Newark’s Carlos Lizardo scores emphatic first round TKO in Greenland
NUUK, Greenland — Carlos Lizardo’s international debut felt like a movie.
The 25-year-old amateur boxer from Newark looked amped up and ready to go from the moment the IcelandAir flight landed in Nuuk, Greenland. Lizardo set the tempo with his walkout song at Godthabhallen last Saturday, May 4, walking out to the Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe classic “El Dia De Mi Suerte,” though there was probably a lot more skill than luck involved in how quickly matters were settled.
Facing off with local boxer Daniel Vuong Holm Jensen, Lizardo connected early and often in his first bout without headgear, immediately putting the hometown fighter on his heels.
The local boxer never got out of the gate before Lizardo overwhelmed him with body punching and overhand rights, forcing three quick eight counts to end the fight in the opening round. For the boxer known as “Godsent,” the moment seemed divine.
“It felt so good, it felt so different because I’m so used to fighting out here in New Jersey. We were the B-side, the visitors, so it felt so great to travel and have these opportunities,” said Lizardo, who trains out of Park Elite Boxing Academy in Roselle Park, N.J.
The year has been a breakout one so far for Lizardo, who overcame matchmaking frustrations early in his amateur boxing career to win the N.J. Golden Gloves 147-pound subnovice title in March. He hopes his momentum can continue into the rest of the year.
“I want to keep on fighting, I want to go open class and try to compete at the Golden Gloves and see if I can go to nationals. I want to follow my teammate Danny Gonzalez’s footsteps, he was the best 147-pounder in New Jersey so I want to do that too,” said Lizardo, who now has just seven total bouts.
Lizardo is an Ecuadorian-American whose family hails from Machala, Ecuador. Prior to picking up boxing, Lizardo finished high school at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School.
The team, led by Ryan Songalia and Percy Gayanilo, went 5-3 in the first ever U.S. versus Greenland boxing event, with Lizardo’s Room 46 roommate Sebastian Mazeneth, 21, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn scoring a second round stoppage of Mads Bejder Christensen.
OTHER RESULTS: Joshua Rodriguez, 18, of Staten Island, N.Y. stopped Aputsiaq in round three, Corina Shirk-Harris, 17, of Atlantic City, N.J. stopped Clara Bjerregaard in two rounds and Nolan Hill, 34, of Edgewater, N.J. stopped Philippe Kuitse Andersen in three rounds. Andriy Lishchuk, 15, of Linden, N.J. dropped a decision to Luca Sikamsen, Quamaine Futrell, 27, of Hillside, N.J. dropped a decision to Paalu Johansen and Timothy Hardy, 19, of Neptune, N.J. lost a decision to Anguteeraq Petersen.