Chordale Booker had to go through rough portions of his fight to grind out a win.
Booker defeated former world title challenger Greg Vendetti by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Scores were 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92 for Booker, who improved to 22-1, 10 knockouts.
On paper, the win may have been one-sided, but Vendetti came to fight and gave Booker all he could handle.
Vendetti was the aggressor from the opening bell, attempting to walk Booker down to land his array of punches. As Vendetti was on the attack, Booker threw and landed uppercuts and left hooks to the head.
Undaunted, Vendetto continued pressing forward, and he was rewarded by throwing and landing sweeping right crosses to the head. During the middle rounds, Booker was able to be successful from mid-distance, adding an attack to the body of Vendetti to complement landing uppercuts to the head of Vendetti.
As the fight progressed into the second half, Vendetti was still the aggressor, even leaning up against Booker at times on the inside. Booker did not let his hands go, waiting at times, even when there was distance between two fighters.
Booker looked as though he momentarily hurt Vendetti in round nine after he unleashed an uppercut to the chin. Booker followed up, but Vendetti was able to weather the storm. Despite being hurt in the previous round, Vendetti continued to attack in round 10. Booker was successful in landing uppercuts up until the final bell sounded.
The 32-year-old Booker, who resides in nearby Stamford and is managed by Paul Guarino, stopped Julio de Jesus Rodriguez in round two of his previous fight on October 11. Booker has won his last five bouts since losing to unbeaten middleweight Austin Williams in April 2022.
Vendetti, who resides in Wakefield, Massachusetts, falls to 23-6-1, 12 KOs. The 33-year-old has now lost three of his last four bouts, including a decision defeat to WBA world titleholder Erislandy Lara in August 2020.
In the co-feature, featherweight prospect Ricky De Los Santos of Providence, Rhode Island defeated Nathan Martinez by unanimous decision. Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for De Los Santos, who improved to 12-1, 3 KOs.
Martinez was game and came to fight, but De Los Santos was the superior boxer, particularly during the second half of the fight. De Los Santos overwhelmed Martinez, battering him during several moments of the latter stages of the fight.
Martinez, who resides in New Britain, Connecticut, falls to 8-3, 2 KOs.
Junior lightweight Alejandro Paulino notched another victory, defeating D’Angelo Keyes of Houston, Texas by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 79-71 in favor of Paulino, who improved to 16-0, 13 KOs.
Keyes (17-4, 11 KOs) faced fringe lightweight contender Oscar Duarte in his previous fight on May 27, losing by knockout. Keyes was supposed to provide a test for Paulino, but the unbeaten prospect dominated most of the action, even scoring two knockdowns in round three..
Paulino, who is originally from the Dominican Republic and now resides in New London, Connecticut, was the more-effective and aggressive fighter between the two. Paulino looked for the knockout during the final two rounds, but Keyes was savvy enough to keep Paulino at bay.
Middleweight Francis Hogan of Weymouth, Massachusetts improved to 16-0, 14 KOs, dropping Colombia’s Dormedes Potes (14-6-1, 10 KOs) en route to a one-sided decision. All three judges scored the bout 80-70 in favor of Hogan.
Unbeaten flyweight prospect Angel Gonzalez of Longwood, Florida defeated Christian Robles (8-2, 3 KOs) of Lakewood, California by unanimous decision. Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for Gonzalez, who improved to 13-0, 7 KOs.
Lightweight Kevin Walsh stopped Puerto Rico’s Darrell Rivera (9-3-1, 7 KOs) at 1:54 of the opening round. Walsh, who resides in Brockton, Massachusetts, improved to 11-0, 5 KOs.
The card was promoted by Jimmy Burchfield, Sr.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
