Sullivan County Democrat
O n l i n e  E d i t i o n
www.sc-democrat.com National Award-winning, Family-run Newspaper info@sc-democrat.com
  SPORTS ARCHIVES Established 1891 Callicoon, New York  
home  |  archives
Democrat Photo by Nathan Mayberg

ALLEN CONYERS HAS his hand raised by the referee after winning the New York State Welterweight title last Friday night at Monticello Gaming & Raceway. Standing next to Conyers and holding up the championship belt is his trainer Louie Olmo.

Vacant Title Filled at Monti Raceway Boxing Card

By Nathan Mayberg
MONTICELLO — November 10, 2006 — In one of the most action-packed nights of boxing since the sport returned to Monticello Gaming & Raceway last year, a five-bout card thrilled an audience of nearly 400 last Friday night.
The action culminated with a stunning first round technical knockout in the feature for the vacant New York State Welterweight Championship. Allen Conyers, 10-2, with 8 knockouts, of the Bronx, took the crown with a relentless attack on Russell Jordan, 12-4 8 KOs, of Rochester.
After initially taking their time to size each other up, Conyers pressed the go button and connected with a serious straight punch to Jordan’s chin. The shot sent Jordan stumbling back, visibly shaken.
From then on, he was just trying to hang on against the ropes. The punch had the crowd roaring as Conyers moved Jordan against one corner of the ropes until finally chasing him to the other side of the ring, where he unloaded against a defenseless Jordan.
Jordan stopped defending himself, causing the referee to stop the fight before Jordan was knocked unconscious.
Afterwards, Conyers said he was clearly aware he had hurt Jordan with that one punch to the middle of the face and chin. That punch impressed even former world champion boxer Billy Costello, who was judging the fight at ringside.
With his trainer Louie Olmo yelling behind him, Conyers stayed patient, then struck Jordan with body shots before going upstairs with a combination of hooks and a devastating uppercut.
“It feels good,” Conyers said. “It was a lot of hard work [preparing].
“God blessed me with a second chance and I took advantage of it,” he added.
Conyers was referring a recent shot at a middleweight title, which he lost.
Olmo and Conyers acknowledged the plan was to go after Jordan early.
“We didn’t want to take a chance on a decision,” Olmo said. “We trained real hard for this. He is stronger this time.”
Conyers’ work regimen includes running 6 to 7 miles nearly every day and sparring for 10 rounds regularly.
The final match between Conyers and Jordan capped an impressive night of boxing, which saw the fighters take it to each other from the get-go.
In the very first bout, two undefeated boxers, Artie Bembury of the Bronx and Jose Cardona of Manhattan, exchanged a flurry of punches from the opening bell.
Cardona was sent down to the floor briefly in the first round after one set of punches. Cardona bravely answered back into the second round, but already was cut above his left eye.
Neither fighter had any problem opening up, as these two men let the punches fly. But Bembury’s shots continued to do the most damage, resulting in a cut near Cardona’s right eye by the third round.
Cardona would land another big blow to Bembury, but it wasn’t enough, as he lost a unanimous decision.
In the second match, Daniel Sostre, of Highland in Orange County made his professional debut a winning one, as he took down the undefeated Antoine Broderick of Troy, with a more rigorous aggression.
Sostre controlled the fight early, taking it straight to the more experienced Broderick. The younger Sostre also showed defensive talent, able to duck from the big misses of Broderick.
Broderick was more eager in the second round. He displayed his quick hands as he connected with a solid combination and blocked some big shots from Sostre.
But as the fight went on, Sostre proved to pack a more powerful punch, causing blood to gush from the nose of Broderick. Sostre also seemed to be able to more easily absorb punches. He counter-punched effectively as well.
In the final round, Sostre knocked out Broderick’s mouthpiece, which was symbolic of his dominance in the fight. The judges awarded Sostre the unanimous decision.
Once again, Monticello Gaming & Raceway continued its tradition of showcasing woman boxers. The ladies’ bout on the evening’s card was not close as the four rounds all belonged to bantamweight Eileen Olszewski, who was making her pro debut. It was not pretty, as the New York City native embarrassed fellow New Yorker Kimberly Torres with pounding shots to the face.
The last fight before the feature was between the junior welterweights Justo Sencion of the Bronx (25-4 14 KOs) and Pasali Adorno (10-5-2 5 KOs) of Puerto Rico. Sencion may have had the experience edge but Adorno was too much for him on this night.
From the opening round, Adorno led the action, beginning with body shots and later concentrating more on the head. But Sencion was no walk-over and by the seventh round, he had cut Adorno at the top of his head.
But by the eighth and final round, Adorno’s body shots had taken their toll, and he unloaded at will against Sencion with a flurry of punches to the head to earn the unanimous decision.

top of page  |  home  |  archives