left hook Diaz sunk into the Canadian's belly. But to his credit, Asselstine endured and when the official decision was announced it was unanimous in favor of Joel Diaz Jr by three identical scores of 97-92. In victory, Diaz improved to 16-0 (12) while Asselstine fell to 14-2 (7).


Bryant Cruz, of Port Chester, NY, dominated Osnel Charles, of Atlantic City, NJ, in an all-action six rounder that was heavy on punches thrown but less about damage done. Cruz, 132lbs, supported by a very vocal segment of the crowd, landed the harder and more educated punches, while few of them really seemed to hurt Charles, 131lbs. At the end of six rounds the judges saw it unanimously in favor of Bryant Cruz by scores of 59-55 and 60-54 x 2. Cruz improved to 11-0 (6) while Osnel Charles dropped to 10-9-1 (1).


Gervonta Davis, of Washington, DC, hammered away at Joshua Arocho, of Vineland, NJ, for a solid six minutes before Arocho's corner in conference with the referee and ringside doctors called it a night. Davis, 127lbs, landed withering power punches throughout the brief encounter, especially a mean, chopping uppercut towards the end of the second which clearly hurt Arocho, also 127lbs. With the TKO victory Gervonta Davis improved to 7-0 (7) while Joshua Arocho dropped to 3-104 (2).


Kareem Martin, of Washington, DC, had to settle for a majority draw versus Azamat Umarzoda of Las Vegas, NV. Martin, 151lbs, got up from a first round knockdown and scored one of his own in the

Martin(L) jabs at Umarzoda(R)

3rd round of their 4 round contest. Umarzoda, 152lbs, used his larger frame and well timed counters to stifle some of the smart boxing by Martin, especially in the final round. When the decision was read Judge Don Trella saw it 38-36 for Martin, as did KOFantasyBoxing, but Trella was overruled by Judges Bill Morande and Pete Hary who both scored it even at 37-37. Kareem Martin left CT with a record of 1-0-1 (1) while Umarzoda has yet to score a win, but didn't lose, improving to 0-3-1.


In the first bout of the night John Magda, of Rutherford, NJ, stopped Dave Courchaine of Spokane, WA, in the opening round of a super middleweight bout. One hundred sixty-seven pound southpaw, John Magda dropped Courchaine, 163lbs, with a hard straight left less than a minute into the fight. Courchaine got up but was quickly overwhelmed and dropped again. Again, he beat the count and Ref. Joey Lupino told him he'd give him one more chance before stopping the fight. Seconds later a right high on the head from Magda sent a shudder through Courchaine's body before a left hook that landed on the shoulder knocked him over. Having seen enough, Referee Lupino called a halt to the proceedings at 2:45 of the 1st. Magda improved to 6-0 (5) while Courchaine fell to 2-4 (2).