By: Sean Crose
New York’s own Raymond Cuadrado Jr opened up a Boxing Insider card Thursday night at Times Squares’ Sony Theater when he faced off against the Dominican Republic’s Yeuri Andujar in a scheduled four rounder. While the 5-5-1 Andujar was clearly the underdog, he perfumed well in the first, though the 7-0 Cuadrado might have edged it a bit. The second saw Cuadrado establishing himself as the more dominant of the two fighters. By the third it was clear that Cuadrado was well in control. Working off the jab, he was able to keep Andujar at bay.
Give Andujar credit, he came to fight. His face covered with blood, he battled gamely through the fourth and final round against the determined Cuadrado. Still, all gutsiness in the world couldn’t carry Andujar to victory. In the end, Cuadrado got the judge’s nod by scores of 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36. It was a strong showing for a young fighter with a disciplined game plan.
Next up the 11-0 Arnold Gonzalez battled the 8-7-4 Alejandro Munera in a scheduled six round junior middleweight affair. Gonzalez began the fight applying pressure in the first. Both men, however, essentially remained patient in the opening round. Munera did a nice job working behind his jab in the second. Gonzalez continued applying pressure in the third. He also employed effective body work towards round’s end.
Munera did good work in the fourth, firing at Gonzalez as the man moved in. The fifth was a matter of controlling the tempo. Gonzalez tried pushing the action while Munera tried to counterpunch his man. A very aggressive Gonzalez clearly took the sixth and final round. He didn’t knock his opponent out, as he perhaps wanted to, but he emerged victorious nonetheless. The scores: 59-55, 60-54 and 60-54.