Local faves fall as Daniel Gonzalez beats Michael Anderson, Twaiti defeats Rodriguez in Newark

NEWARK — New Yorkers Daniel Gonzalez and Khalid Twaiti had a successful trip across the Hudson River on Saturday, October 12, defeating hometown favorites Michael Anderson and Emmanuel “Salserito” Rodriguez respectively at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Gonzalez (22-4-1, 7 knockouts) of the Woodhaven section of Queens, N.Y. showed his versatility in outboxing “Slick” Anderson to score the biggest win of his career. The 34-year-old Gonzalez won by scores of 99-91 on two cards and 100-90 on the third, sending the 43-year-old Anderson (24-4-1, 18 KOs) to his first loss in five years.

In the co-main event, Twaiti (14-0, 5 knockouts) took a big step towards legitimate contention at 118 pounds with a one-sided decision over Newark’s Rodriguez (15-3, 8 KOs) in a ten-round bout. The scores were 99-90 on one card and 98-91 on the other two.

From the outset it was clear that Anderson was looking his age as he struggled to pull the trigger against Gonzalez, who switched up his tactics from his usual aggressive approach and gave Anderson some lateral movement instead. Gonzalez used his jab and side to side movement to keep Anderson guessing, flurrying to the head and body while Anderson struggled to get out more than one punch at a time.

Gonzalez lands punches on Michael Anderson. Photo by Carlo Estonactoc

Realizing he was desperately behind, Anderson came out for the tenth round with a determined look, landing left hooks to the body with Gonzalez along the ropes but was unable to turn the fight around in a meaningful way.

“It’s just another step forward in the right direction,” said Gonzalez, who is promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing. “I just showed that I’m growing into my body and growing into my talent. I just feel that a guy like that, most people think I’m gonna brawl the shit out of him but I switched it up and boxed the shit out of him.”

The win was the second in a row for Gonzalez, who had lost back to back fights prior to defeating Keane McMahon in February by unanimous decision. Gonzalez, who is trained and managed by Moises Roman, says the fight that would interest him most next is a showdown with another New Jersey staple – Roseland’s Vito Mielnicki Jr.

“Hopefully I’ll get a big call, something on Top Rank. Give me any of those guys, I’ll take them out. I heard [Vito Mielnick Jr.] is talking shit, let’s see what happens,” said Gonzalez.

Twaiti dominates Rodriguez

Twaiti lived up to his “Pure Gold” nickname, dropping Rodriguez in the fourth round and dominating him to win by the scores of 99-90 one card and 98-91 on the other two cards.

Twaiti, a Yemeni-American who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., controlled the fight throughout with his sharper left jab, keeping Rodriguez on the outside as he picked his punches from distance. Twaiti scored the fight’s only knockdown in the fourth when a left hook to the body dropped Rodriguez into the ropes. Rodriguez survived the onslaught but it was clear he was outgunned from that point on.

Twaiti, who won the NY Golden Gloves title at 114 pounds in 2013, was not content to sit on his lead as he pushed his advantage and searched for a knockout. Rodriguez was addled by a cut above his right eye, creating another target for Twaiti to land his left hook on.

Twaiti looked for the finish until the final bell as Rodriguez could do little more than shake his head at the way his luck was running on this night.

In the upset of the night, “Dangerous” Danny Gonzalez (no relation to the main event fighter) showed he was a real prospect to watch for, knocking out the previously unbeaten Gabriel Gerena in a matchup of unbeaten Garden State junior welterweights.

Gonzalez (4-0, 4 KOs) had never previously beaten a fighter with a win on his record, but the Iselin, N.J. native shined brightly in his first six round bout, hurting Gerena (6-1, 5 KOs) with a left hook high on the temple before another left hook put Gerena on his back. Gerena, 22, of Piscataway, N.J. beat the count but was ruled unable to continue.

The win was a huge accomplishment for the 29-year-old Gonzalez, whose career looked to be at a standstill after switching gyms and suffering personal setbacks earlier in the year.

“I saw it coming. The first left hook that I landed, I saw in his eyes that it hurt him. But thankfully I have a good team behind me because I have a history of hurting people and then going crazy. I saw that he was open for the left hook, I saw he dropped his right hand so I hit him with it and dropped him,” said Gonzalez, a 2023 N.J. Golden Gloves champion.

The fight took place at a catchweight of 141 pounds, which is ten pounds more than Gerena weighed for his pro debut in March of 2023.

Anthony Johns (9-1, 6 KOs) gave his hometown fans something to cheer about, defeating Edwin Reyes (8-9-3, 5 KOs) of Guatemala City, Guatemala by majority decision in their six-round junior flyweight bout. One judge had the fight even at 57-57, while the other two had it 60-54 and 59-55 for the Newark native.

Johns, 31, a 2019 National Golden Gloves champion, scored his third straight win since his lone loss, a dubious defeat in Argentina to a local fighter 13 months ago.

Heavyweight Kristian Prenga (16-1, 16 KOs) scored a win over his most experienced opponent to date, though not in the manner he would have wanted. The 33-year-old from Albania and now residing in Edgewater, N.J. was declared the winner over heavyweight journeyman Joey Dawejko (28-13-4, 16 KOs) when Dawejko claimed a shoulder injury in round five of their eight-round heavyweight bout.

Dawejko, 34, of Philadelphia was throwing a left hook to the body when he collapsed to the floor. After several moments of conferring with the ringside doctor, the fight was waived off, awarding Prenga the victory.

The loss is the second by questionable means in a month for Dawejko. Last month, Dawejko was disqualified in the same round for excessively spitting out the mouthpiece against Richard Torrez Jr.

Earlier on the card, junior middleweight prospect Jean Pierre Valencia (2-0, 2 knockouts) of Irvington, N.J. by way of Esmeraldas, Ecuador remained undefeated with a first round KO of Cody Jenkins (0-4). Jenkins of Culpeper, Va. went down from a left hook to the body and couldn’t beat the count.

The show was promoted by Rising Star Promotions.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].