Golden Gloves Champ Shea Willcox Scores KO Win Over In Pro Debut

“Showtime” Shea Willcox (1-0, 1 KO) made quick work of Travis Crain in the main event with a dominating first-round technical knockout. Referee Jackie Morrell stopped the junior welterweight bout at one minute and forty-two seconds after Crain was dropped for the third time and was in no shape to continue fighting.

Photo: Emily Harney / Fightography

“My performance was good, but I could have been better. I went out there and did what we worked on. I stayed relaxed and let the fight come to me instead of going out there and being wild,” said the 2024 New England Golden Gloves champion and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Boxer.

The twenty-three-year-old, who made his professional debut, knocked Crain down from a left-right hook, a straight right jab, and a right hook – all in rapid succession. Crain dropped to 0-5 and remained sitting on the canvas for several minutes, grimacing in pain before he got up on his own.

“I never let the nerves get to me, but I was a little nervous because of all the fans that came to see me, but I loved every second of it. I am so grateful for all my fans for coming out to see me fight,” said Willcox, who had the entire crowd loudly shouting and cheering him on. “I want to have another fight within the next few months and try to stay as active as possible.”

Granite Chin Promotions promoted “Fight Night at the Vets Club 2” with a sold-out crowd at the Bridgewater Veterans Club in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The main event and the three undercard bouts were taped live and will be posted this week on the Bridgewater (BTV) YouTube page.

Granite Chin Promotions will have two more boxing cards this year. On November 1st at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, undefeated Denzel Whitley takes on one-loss Josniel Castro in the main event in a battle of two of the best super welterweights in New England. Then, on November 27th, the day before Thanksgiving, unbeaten heavyweight Kevin Nagle will fight in the main event in Everett, Massachusetts, in his fifth bout of the year.

In the co-feature, Massachusetts middleweight champion Julien “Black Dragon” Baptiste (7-4-1, 3 KOs) dominated Ryan Clark (4-6-1, 2 KOs). However, he had to settle for an eight-round split decision draw in a fight that was not as close as the scorecards indicated. Judge Joe Apice shockingly had it 78-74 for Clark, Judge Martha Tremblay scored it 77-74 for Baptiste, and Judge Robin Hayes had it 76-76. Baptiste is unbeaten in four of his last five bouts, including defeating Clark via a six-round unanimous decision in June 2023, also at the Bridgewater Veterans Club.

Baptiste, whose title was not on the line for this fight, controlled this middleweight bout as he took the fight to Clark and aggressively chased him around the ring. He landed more punches, especially hard-stinging left-right hooks to the body and stiff jabs to the head, to which Clark had no answer.

Baptiste also connected on more power shots, which caused Clark’s face to be red and marked up by the end of the bout. He opened up a deep cut above Clark’s left eye from a right hook that began to bleed in the seventh round and throughout the eighth. The ringside doctor looked at the cut before the eighth round but allowed the fight to continue. Clark threw more punches, but many of them were blocked by Baptiste, who displayed good defense.

Alfred “Keenan” Raymond (2-10-3) and Daniel “The Hudson Valley Kid” Sostre (13-26-2, 5 KOs) battled to a hard-fought four-round split decision draw (Judge Hayes had it 39-37 for Sostre, Judge Apice scored it 40-36 for Raymond, and Judge Tremblay had it 36-36). This was an action-packed bout where both fighters threw non-stop punches throughout their middleweight fight.

Raymond threw more punches and landed the harder shots. He cut Sostre’s lip in the second round, which bled for the rest of the fight. Sostre also had a large welt on the left side of his face by the end of the bout. Sostre, the former New York State welterweight champion, was the more accurate, cleaner puncher and got the better of the exchanges. His seventeen-bout losing streak ended, although ten of those losses were to undefeated fighters.

Brandon Sandoval defeated Stephen Davis via a four-round unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards (39-37, 39-37, and 39-37). After a close first round, Sandoval dominated the next three rounds of their lightweight bout, as Davis appeared to tire and his offensive production dropped significantly.

Sandoval landed more punches and connected on the hard shots, especially to the body. The ringside doctor took a long look at Davis before the start of the fourth round but decided that he could continue to fight. Sandoval improved to 3-4, 1 KO. He has won three of his last four bouts. Davis dropped to 1-4, 1 KO.