BOXING IN MIAMI BEACH…..IS BACK
By Laz Izada

MIAMI BEACH, FL ( InsideBoxing.com, Januaury 23,2008)- Live professional boxing made it’s return in Miami Beach on historic Collins Ave and 67 at the Deauville Beach Resort. Approximately 1,000 plus fans witnessed 8 exciting match ups that were being promoted by Henry Rivalta’s - Miami Fight League. The boxing night was billed as “ The Legend Begins”, and it was truly legendary that boxing was returning to Miami Beach.

In the main event , an 8 round junior- welterweight bout, local fan favorite Juan Arroyo ( 36-5-4,16 Ko’s) defeated Ilido Julio (35-15-1,31Ko’s) in a unanimous decision by scores of 77-73 twice and 76-74. It was a hard fought battle for the 43 year old Arroyo as Julio had him on the ropes taking punches during several rounds. Eventually Arroyo was able to escape from the ropes at times to pull out the victory.

The co-main event was a 3 round light heavyweight slugfest that had Jose Luis Herrera ( 15-4,15ko’s) knocking out George Blades (21-4,15ko’s). In female action possibly South Florida’s most popular and best female boxer super bantam weight South Beach Bad Girl Stacy Reile (8-0) out pointed Maribal Santana ( 8-5) in six rounds.

Other boxer’s that stood out on tonight’s sensational card winning by KO were junior-middleweight Trenton Titsworth(2-0,1ko), junior-lightweight Juan Nazzario (5-0,4ko’s) and heavyweight Henry Fuentes ( 4-0,3Ko’s).

Trenton Titsworth came all the way from Omaha, Nebraska for his underdog KO victory over Alain Olivero ( 0-1). After the fight he mentioned that he was dedicating the victory and his boxing career to his wife that passed away last year and his four young kids. He also said that he was taking his game seriously and that his goal is to master the art of boxing and making a name for Omaha, Nebraska.

Juan Nazzario, 27 years old a former junior-lightweight Golden Glove Champ in New York in 1999 and 2000 ,scored his ko in the first round by nailing and dropping his opponent John Trotman twice in the 1st round. He would like to fight at least 8 more times this year, even though it has been hard to find opponents at his weight of 126-130lbs. He told me that now is the time for his career to start rolling ,that he feels “fortunate in having good people around him”. His promoter Henry Rivalta told me that they are coming after the pac man Manny Pacquiao. With the way Nazzario hits and moves the sky’s the limit for this young kid. He will be showcased throughout the year here at the Deauville gaining experience and staying active and hopefully landing a championship bout.

Another local boxer on the rise is 31 year old heavyweight Henry Fuentes, a former national Greco-Roman wrestling champion from Havana, Cuba. Fuentes a solid build , unique southpaw, is enthusiastic about learning the game and training hard. He spars with Shannon Briggs and Eliseo Castillo and his trainer Herman Caicedo told me that he is eager to learn and trains very hard like Shannon ,and being a south paw in the heavyweight division has it’s advantages” something opponents have to look out for”.
Tonight he knocked out Dino Weinstein in .30 seconds in the 1st round.

All in all it was a fun, exciting, and very entertaining night of boxing, something Miami Beach hasn’t experienced in a long time,and truly deserves.

Next tentative fight card at the Deauville Beach Resort is scheduled for February 21st look for local fan favorite Joey Hernandez and Nazzario and Fuentes making appearances again.

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