By Ryan Songalia

DOVER, NJ - Sometimes "easy" fights aren't so easy. Just ask "Furious" Freddy Curiel who on Saturday had to dig deep to pull out a tougher-than-expected unanimous decision over Francisco Ruben Osorio. Competing for the first time in nine months, Curiel stepped up to the middleweight division to challenge for a vacant minor trinket. Luckily for Curiel, Osorio was no middleweight, having fought only one previous match in the division, losing in one round to Daniel Edouard.

As if training for a fight isn't grueling enough, Curiel was making his promotional debut under his wife Mariel's Furious Sports Entertainment banner. The fight was originally slated for the Hopatcong High School Gym in Lake Hopatcong on June 12 but a change in venue sent the fight to Dover, NJ's Baker Theater.

Osorio, 12-6 (10 KO), came out boxing with his awkward southpaw stance and left the aggressive Curiel searching for punching angles. Curiel controlled the pace but found little success in the middle of the ring. Curiel was most effective when he pressured Osorio to the ropes but Osorio's crafty counter-punching and survival skills frustrated the Vernon, NJ native.

The fight exploded in the fourth round when a quick right hook from Osorio badly stunned Curiel, sending the fan favorite to the ropes under a barrage of punches. As Curiel began to fade, the crowd revived him with chants of "Freddy", which seemed to be the only thing keeping him on his feet. Valiantly Curiel returned fire of his own, averting disaster.

Curiel turned the fight in his favor from the fifth round on by using his legs and walking his opponent into straight right hands. The seventh round began Curiel's reign of domination as Osorio began to fade badly under the attrition of Curiel's sustained work to the body. A delayed reaction low blow - which looked an awful lot like a clean left hook to the liver - sent Osorio to the ground for a minute reprieve. A few moments later Osorio was docked a point for holding.

Judge Kason Cheeks turned in an inept tally of 80-71 in favor of Curiel, while Frank Cappuccino saw is 78-73 and Eugene Grant saw it 77-74 for Curiel.

"It was a rough road, the promoting, training and fighting," says the 19-8-2 (8 KO) Curiel, aged 34. "I'm just glad it's over now. We have to plan it a little better next time. That doesn't take anything away from Osorio because he came to fight."

Curiel ends his two fight losing streak while Osorio drops his fourth straight.

Despite moving up in weight, the Contender Season Two alum Curiel needed two trips to the scale to make the 160 pound limit, initially coming in a pound over. He attributed it to water retention from taking cold medicine the week of the fight. Curiel weighed back in at 159.5; Osorio weighed 158.

The turnout was a bit of a disappointment to event organizers, only drawing about 500 fans. Nonetheless they remained confident about putting together a mini tournament in Atlantic City pitting American fighters against Irish fighters in September, similar to the "Contender vs. UK" event that earned Curiel his career best victory over Ross Minter in 2007. Curiel expressed interest in fighting New York residents John Duddy and James Moore.

David Roman Curiel In Tough In Pro Debut; Outlasts Richard Grant

21-year-old David Roman Curiel of Paterson, NJ was one of NJ's finest amateurs in the second half of this decade. Curiel, the younger brother of Freddy, was 53-7, winning the 152 pound open class NJ Golden Gloves last year. None of that means a thing in the pros.

Curiel, 156, opened the fight in explosive fashion, bombing Grant to the floor with a right hand to the top of the head. Infuriated with himself, Grant, 159 climbed off the canvas to wade through a constant barrage of fluid power combos from the taller fighter.

Curiel was in charge of round two as well but began to slow down precipitously by the third. Grant fought right back and began landing right hands over the top with regularity. By the fourth Curiel was completely out of gas, counting the seconds until the final bell rang.

One judge saw the fight 38-37 while the other two had it 39-36. Grant is now 2-3 as a pro.

"It felt crazy," said Curiel. "I thought the punches were gonna buzz me but it felt like a sparring session. It might look easy on TV but the pros are a tough game. My experience pulled it out."

Elvin Sanchez KO's Third Straight

Leading into this fight Paterson's Elvin "KOKO" Sanchez, 3-0 (3 KO), had never previously faced an opponent with a win to his name. While he didn't climb a mountain, Sanchez was in against his first pro opponent that came to fight. It was uneven at times but ultimately Sanchez's superior punching power was the difference as he finished off Julius Jackson, 3-3, at 2:23 of the second round.

Sanchez, 197.5, came out in the southpaw stance trying to make it a brawl from the opening bell. Jackson didn't come all the way from Cincinnati to slug it out, however. The longer Jackson made good use of his reach advantage with an effective southpaw jab that kept Sanchez off balance.

Jackson seemed to be finding his best success in the second when he caught Sanchez with a solid left hand but shortly after an overhand left from Sanchez rocked his world and led to a violent assault along the ropes that halted the bout.

When he was boxing it made me feel like I had to reach to get to him. When he decided to come and start banging with me, I knew he was going to fall into my world. It was just a matter of time before I caught him.

Sanchez, a natural southpaw, was 27-4 (15 KO) in the amateurs, and won two NJ Golden Gloves in 2004 and 2005.

Perhaps most notable about the fight was Sanchez's fashion sense: He came out with a fusion half denim/half cargo pair of shorts and semi-faux hawk that gave him the presence of an MMA fighter.

Donald Bernard Pitches Shutout in Debut

Paterson's Donald Bernard got his career started on the right foot by outboxing cross-town brawler Hector Rivera over four rounds. While not showing much punching power, Bernard used effective movement and picked his spots well as he frustrated his less polished opponent.

All three judge scored the fight 40-36.

Mejias Outworks Palms

Alex Mejias of Paterson, NJ struggled at times to deal with the slick caginess of Jersey City's Willie Palms but still managed to pull off a unanimous decision with scores of 59-53 and two scores of 57-55. Mejias was considerably more consistent in his punch output but was at times baffled by the awkward, Emmanuel Augustus-like taunt fighting. When Palms let his hands go he landed consistently, even cutting Mejias with a solid left hook. Mejias came to win though, while Palms came to clown and pick up a paycheck.

Most disappointing, besides Palms' refusal to bite down on his mouthpiece, was witnessing firsthand the sad path Palms' career has taken. Once considered a top amateur prospect after winning the 1997 US National Championships, Palms has lost six straight and has dropped to 10-7-1 (5 KO). Mejias is now 10-1 (4 KO).

Zegarra Shocks Gomez in One

In the show's opener, southpaw junior-welterweight Juan Zegarra made quick work of Jesse Gomez, ending the night in 2:54 of the first round. Zegarra, a native of Peru but now fighting out of North Bergen, NJ used his physical strength more so than technical ability to quickly bomb Gomez to the canvas. Zegarra's manager Nelson Fernandez said he held Zegarra back from turning pro when he brought him to America for seven months before turning him pro last month. Zegarra is now 2-0 (2 KO) but Fernandez still sees room for improvement.

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at songaliaboxing@aol.com .