Former Barclays Center worker Travis Peterkin told his friends he would one day box in Brooklyn’s primer area. The Brownsville native made good on that promise last Saturday night, but he will still have to wait for his first victory there.
Peterkin had a point taken away in the fourth and fifth rounds and had to settle for a 76–74, 75–75, 75–75, majority draw in a light heavyweight bout against Lenin Castillo (12–0–1) on the Premier Boxing Champions undercard of Paulie Maligniggi’s Aug. 1 clash with Danny Garcia.
“You don’t want stuff like that to decide a close fight,” Peterkin said. “I thought I was the busier fighter.”
He did not agree with the deductions that ultimately cost him a victory. The first was because he was hitting after the breaks and the second for what looked like a clear low blow. Peterkin, who controlled the final three rounds, still felt the referee got it wrong.
“I’d love to fight the guy again, but the referee made two human mistakes,” the 24-year-old said.
Despite the disappointing end, he took in every moment leading up to the fight. Peterkin (15–0–1) used to stock and serve food in the suites at Barclays Center from 2012–14. He said showing up to work there for a different reason Saturday night was his proudest moment.
“It feels larger than life,” Peterkin said. “You have your friends and your family watching you. It makes a grown man cry,”
Hardy stays unbeaten: This time it was Heather “The Heat” Hardy’s fists that forced the stoppage of a fight against Renata Domsodi.
When the two featherweights fought in April, an accidental head butt led to a no contest that irked Hardy. The Gerritsen Beach fighter is over that now, after a technical knockout of Domsodi one second into the seventh round.
“It puts it to bed,” Hardy said. “I thought after the first fight she didn’t deserve the rematch and there she was. It’s over. It’s done. On to the next.”
The swelling over Domsodi’s left eye from consistent shots from Hardy became too great. The fight was stopped, but it did not surprise Hardy (14–0, 3 KOs). The damage she had done was clear.
“Her face was a mess,” Hardy said. “It looked like an unmade bed.”
The aggressive Hardy opened up a cut over Domsodi’s left eye in the third. Hardy said she worked on keeping her distance after the outcome of the last fight. By the fourth round Hardy felt Domsodi was ripe for the taking. She was able to navigate through her guard and create the swelling around her eye that led to the stoppage.
“I was timing her,” Hardy said. “I was seeing her punches. Everything was like a good sparing session.”
Other results: Greenpoint heavyweight Adam Kownacki (11–0) remained unbeaten with his 10th career knockout when he sent Maurenzo Smith (12–9–3) to the canvas with a big right hand at the 2:26 mark of the second round. Rafael Vazquez (15–1) of Bushwick recorded a easy first-round knockdown in a featherweight fight against Mario Macias (26–16).
