After 19 months out of the ring, Omar Figueroa returned with a dominant performance against Robert Guerrero at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Omar Figueroa battles Robert Guerrero on July 15, 2017, at NYCB Live. Despite a lengthy layoff, Figueroa dominates Guerrero and scores a third round TKO.
It was a night for comebacks. Thirty-one years after its last boxing event and three months after it reopened following an 18-month, $165 million renovation, the Coliseum hosted the debut of BROOKLYN BOXING On Long Island. After 22 fight cards at Barclays Center, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment brought its fight platform to Long Island for its inaugural event.
Against the former four-division champion Guerrero, Figueroa took his shots in the first round. But Guerrero’s aggressive, in-close approach came with a price. As Figueroa loosened up, he consistently shook Guerrero’s exposed chin with tight uppercuts, repeatedly sending the veteran champion to the mat.
Figueroa’s fifth knockdown came in the third round, and that was enough for the referee to call the fight. The former world lightweight champion improved to 27-0-1 with the victory, and at just 27 years old, is in fine shape to return to the championship conversation.
The co-headline bout featured a collision of local, undefeated light heavyweight contenders. But it was a one-sided fight. Staten Island’s Marcus Browne, a 2012 U.S Olympian, registered a second-round TKO over Long Island’s own Seanie Monaghan. It was the first career loss for the rugged Long Beach fighter.
Since a contested split decision win over Radivoje Kalajdzic at Barclays Center in April 2016, Browne has been on a tear. He dominated former title contender Thomas Williams Jr. in a sixth-round TKO in February, and had no problems with Monaghan.
The 26-year-old Browne put the veteran on the mat less than a minute into the fight. He kept up the pressure in the second round, pounding Monaghan along the ropes before the fight was stopped. Browne improved to 20-0 with 15 knockouts.
Returning to the ring for the first time since his heavyweight championship loss to Deontay Wilder, Artur Szpilka received an unpleasant surprise from Adam Kownacki. In the biggest fight of his career, Kownacki was dominant in his fourth-round knockout win.
With a card filled with local Long Island talent, it was a triumphant return for boxing at the Coliseum.
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