Unbeaten Featherweight Brunker Makes U.S. Debut 10/27

By Ryan Maquiñana

While countryman Daniel Geale has been grabbing all the Australian national headlines as of late, unbeaten featherweight Joel Brunker will hope to make his presence known in his Oct. 27 stateside debut at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y.

“I’m an action-packed fighter,” said the 26-year-old Brunker (23-0, 13 KOs), a 2004 Olympian who hails from New South Wales.  “I come to fight, and I’m exciting.”

Like Geale, a unified middleweight titleholder, Brunker has signed with promoter Gary Shaw in hopes he will receive the exposure necessary to build his name in America.

“I met Gary last year in Tasmania,” said Brunker, who is managed by Angelo DiCarlo.  “We’ve had a relationship ever since, and I want to make my mark here.  I think this fight will do it for me.”

“Joel’s a very good fighter.  He’s undefeated for a reason, and I can’t wait to see him show what he can do here in America,” said Shaw, who has not yet lined up an opponent.

In his last outing two months ago, Brunker won a foulfest against Edgar Riovalle and has risen to No. 3 in the WBO rankings, where 126-pound stalwart Orlando Salido currently holds the belt.

“I’d love to fight Salido, but I want any title out there,” Brunker said.  “To beat the big guys, you got to fight the big guys first, and that’s why I’m here in America.”

Both the Oct. 27 Thomas Dulorme-Luis Carlos Abregu main event as well as the Mauricio Herrera-Karim Mayfield co-feature at Turning Stone will be televised by HBO.

CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.