Anthony Velazquez W10 Florent Davis,... Reyes Boxing Inc. brought boxing to the big room at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts on Sept. 14th, and hometown hero Anthony “ATV” Velazquez didn’t disappoint. In his first main event, the 28-year-old junior middleweight won a hard-fought ten-round decision over Frenchman Florent Davis, who now trains out of Clearwater, Florida. The judges had it as a unanimous decision for Velazquez by scores of 98-92 and 96-94 (twice). Velazquez improved to 15-0-1 with 13 knockouts while Davis fell to 10-2 with 5 KOs. The action was fairly even over the first four rounds, as Velazquez and Davis showed respect for one another and didn’t make any careless moves. In the first minute of the fifth frame however, Velazquez looked like he woke up, and was throwing punches with more authority. Velazquez’ more spirited attack prompted Davis, a southpaw, to turn up the heat. With little more than a minute remaining in the stanza, Davis attacked with two impressive straight lefts followed by a right hook. In many rounds, Davis displayed solid lateral movement and would step in quickly to score with combinations. Conversely, Velazquez would have mini-rallies that riled up the hometown crowd, even if it was just a two-punch burst. Velazquez got busier around the seventh frame, with a more consistent body attack.

The start of the eighth round saw him land a beautiful right to the head followed by a right to the body. Davis would have his moments in the stanza but Velazquez closed the round strong with an effective combination. The final two rounds were closely contested and when the bell rang to end the ten rounder, both men jumped on opposite corner posts to raise their fists, although Davis got to his ring post first. However, he wouldn’t get the nod.

Michael Reyes, of Reyes Boxing, Inc., chief trainer to Davis, said afterwards, “I think it was a great fight that easily could have gone either way.” He added, “I think that Florent really stepped up and made an amazing go of it.”

Velazquez said, “He was tough. He took some hard shots, so respect to him.”  For Velazquez, a Puerto Rican-American, it was a beautiful weekend. He kicked things off in downtown Springfield Saturday evening, and one day later, the celebration continued with Springfield’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Carlos Gonzalez TKO8 Duke Micah... In the co-feature, Springfield featherweight Carlos Gonzalez rang up an eighth-round technical knockout win over 2012 Olympian Duke Micah of Ghana. The official time was 2:50. Micah’s only defeat prior to facing Gonzalez was a stoppage loss to WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero in September 2020. Shortly after his big win, Gonzalez - being interviewed by ring announcer John Vena – said, “It seems easy but it’s not easy. I go to the gym every single day, twice a day.” He added, “How I made it look easy, I ‘ve got to give that to my coach and my team. They pushed me.” Gonzalez raised his record to 13-0 with 12 KOs while Micah dropped to 24-2 with 19 KOs.

Micah, age 32, fought well before Gonzalez, 27, eventually wore him down. “I fought [in the past] at 140. He stood in there like a lion, a warrior, so hats off to him,” said Gonzalez.

Micah, of Accra, Ghana, seemed to take the first round with a busier jab and work rate overall. However, Gonzalez would rile up the crowd with some nice combinations around the latter half of the second frame. He dominated round three and although there was tit-for-tat offense from both fighters at the start of the fourth, Gonzalez landed a beautiful straight right to the head with a minute or so remaining. Gonzalez continued to pull away and in the seventh round he dropped Micah with a right to the head. In the final minute of the eighth, Gonzalez landed multiple chopping rights to the head. Gonzalez followed up with a barrage of left hooks and right hands that made Micah stagger back a step or two. Referee Kevin Hope was then forced to end matters at the 2:51 mark.

Gonzalez’ coach, Hector Burmudez, told Vena a world title opportunity could be as close as a year or so away. "It depends who it is,” he said.