By Mark Vaz
In front of a sellout crowd, undefeated New England welterweight champion Derek Silveira (7-0, 3 KOs) of Salem, MA successfully defended his title with a fourth round knockout over veteran Shakha Moore of Connecticut in the main event of this past Saturday’s “MAYhem in Dorchester” card Dorchester National Guard Armory in Dorchester, MA. Bringing 31 professional fights worth of experience into the bout, Moore found himself outboxed from the opening round by the quick-handed Silveira, who consistently worked behind a sharp and accurate jab, eventually landing a four punch combination in the neutral corner, finishing the show with the last punch, a chopping right to the chin. Moore beat the count but still looked visibly hurt, prompting referee Bob Benoit to halt the action.
In the co-feature, Boston police officer and former New England Golden Gloves champion Sugar Billy Traft had a successful and hard fought win in his pro debut against MMA standout Luis Felix of Providence, RI during a super middleweight bout. Felix, entering the ring at 0-1 gave Traft four exciting rounds, losing on all score cards in a very entertaining fight.
Formerly nationally ranked amateur Simeon Dunwell (10-2) was unsuccessful in his return to the ring after a two-year layoff losing an unanimous decision to hard-punching journeyman William Correa (9-5, 8 KOs) of Framingham, MA by way of Puerto Rico in a welterweight six-rounder. Correa pressed the action behind a stiff jab and hard right hand as the quicker Dunwell posed after punching, allowing Correa to consistently land the right to the side of his head. On the canvas in rounds five and six, Dunwell finished the fight on his feet, showing great courage firing back against the superior power of Correa.
Ricky Kielczewski (3-0, 2 KOs) returned to the ring after a seven-year absence with a shutout unanimous decision over debuting Brandon Chagnon of Methuen, MA in a four-round super middleweight bout. Another MMA fighter on the New England circuit, Chagnon showed impressing conditioning and a great chin, landing his share on the more experienced Kielczewski, brother of undefeated jr lightweight Ryan Kielczewski. With a great crowd behind him, Kielczewski pressed the action throughout winning every round in a fun bout.
Irish amateur star Michael Owen McLaughlin from Donegal, Ireland likewise brought out the Irish fans as he earned a foul-filled DQ victory over Noel Garcia of Springfield, MA who continuously held and rabbit punched until referee Leo Gerstel had seen enough in the third round of a super middleweight contest. McLaughlin improves to 2-0-1 while Garcia drops to 3-18.
In an entertaining opening bout, jr welterweight Carlos Candelario of Lawrence, MA improved to 2-0 with 1 knockout against a very game Antonio Chavez-Fernandes, winning 40-36 twice and 39-37.
“MAYhem in Dorchester” was presented by promoters Chris Traietti and Danny Kelly of Granite Chin Promotions plus matchmaker Mark Vaz.
