Joe DeGaurdia's Star Boxing 
Mohegan Sun Card Friday, April 2, 2010

By Mike Natalino

Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing would host a fine night of fights, putting future and present talent on display in front of a packed, live, ESPN Friday night fight crowd at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.First up would be the undefeated Olympic star, Jr middleweight, Demetrius Andrade, who was trying to improve his 9-0 record against Geoffrey Spruiell of Pueblo Co. Andrade would rise to the occasion for his sixth live telecast by putting on a dazzling display of boxing for the crowd.  The early action would see Andrade dipping low and countering with right-left combos.Andrade looked most impressive going into rounds four and five, where he demonstrated signs of a seasoned professional. He would anchor his feet into the canvas while countering landing shots of all sorts.Andrade would handle Spruiell’s wild attempts to bring the fight to close quarters by responding with three and four body shots at a time, then coming upstairs with perfectly timed right hooks. Spruiell, mesmerized, fought gamely, but was unable to launch any offense. His most effective attack was the verbal assault during round six. Andrade would walk away with a unanimous decision, showing promising signs that he is on track to a future world title. Andrade was surrounded by family and friends who came out to the event, all pleased with his performance . To many, Demetrius is not only the prodigal son of Rhode Island, but Connecticut too. He has strong Cape Viridian roots from Providence, Rhode Island, to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and seems to be torn between the two states.

The main event would bring two fighters together with more ambition than ever, knowing that their next fight would be for a world championship, which set the stage for a must win situation for both fighters. To spice up the contest even more, the boys were given a taste of gold with a USBA title on the line. Defending champion, Delvin Rodriguez of Danbury, Connecticut, would face off against the pride of Greece, Mike Arnaoutis, in an action-packed welterweight match up.

​The fight would begin with a one-sided edge for Rodriguez. He would consistently beat Arnaoutis to the punch with disciplined left-right combinations . Arnaoutis would show life in the fifth, landing overhand lefts that would stagger Rodriguez, but would slowly fade away by round seven. Rodriguez would stick to his game plan of working off the jab and slowly work his way in with crunching body shots.Arnaoutis would turn up the heat in round ten, landing numerous bombs, only to have Rodriguez bounce back with bombs of his own. A cut would open over Arnaoutis’ eye towards the end of the round, and in desperation, he launched a hellacious attack, forcing Rodriguez to open up even more. The action got so intense in round eleven that the two wrestled each other to the ground. The round would go on to be dominated by Rodriguez. Bothered by the punches,Arnaoutis was forced to fight at distance for the remainder of the fight. Rodriguez was awarded a unanimous decision, and expressed thanks for Arnaoutis’ game showing at the post fight press conference. Unfortunately, Arnaoutis was unable to attend, due to having a laceration stitched up. His training camp would attend on his behalf and would express an abundance of respect towards Rodriguez. One of his trainers would go onto say, “I have seen a lot of fighters and I know what it takes. You will be world champion.”.Due to the main event starting early, two fights would be forced to the back burner. The fans who would stick around for this encore and would sure get their money’s worth.Super Bantamweight’s undefeated Roberto Benitez of the Bronx, trying to improve his record to 7-0, would find himself in front of anything but a stepping stone in Yan Barthelemy of Miami, Florida.  [Benitez in red and white trunks]Barthelemy, whose record was 9-2, would push Benitez to the limit in a see saw slugfest, eventually having the fight called to a halt in the fourth due to a cut, which would cause the young Benitez his first loss.This match would see more action than all of the matches combined that evening, setting the stage for the grand finale.The show would close with Bronx native Yathomas Riley, improving his record to 8-0,by delivering a crushing second round knockout defeat to Walter Foster Jr. of St. Louis, MO.Riley deserved the award for KO of the evening.For those of you looking for the next hot prospect in the light-heavyweight division, this kid is it. Speed and power…you name it, he’s got it, and not to mention that a million dollar smile never hurts.

​Photo By Taylor Hallman