Joseph Adorno was at a turning point in his young career, and the 23-year-old was unbroken.
“Blessed Hands” scored his biggest victory to date, beating previously undefeated Hugo Alberto Roldan by a very narrow margin, 95-94 on all three cards, on Friday night in the main event of a ShoBox card: The New Bally’s Event Generation. Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KOs) jumped out to an early lead and held on to outpoint the aggressive Argentine Roldan (21-1-1, 7 KOs) over the ten-round distance, with a knockdown in the second assault. the counter left hook is the difference in combat.
The win was a much-needed boost for Adorno of Allentown, Pa., who was taking a step back from competition following two easy rehab wins that helped him rebuild following a three-fight stretch between 2020 and last March that saw him saw draw with Hector. Garcia and Jamaine Ortiz before taking his first loss to Michel Rivera by unanimous decision.
???? Down goes Roldán! ???? @_blessedhands tags Roldan, sending him to the canvas just before the bell closes the second round#AdornoRoldan #SHOBOX pic.twitter.com/LKmjh39fOS
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) September 10, 2022
Roldan, 29, was fighting for the first time in the United States and realized himself, outboxing Adorno for significant portions of the later rounds. Adorno’s advantage in technical skill and hand speed was the difference between winning a close decision and being pestered by a hungry but unknown visitor.
Frency Fortunato Saya (14-1, 10 KOs) took an early lead and fourth-round knockdown to beat Bernard Angelo Torres by split decision in the second fight on the telecast. Both fighters won a scorecard by a 95-94 margin, while a third judge handed out an indefensible 97-92 scorecard for Fortunato of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Saya, 24, dropped Norway-based Filipino Torres (16-1, 7 KOs) with a straight right hand in the fourth, but faded late as the 26-year-old southpaw pressed the action in the featherweight bout.
The punch stat numbers showed Torres with a 125 to 98 lead in punches landed, and Fortunato throwing more punches, 545 to 433.
Fortunato has now won four in a row since his only loss, a unanimous decision against Alberto Ezequiel Melian in March 2021.
The telecast began with a welterweight crossover bout between Janelson Figueroa Bocachica and Roiman Villa. Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) of Rosario, Venezuela scored a second-round knockdown to win a one-sided unanimous decision over Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KOs) by scores of 79-72 on two scorecards. and 78 -73 in the third.
Villa, 29, was fighting for the first time in the United States after building his record primarily in South America.
An overhand right hurt Bocachica of Detroit, Michigan in the second round before a Villa left hook dropped him. Bocachica was also deducted a point after he spat out his mouth guard three times after the fall. Bocachica showed toughness throughout to fight his way back into the fight, but Villa hurt him towards the end of the final round as he was looking for a knockout. Villa is represented by international advisor Sampson Lewkowicz.
Bocachica, 23, was fighting for the first time since a controversial draw against the Shinard Bunch in July 2021 that many felt the Bunch deserved to win.
On the undercard, local New Jersey talent scored victories in non-televised fights.
Undefeated heavyweight Norman Neely (13-0, 8 KOs) of Paterson, NJ won his third straight decision, knocking out Terrell Jamal Woods (28-53-9, 20 KOs) over the six-round distance by scores of 60 – 54 on all three cards. Neely, who is 6’3” and weighed 241 pounds, had been a big fan as a kid, won the 2006 US Junior Olympic National Championships and is now 32 years old.
Neely’s stablemate Dwyke Flemmings Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) remained undefeated with a swift first-round blowout of Assuan Jones Chatman (0-3). Junior middleweight prospect Flemmings Jr. is only 18 years old and has had approximately 80 amateur fights.
Both Flemmings and Neely are trained by Dwyke Flemmings Sr.
Nicky “The Bull” Vitone (9-1-1, 7 KOs) of Pine Brook, NJ won his fifth fight in a row, stopping Ariel Vasquez (15-37-3, 9 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled six. -junior welterweight round fight.
