Boxing Proves a Knockout in Buckhead

“The Sweet Science” debuted in the renovated Friday night, with boxing fans treated to an action-packed night of pugilistic action.

In the main event, local welterweight prospect Paul Delgado suffered a split-decision loss to Puerto Rican Luis Galarza after eight scintillating rounds of back-and-forth action.

However, perhaps the greatest winner on the night was the sport itself. Boxing in Atlanta has become something of a redheaded stepchild on the sporting scene, fractured by inconsistent billings, sub-standard fights and the growing appeal of mixed martial arts.

Yet Friday’s show represented a new approach to boxing’s promotion — and an upsurge of interest.

The Georgia Boxing Championship, says its promoter Shea Bailey, has given fans a discernable showcase since being introduced earlier in the year. 

“We learned a lot of lessons in the last few years, the chief one being that fans demand first-class entertainment within a defined system of competition,” said Bailey. “We now have that, and people are getting behind us. It’s exciting.”

Greater attention paid to matching fights, drawn from a ranking system, is an important breakthrough. 

Several of the nine scheduled bouts were gamely contested, bar a couple of early fights. In the run in to the main event, Winston Mathis and Chris Gary (145 pounds) lasted all six rounds to reach a draw on the scorecards. 

The bout was a fitting appetizer for the final conflict, in which Delgado and Galarza served up a classic. Galarza clinched the first two rounds but was rocked with a right-hander in the fourth, as his opponent began to exercise more control. 

However, the hometown favorite went down to a left hook in the final round, potentially the winning difference for Galarza. 

“It was tougher than I expected, he hits a little harder than I thought,” said Galarza, who required treatment to a cut eye. “But I did it, and I said I was going to do it.”