The bout ended in a draw, but Jahyae Brown retains the WBC Silver title in Fight Night at Fenway

Sport admin June 7, 2026 0 Comments

The bout ended in a draw, but Jahyae Brown retains the WBC Silver title in Fight Night at Fenway

That the main event of Saturday’s Fight Night at Fenway ended in a draw seemed fitting. It was certainly acceptable that one judge scored the fight 77-75 in favor of the champion, Jahyae Brown, or that another scored the super welterweight matchup for the WBC Silver title even, 76-76.

A third judge scoring the fight for the challenger, Anthony Vieira, wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows, but the wide margin of 80-72, indicating that Vieira won all eight rounds, certainly did. Trainer Mark DeLuca, standing next to his pupil Brown in the center of the ring, laughed and shook his head in disbelief as the score was announced.

“That margin, I think, caught everyone off guard,” said Matt Nolan, who along with his twin brother, Mark, served as promoters for the event for Nolan Bros. Boxing. “It was clearly a competitive fight. The fan base is as split as the judging was. It could have gone either way.”

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Brown (19-2-1) retained the belt with the decision, while Vieira (11-0-1) had his first blemish but remained undefeated. Anytime a fight ends in a draw, particularly one as spirited as Saturday night’s clash, a rematch would seem to be the next logical step. But Nolan indicated after the fight that, as much as it would be intriguing, he was not looking to run it back, preferring instead to look at the bigger picture for both fighters.

“I told them, I think for their careers going forward, I don’t see the benefit. I really don’t,” said Nolan. “From a selfish promotional standpoint, I could sell this place out every other weekend if they fight every other weekend. I think both [fighters] at this point showed that they are a class above the rest and they have things they can do outside of the New England area.”

It capped off an entertaining night of boxing, 10 fights in all, in the concourse underneath the center field bleachers at Fenway Park in front of an estimated crowd of around 2,000, according to Nolan.

The fighter who may have had the largest contingent was Shea Willcox. The lightweight from Everett spent the majority of his six-round bout with Salvatore Pugliares chasing his opponent around the ring en route to improving to 8-0. Pugliares dropped to 7-5-1 with the loss, and had entered the bout with six knockouts.

“You never know when you hop in that ring what you’re going to have to deal with or adjust to,” said Willcox. “That’s not what I was expecting. I thought he was a little bit more of a come forward fighter. It’s a little frustrating. I wanted to put on more of a show at Fenway, but when I got him, I landed good.”

Willcox sent Pugliares to the canvas for the first time in the fourth round. Ahead of the fifth round, trainer Joe Ricciardi applied Vaseline to Willcox’s face, a common practice in boxing to keep punches from landing flush, but it hardly seemed necessary on this night as Pugliares continued to stay on the move and retreat.

Willcox managed to cut the ring off though, and knocked his opponent down for a second time. In the sixth, Pugliares had a point taken away for ignoring the referee’s commands to stop holding just before the final bell rang. All three judges scored the bout 60-51, with Willcox winning each of the final three rounds 10-8 to emerge with the unanimous decision.

“ Shea Willcox had the unfortunate task of fighting a guy that wasn’t as interested in fighting him as he was,” said Nolan. “Sal is notoriously durable, and Shea managed to drop him twice. The sky is the limit for this kid. He is the brightest star in New England, and he’s still developing. He’s 8-0, he’s only 24 years old, he’s still got time.”

Nolan considered the night a success, and added that he’d like to have another card at Fenway in 2027. Willcox sounds ready to re-up as well.

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll fight here every year, if I get the opportunity,” said Willcox. “This is great. This is unbelievable. Can’t ask for a better venue in town than this.”