By Rick Reeno

Later tonight, HBO's Boxing After Dark series will land in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Several young fighters under the DiBella Ent. banner will be showcased in seperate bouts. 

In the main event, Paulie Malignaggi (21-1, 5 KOs) returns for the first time since suffering the first loss of his career at the hands of Miguel Cotto in June of 2006. The always talkative fighter from Brooklyn will collide with fan favorite Edner Cherry (21-4-2, 10 KOs) of Wauchula, Florida.

All four of Cherry's losses were close decisions, and his last two wins came by way of exciting late round knockouts. Malignaggi, is one of the few fighters to go the distance with Cotto, which should say something about his boxing skills because he took a physical beating, but was able to survive and keep himself in the fight with very little punching power in his arsenal. If not for his boxing skills, heart and obvious good chin, Cotto would have stopped him.

The co-main event will feature a ten-round grudge match between junior middleweight Sechew Powell (20-1, 12 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York and Ishe Smith (18-1, 8 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Powell returns to the ring for the first time since a decision loss to Kassim Ouma last August. Powell has already defeated two "Contender" show participants and wants Smith to be his third. Smith's only loss came at the hands of Sergio Mora in a five-round "Contender" format bout.

The slick styles of both fighters will either create an exciting fast paced fight, or a slow paced chess match with both of them hanging back while looking for openings. Based on several of their prior bouts, this one could go either way and stands a strong possibility of stealing the show because on paper it's the most comeptitive fight on the card.

The opening bout of the show, BoxingScene's 2006 prospect of the year, Andre Berto (16-0, 14 KOs) from Miami, Florida, makes his second appearance on HBO when he meets Contender star Norberto Bravo (29-6-1, 17 KOs) in a ten-round battle of welterweights.

The only thing I can say about this fight is not to blink because it could be over that quick.

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