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Boxers To Face Off in Astoria Next Month

Alicia Napoleon (Photo: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment)

May 24, 2018 By Tara Law

Boxers from around the world will compete at the Melrose Ballroom in Astoria next month.

The Broadway Boxing Series, a two-hour program put on by boxing event coordinator DiBella Entertainment, will host an event at the 36-08 33rd St. venue for the first time on June 21.

Melrose Ballroom is the only venue in Astoria that currently hosts boxing bouts. The event with be the venue’s fifth in the last three years.

The evening will feature a 10-round welterweight bout by Mikkel “Slikk Mikk” LesPierre, a Brooklyn resident who was born in Trinidad and Tobago. LesPierre is undefeated, with eight knockouts and a record of 19-0-1. He recently won the WBC USNBC Super Lightweight title against then-undefeated Noel Murphy.

Former WBC Lightweight World Champion “Dynamite” Dejan Zlaticanin, born in Podgorica, Montegro, will fight in New York City for the first time. Zlaticanin gained notoriety in a match last December after knocking out Hevinson Herrera in the first round.

The event will also feature several female fighters, including WBA World Female Super Middleweight Champion Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon, who has a 9-1 record with five knockouts. Napoleon beat then-undefeated Femke Hermans in March, who now holds the WBO 168 lb. title.

Other fighters are also listed on DiBella Boxing’s website. The bout matchups have not yet been released, and will be announced closer to the event date.

Mikkel LesPierre (Photo: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment)

DiBella Boxing has held the Broadway Boxing events in New York City for 15 years, but the June event will be the first at Melrose Ballroom, according to a spokesperson for the company. Broadway Boxing is the longest running boxing series in the city, according to DiBella boxing.

“I’m thrilled to bring the Broadway Boxing series to Melrose Ballroom in Queens, right on the border of Astoria and Long Island City,” said Lou DiBella, president of DiBella Entertainment. “It has a very intimate atmosphere and is easy to get to from Midtown Manhattan.”

Tickets start at $50 and are available at the link. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the first bell is at 7 p.m.