Pro Boxing is big in the Tri-state Area, just ask Lou DiBella

Famed showplace, the Melrose Ballroom, Astoria, New York, will be hosting the 15th Anniversary celebration of DiBella Entertainment and it’s acclaimed Broadway Boxing Series, Thursday, June 21st. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with first bell sounding at 7:00 p.m.

“I’m thrilled to bring the Broadway Boxing series to the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, right on the border of Astoria and Long Island City. It has a very intimate atmosphere and is easy to get to from Midtown Manhattan,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment.

Main Ballroom with it’s 5,000 square foot of event space:

• 30’ wide by 15’ high Video Wall Consisting of (72) 40” LCD Screens, (8) 60″ Wall mounted Plasmas
• (2) 40’ Built-in Bars Stocked with Top Shelf Liquor (Four Stations per Bar)
• (26) Rigging points accommodate up to 3,000 lbs. each, 67 Theatrical & Intelligent Lights
• 38½’ x 19½’ Adjustable Hydraulic Stage, 20’ ceiling height

The Melrose Ballroom has the capability of hosting a wide range of events.

Mr. DiBella continues: “Since I’m a strong supporter of women’s boxing, this card will showcase two excellent women’s bouts. Coming off her world title victory and a subsequent PR campaign which included multiple television appearances, Long Island’s WBA world super middleweight champion Alicia Napoleon will return to the ring.”

In an eight-round bout, the WBA World Female Super Middleweight Champion Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon (9-1, 5 KOs), of Lindenhurst, Long Island, NY, will be making her first start since winning her world title. On March 3rd, at the Barclays Center, Napoleon was victorious over the then-undefeated Femke Hermans, who now holds the WBO 168 lb. title.

DiBella Entertainment also has San Francisco’s unbeaten Raquel Miller (6-0, 3 KOs) on this fight card. Miller, a Golden Gloves champion who fought Claressa Shields in a hotly contested battle as an amateur, was a silver medalist at the 2012 World Championships at 152 lbs. Miller is trained locally at The Arena gym, Point Loma, San Diego, Calif. by the well-respected trainer Basheer Abdullah who just so happens to be a former USA Olympic Boxing Coach. Together, they will be headed to the Big Apple for Miller’s DiBella Entertainment debut and face an opponent to be named in a 6-round, female middleweight bout.

Also, the highly touted Uzbekistan Olympian Bakhodir Jalolov (1-0, 1 KO)(right), a future threat to the current contenders will be looking for another impressive knockout, while his former Uzbekistan teammate Elnur Abduraimov (left) will be making his pro debut.

Dejan “Dynamite” Zlaticanin (23-1, 16 KOs) of Podgorica, Montenegro, the first Montenegrin to win a world title, is hoping to continue on the comeback trail after losing in that January 28, 2017 title fight to Mikey Garcia. In his last fight, on December 14, 2017, Zlaticanin took care of business with a first-round knockout of Hevinson Herrera. The same Hevinson Herrera who has this padded record of 22 wins 14 losses and 1 draw while defeating just three boxers with a winning record in 37 contests. Not exactly what you or anyone else would call an impressive victory.

Brooklyn will also be represented by Mikkel LesPierre (19-0-1, 8 KOs) who they plan to have matched up in a tough welterweight main event. Plus, the popular Jude Franklin will have his compadres present. And finally, Puerto Rican brawler Jose Roman will also be making his New York debut.

In that 10-round welterweight main event, in which they’re featuring Brooklyn’s Mikkel “Slikk Mikk” LesPierre, we just had to take a closer look. Sure Mr. LesPierre is sporting an undefeated record of 19-0-1, but only five of those defeated boxers had a winning record at the time of their meeting. LesPierre won the WBC USNBC Super Lightweight title in his last start, a 10-round decision versus the then-undefeated Noel Murphy on February 7, 2018, in New York City. Murphy, who has just 2 KOs on his record, isn’t exactly a world-beater.

Fighting out of Brooklyn, NY, the 23-year-old undefeated junior lightweight Jude “King Czar” Franklin (7-0, 6 KOs) will be competing in a six-rounder. Franklin is coming off his career-best victory; a second-round knockout of Floriano Pagliara on February 7, 2018. Pagliara was Franklin’s first opponent with a winning record.

The 6’6″ tall, 244 lb. Bakhodir Jalolov (1-0, 1 KO), from Sariosiyo, Uzbekistan, now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., featured in a six-rounder, represented Uzbekistan at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. He compiled an amateur record of 84-13 while winning four National Championships from 2013 to 2016. Also, the 23-year-old had the honor of being Uzbekistan’s flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games. He successfully turned pro on May 5, with a stunning third-round knockout of previously unbeaten Hugo Trujillo (4-0-1) at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Making his professional debut in a four-round lightweight bout, Elnur Abduraimov of Chirchiq, Uzbekistan, was a standout amateur with a record of 195-20. The 23-year-old was a five-time National champion and a gold medalist at the 2015 World Championships. Both Jalolov and Abduraimov are co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Fight Promotions Inc. and are trained by the renowned Pedro Diaz and Ravshan Khodjaev in Miami, Florida.

Rounding out this fight card is all-action Puerto Rican native Jose “Cheito” Roman (5-0, 3 KOs) who is making his New York City debut in a scheduled six-round junior middleweight bout. The 24-year-old enters the ring following a successful six-round decision victory over Jonathan Garcia on March 3, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Now for some advice for you world travelers from your best source, SportofBoxing.com: after booking your round-trip flight from San Diego to New York (which should cost you right around $486, remember to also make arrangements to rent a car (reminder, the East Coast rental car companies now require two credit cards). You should have no problem finding a place to stay near the Melrose Ballroom located at 36-08 33rd Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Long Island City, New York (most likely in the $149 a night range). Doors on the night of the event, Thursday, June 21st, will open at 6:00 p.m. with the first bell sounding at 7:00 p.m.

In choosing such a pricey site to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of DiBella Entertainment and it’s acclaimed Broadway Boxing Series, you should be prepared to pay $15 per drink. Ticket prices for the Boxing Show start at $50 for general admission and go up to $185.

For the less than well-heeled Boxing fan, you do have an option: you could catch all of the action on the new DiBella Entertainment streaming home, LIVE.DBE1.com, for a cost of just $6.95. Whew! The plane fare alone blew this boxing fan out of the water.