Jerry Glick reporting: Gabriel “Tito” Bracero couldn’t be happier with the year past and his next fight coming on January 21st at Roseland ballroom on a Broadway Boxing show, the first of the New Year. Instead of fighting one the usual suspects he will meet former WBO Junior-Welterweight belt holder, DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.
He may be at the end of his long career, but Corley has a lot to offer to a young ranked contender looking to improve his skills and his record against “Chop Chop” who has faced some of the biggest names in the sport including Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Zab Judah, Randall Bailey, Devon Alexander, and Ashley Theophane, are among his 37-19-1 (22 KOs) record.
“I know he’s not the fighter he used to be but he’s still dangerous,” said Bracero. “He’s a veteran so he has a lot of experience. I trained well, I’m fully prepared; and this has been the best training camp I’ve had so far.”
He has been working with renowned trainer, Tommy Gallagher, who has brought in some talented southpaws to work with Bracero to prepare him for the left handed Corley. “I’m ready for this step up,” added the undefeated Bracero who is now 18-0 (3 KOs). “When the New Year came in I had just won my NABF title and I said to myself that I wanted to step it up this year and show everybody how good I am. So when this opportunity came up to fight Chop Chop Corley, this is what I’ve been asking for. He’s going to bring out the best in me. The better the opponent, the better I look.”
Bracero knows that he needs to score some knockouts and trainer Gallagher had this to say about his preparation; “There are a lot of elements that are involved with punching,” explained the veteran trainer. “First of all you got to have the other fellow cooperate.” He added that his fighter is very satisfied with what he’s doing now. “He’s sitting down a little bit better now, and punching a little bit better now.”
Gallagher faults Brcaero’s lack of knockouts on a balance issue and that Bracero throws punches so fast that he has not been turning into the punches. “He’s so quick when he throws a punch that he forgets that the rest has to come with it.”
“When someone offers us a fight we take it,” said Gallagher of the opponent selected. “If we can’t beat the Corleys of the world then we can’t beat the guys we’re looking to fight. We are looking to fight Brandon Rios. Corley is a journeyman fighter; he has just what we need to sharpen us up.”
He said that he would love to see Bracero in with the highly regarded Rios at 140 pounds. He calls it a breakout fight for the thirty year old Bracero. “He does well against guy who keep coming.”
The popular Puerto Rican star has delivered at the box office; according to promoter Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment the show is sold out as of this morning BUT more seats have been made available so it’s a situation of get your ticket now if you are a fan of Tito Bracero.
There is no telling how far Bracero would have gotten by now had he not had such a huge bump in the road. His career was put on hold for six excruciating years because he went to prison on a weapons charge, but he believes that he is back on track. “Absolutely,” agreed Tito. “Everything in life happens for a reason. What I went through in life, I embrace it. It has made me into a better individual; it made me the person I am today. I train hard; I’m hungry and dedicated to the sport now. I feel like God gave me a second chance. I’m very blessed and I represent a lot of people who make mistakes in life.”
He said that he had gotten caught up in the street life and hung out with the wrong crowd. He has discovered who his friends are really and who to trust.
Also on the show will be Luis Del Valle, 14-0 (11 KOs), Seanie Monaghan, 10-0 (7 KOs), Danny McDermott, 8-3-1 (3 KOs), Alex Perez, 14-0 (8 KOs), Boyd Melson, 6-0 (3 KOs), Thomas Hardwick, 3-0 (2 KOs), and in keeping his promise to have a female fight on all of his Broadway Boxing shows, Lou DiBella will have his unbeaten heavyweight contender Sonya Lamonikis, 6-0 (1 KO), on the show.
“Sonya has become the people’s choice,” said Lou. “I promised Sonya that I will get her a fight for a world title and I will.”
***PUNCHLINES***
**TOMMY GALLAGHER**
Tommy Gallagher has many facets. Aside from training boxers he has done reality TV and movies as well. “We’re doing two movies,” said Gallagher. “With a new company called Jailbird Productions. We bought the rights to a couple of interesting mob stories. You can look it up on the website; jailbird.com. We are in the process right now of doing pre-production. I’m going to use all these kids, all these guys. There will be name stars, but everyone else will be drama majors but were raised in mob families. It gives a unique look at how they do their thing.”
**COMPARE THEN AND NOW**
How does the current class of Broadway Boxing fighters compare with the ones that started the series off? “I believe that there are a half dozen guys now that fight for Broadway Boxing who will one day fight for a world title, and I think there are at least one or two who will win a world title,” predicted DiBella.
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