(APRIL 23) WBAN received a press release earlier
today about a Pro-Am boxing card taking place this Saturday on April 26th, on
the "The Riverhead Fight Series, at the Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, New York.
What is very unusual about the line up on this card is that undefeated junior middleweight prospect
and full-time New York police officer Nisa “Sweet-Destruction” Rodriguez (4-0, 2
KOs), will be
fighting on the same card as her 15-year old son.
At this time, this may be the first
professional boxer mother and amateur boxing son to fight on the same event in
U.S. boxing. [WBAN is not sure at this time if it is the first time to occur in
the sport].
As quoted from the press release:
“We’re both excited to be fighting on the same show,” Nisa said. “He’s always
been there, walking me out to fights, at the gym and when I won my first
National Golden Gloves title. When I was a single parent, I had to take him with
me. Now, he’s 15 with a 10-2 amateur record. He’s 6’ 1”, 145-pounds…like Tommy
Hearns, who is his favorite fighter.
“I think fighting together is kind of dope. I want him to finish school and he’s
an honor student. We’ll see what happens. As much as he wants to fight, it’s a
big gamble being a fighter., He understands; he saw me beat up in the hospital.
It takes a lot of dedication. I’ve seen a lot of father-son relationships in
boxing cause problems, so we don’t talk about boxing when we’re in our house.”
The first installment of this new boxing series is being presented by Boxing
Insider Promotions, in association with Hill Street Boxing, and will be streamed
live from Suffolk Theater, hosting its first boxing event since it opened in
1912, their website.
Rodriguez, who will be fighting as a pro for the first at her natural boxing
weight class, faces German junior middleweight Deborah Melhorn, who will be
making her pro boxing debut, albeit she’s fought professionally in bare knuckles
and kickboxing.
The main event is a scheduled eight round super
lightweight bout between local favorite Terell Bostic (15-2, 2 KOs) and
Francisco Javier Grande (7-4-2), of Mexico. Virginia super lightweight Ameil
Barbour (2-1, 1 KO) faces Enock Melson (0-1), of Maryland, in a four rounder.
There will be three pro fights and between 8-10 amateur matches. Card subject to
change.
“I’m so grateful to be fighting on this card with the opportunity to have my son
fighting on the same show,” Rodriguez concluded.
Rodriguez is an eight-time New York Daily News Golden Gloves, six-time Metro
Championships, two-time Empire State, and Caribbean and Central Americano gold
medalist. A former schoolteacher, Rodriguez has been a NYC police officer for
two years, stationed citywide for the rapid response unit, specializing in any
crimes that involve adolescents and supporting families of homicides. In
addition to being a fulltime police officer and pro boxer, if that were not
enough, Nisa works with youths in a program at Cops & Kids Gym in Brooklyn, and
she’s married with three children.
“It will be exciting to see Nisa and her son warming up in the locker room
knowing they’ll be sharing the card together,” Nisa’s manager Keith Sullivan
remarked. “It is really something special and a lifelong memory for them to
share on this historic occasion. I just hope they both win, otherwise the
bragging rights at home could be brutal!”
“Nisa is a true pro and a very nice person,” Hill Street Boxing spokesperson
Marty Hopwood commented. “The first boxing event at The Suffolk in its 113-year
history provides an historic element that’s important to boxing.”
Hopwood, a lawyer, has been involved in boxing since he attended Boston College.
He trained to stay in shape with the famed Archer brothers, Joey and Jimmy, at
the New York Athletic Club. Hopwood returned to the gym eight years ago to get
into boxing shape. Two years ago, he fought as an amateur for the first time,
fighting seven times in the last 14 months in the Senior Division, and he’s
still throwing leather at the age of 74.
The amateur portion of the event starts at 7 pm ET, followed by the three pro
fights.
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