NEW YORK – Chris Colbert bounced back into the win column on Saturday night, defeating Blas Ezequiel Caro by unanimous decision Saturday night here at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Colbert scored one knockdown in the fifth en route to a dominant points win. Scores were 78-73, 77-74 and 80-71.
Colbert, 18-3 (6 KOs), of Brooklyn, was fighting for the firt time since suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Jose Valenzuela and Omar Salcido. The 29-year-old Colbert, who weighed in at a career-high 138.4lbs the day before, was content to box from the outside against Argentina's aggressive Caro, but he wasn’t shy about showing off his shoulder roll defense along the ropes.
That tactic didn’t always pay off, as Colbert was caught by a few punches along the ropes in the second round. He maintained control, and in the fifth round he was able to drop Caro, 12-9 (5 KOs), with a body shot.
Colbert did enough to put on a show for his hometown fans en route to the decision win, which was part of the Danny Garcia-Danny Gonzalez undercard.
Earlier, two New York prospects won too-close-for-comfort decisions as Reshat Mati and Mathew Gonzalez were pushed to the brink in decision wins.
“Lefty Gunz” Gonzalez defeated Wilfredo Flores by scores of 76-75, 76-75, 77-74 in an eight-round welterweight fight, surviving a bloody nose and a seventh-round point deduction for holding. Gonzalez, 16-1-1 (10 KOs), of Ridgewood, New York, was fighting for the first time since suffering his first career defeat, a first-round KO against Jino Rodrigo in March. Flores, 12-6-1 (5 KOs), of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was coming off an upset win over Terell Bostic in August.
Mati, 16-0 (8 KOs), overcame the first gut-check of his career, defeating Ecuador’s Jose Angulo, 17-11 (10 KOs), by a close but unanimous decision. Mati, 27, of Staten Island, New York, was hurt in the third round by a left hook but showed heart in battling back with sharp combinations, stinging Angulo to the body.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
