UFC heavyweight Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga wins pro boxing debut as part “New England’s Future 4” event

October 28th – DCU Exhibition Hall, Worcester Massachusetts – Rivera Promotions presented “New England’s Future 4” boxing event, which featured some of the best up and coming talent in the area. With an energetic crowd supporting their local fighters, the event was entertaining from the first bout to the last.

The co-feature bout featured former UFC heavyweight title challenger, Gabriel Gonzaga making his pro boxing debut against Alejandro Santiago, who also was entering the boxing ring for the first time. In the opening round, the 280lb Gonzaga came forward and was pushing the action, landing heavy blows and hurting his opponent towards the end of the round. Round two saw Gonzaga pressing forward, but getting hit with some shots from the game Santiago. The third and fourth rounds were closer with Gonzaga tiring and his opponent giving a good account of himself. In the end, the fight went the distance and ended up going to the judges scorecards. Gonzaga won via MD, with scores of 39-37, 39-38 and 38-38

In the main event, light heavyweight Richard “Popeye The Sailor Man” Rivera 4-0 (3KO’s) took on Hansen Castillo 0-3. The action started fast, with Rivera coming straight ahead and letting his hands go. Rivera dropped Castillo early with a left uppercut and while Castillo got back to his feet, Rivera went right back at his hurt opponent. Rivera ended things with a left hook against the ropes that dropped Castillo a final time and forced the referee to stop to bout without a count at 2:18 of the first round.

Junior welterweight, Edwin Sotto, 11-2-2 out of New Haven Connecticut, took on Anthony Everett 1-7 (0KO’s) of Rowley, MA. Sotto used his experience in the opening two rounds and outworked his heavier opponent, who held a 13lb weight advantage on fight night. In the third round, Sotto pressed the action and started to land heavy shots on Everett, who responded back and landed some hard blows of his own.

The fourth, fifth and sixth rounds brought some of the same action, with Sotto getting the better of the exchanges. In the end, Edwin Sotto outworked Everett and ended up taking a unanimous decision, with scores of 58-56 twice an 60-54.

Junior welterweight Omar Bordoy 3-0 (1KO) of Danbury, Connecticut faced off against the very experienced Bryan “The Brick” Abraham 6-31 (6KO’s). The fight was a spirited encounter with Bordoy coming straight at his opponent who was more than happy to exchange blows in the first two rounds. In the third round, Bordoy landed a series of punches and was able to drop Abraham, who was able to rise to his feet and finish the round. The fourth round brought a close to the fight as Bordoy continued to pressure Abraham and dropped him again. After rising to his feet the ref decided “The Brick” had enough and called a halt to the bout.

In a Super middleweight encounter, 3-time USA boxing national champion Elvis Figueroa 3-0 (1KOs) faced off against Rene Nazare, who was making his pro debut. From the opening bell Figueroa pushed the action and landed heavy blows on his opponent. The action in rounds 2, 3 and 4 brought much of the same with Figueroa coming forward, throwing a high volume of punches and out landing Nazare, who was simply outmatched. The judges scorecards were 40-36 on all three cards for Elvis Figueroa.