WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 25, 2018 47
Ridgewood boxer wins in NYC debut
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM\
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Local prodigy Mathew Gonzalez
maintained his undefeated record
when he made his Barclays
Center debut on Saturday night in
front his friends and family from
Ridgewood.
Also known as “Left y Gunz,” Gonzalez
extended his professional boxing
record to 3-0 in his young career with
a victory over fellow Queens native
Alexander Serna. Gonzalez won by
unanimous decision, with all three of
the judges scoring the fi ght 40-36 in
his favor. While Gonzalez and his team
admitted that it wasn’t his best performance,
the fi ghter was glad he got the
opportunity to fi ght on such a big stage.
“It was a much diff erent atmosphere
I never experienced before, especially
being at the Barclays Center under the
big lights,” Gonzalez said. “Now I got
the jitters off , so next fi ght I’ll be much
better since I already know what to
expect.”
If Gonzalez was nervous coming
into the fi ght, he didn’t show it. When
the 22-year-old made his entrance to
the ring, he wore a gorilla mask as
the song “Set Trippin” by Casanova
played in the background. When he
ducked under the ropes, Gonzalez
did a lap around the ring beating his
chest with his right hand. The gorilla
Lead photo: Mathew Gonzalez is declared the winner by unanimous decision
at the Barclays center, his fi rst fi ght in New York as a pro.
mask, he said, refl ects his mindset as
a fi ghter.
“I’ve got the things you can’t teach
and I’ve got that natural heart,” Gonzalez
said. “I come to fi ght always.”
When the mask came off , the fi rst
of four rounds, three minutes each,
began with the ding of the bell. The
fi ghters danced around the ring and
not many punches were thrown as
they tried to get a feel for their opponent.
Neither fi ghter had a clear
advantage aft er the fi rst round.
Gonzalez took control from there.
In the second round he showed off the
speed of his hands, as the southpaw
landed combinations punctuated
by his strong left hook. The crowd
Photos by Ryan Kelley/QNS
also began to make its presence felt,
as chants of “Mat! Mat! Mat!” could be
heard throughout the arena.
One of the most important aspects
of boxing, where promoters are
responsible for choosing fi ghters for
an event, is the number of tickets a
fi ghter can sell. According to Jenny
Badillo, Gonzalez’s fi ancee and owner
of International Boxing & Fitness Club
in Ridgewood where Gonzalez trains,
the “Left y Gunz” team sold nearly 180
tickets, with more than 100 of them
coming from the Ridgewood area.
“We’re turning heads, big numbers
are coming out, and we’re putting Ridgewood
on the map,” Badillo said. “We want
them to see that we have them in mind
and that we appreciate everything they
do, so we are defi nitely going to go back
with our victory and talk to everybody.”
In rounds three and four, Gonzalez
continued to be tactical in placing his
punches, but he did get sloppy at times
and leave himself open to get hit. Aft er
the fi ght, well-known promoter Lou
DiBella told Gonzalez that he wouldn’t
have gotten away with that if he was
fi ghting someone as talented as he is.
Gonzalez’s trainer for the past
three years, Eric Roman, was ringside
during the fi ght and agreed that there
are plenty of teaching points to build
on from what he saw.
“He’s got to box a little more, use his
jab a little more, make it look pretty,”
Roman said. “What I say is, ‘Let’s make
it brutally beautiful.’ We look nice, but
we’re really putting pain in.”
During the last minute of the fourth
round the fi ghters threw a fl urry of
punches in a sense of desperation.
When the fi nal bell rang, they immediately
stopped and hugged each other,
a sign of mutual respect from the New
York natives. The referee joined them,
placing his hands on top of their heads
and commending them for their eff orts.
A minute later, the referee grabbed
Gonzalez’s left hand and hoisted it into
the air. For the Ridgewood native who
attended P.S. 239, I.S. 77 and Grover
Cleveland High School, Gonzalez said
this is only the beginning.
“I’m not here for the short term, I’m
here for the long term,” he said. “I want
to be on the big stage and have my face
on the posters. This is just the next
step for me up that ladder.”
Gonzalez’s performance earned him
contracts for two more fi ghts already,
Badillo said. On March 10, “Left y Gunz”
will fi ght at Kings Theater in Brooklyn,
and he could return to the Barclays
Center as soon as April.
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Big road wins for BWG soccer
The BW Gottschee 2007 boys
group (shown) split in two
teams, the blue and the white,
traveled to Rockland to compete in
the RCC Indoor Soccer tournament.
With a great display of possession
soccer, the 2007s fi nished fi rst and
second, respectively, in the group,
outscoring their opponents 31 to 5.
In the same tournament, the
BWG Girls 04 won the fi rst place.
Photo courtesy of Ovid Cusu
In the fi ve-game competition, the
girls won four games, tied one and
gave up no goals.
In a different location, the 2008
boys went to the indoor tournament
in Poughkeepsie. The team
competed in their age group and
took home the first place prize,
then played to a second-place
finish in a tournament with older
teams.