Medford boxer Greg Bono shines at Glove at First Fight

MEDFORD – It was a historic and heartwarming homecoming for Greg Bono, Saturday night.

The Medford middleweight scored a unanimous decision over Izaiah Vargas, as part of Glove at First Fight, Feb. 14, at The Great American Beer Hall in Medford.

It was a bounce-back win for Bono, who lost his previous fight by majority decision to Ross Rodriguez, June 7, 2025 at Fenway Park. He improves his pro record to 8-2-1.

“This one feels great,” said Bono, 36. “Being my hometown, my whole family watching, from my grandmother, to my sons, my wife, and all my people. This is a big one.”

Presented by Nolan Bros Promotions, the event was one for the books, becoming the first boxing matches held in Medford in over 100 years.

“It’s the first show they’ve done at this awesome venue,” said Bono. “It’s close to home. It is home. And to come away with the win that I needed here is huge.”     

Following a string of successful sold-out shows across Massachusetts, including the first fight night at Fenway Park in 69 years, Nolan Bros Boxing Promotions left their mark in Medford with a festive, high-energy night of world-class boxing in front of a capacity crowd of 1,200.

“Our whole philosophy is great venues, great fights, right around the best city in the world, Boston, Massachusetts,” said promoter Matt Nolan, who along with his brother, Mark, are middle school teachers by day, gym owners and boxing coaches by night. “For two middle school science teachers, I think we did a bang-up job.”

“From what I was told the bar also broke record numbers,” he added.

Bono didn’t disappoint his faithful followers, going up against a familiar foe. He previously beat Vargas in a unanimous decision in January 2024 in Dorchester. Bono continued to be the clear aggressor, pursuing Vargas for six grueling rounds.

Sporting black trunks with gold tassels, the hard-throwing, 5-foot-6, 160-pound right-hander unloaded some potent roundhouse rights, putting Vargas on the defensive early. The Seattle slugger kept his distance, opting for a stick-and-move approach. Bono capped the second round with a combination, putting him into the corner. He continued to swarm Vargas with a few in-tight flurries as the match wore on.

“After the third round he started backing away from me, keeping the breaks longer in between flurries,” said Bono. “I was able to lock him down, close that distance, and fire off some bigger shots.”

Vargas established a nasty left jab in the sixth and final round, scoring some points. But Bono answered back with an uppercut snapping his head back. The Medford boxer tried for the last-second knockout throwing a whirling haymaker that missed the mark, sending him spinning wildly against the ropes with a chuckle at the sound of the bell.

Bono had the last laugh when the judges scored the bout 58-56, 60-54, 60-54 for the win.

“[Vargas] came out a lot harder,” said Bono, comparing both bouts. “I know he’s been working on his power. For a second I was thinking ‘did they give this guy eight-ounce gloves?’ I thought they gave them the smaller gloves because he was cracking. He got better, but so did I. That’s why I came away with the win.”

Saturday's showdown serves as a warm-up to Bono's next battle in six weeks at Foxwoods, after signing a four-fight deal with BKB of the bare knuckle league.

Other matchups

In earlier action, Haverhill super middleweight Jayson Colon opened the card with a bang, scoring a second-round TKO of Rakim Johnson. Colon buckled Johnson with a big body shot in the first, eliciting a standing eight count. He continued to pulverize Johnson with a stinging right cross in the second before flooring him with a sharp left hook. The Lowell boxer went in for the kill moments later with another sharp left dropping Johnson again before the ref stopped the one-sided affair at 2:37.

Haverhill heavyweight Harold "The Haitian King” Roy ruled supreme in his majority decision over Malden's Felipe Soares de Silva.

Roslindale resident Robert Bevilacqua scored the unanimous decision over Hampton, New Hampshire's Nicholas Monty. The Bay State lightweight dropped Monty with a right in the first round. He knocked his opponent down again in second round of an energetic encounter.

Tilton, New Hampshire cruiserweight Jared Marshall (1-1) picked up his first pro victory with a third-round knockout of Derik De Freitas.

In a welterweight war, “the undefeated kid” Cian Duggan (5-0) kept his winning streak alive with a unanimous decision over Joe Wilson. A Connecticut resident, Wilson survived the six-round onslaught, falling to a knee on three different occasions. It was the first time an opponent went the distance with Duggan, leaving him a small consolation.

Meanwhile, “Big Boy” Anthony Blake LaCaze stopped Russ Kimber with a third-round knockout in their light heavyweight bout. LaCaze put his intimidating 6-foot-8 frame to good use controlling things for most off the match before unloading a roundhouse right for the TKO at 2:25 of the third.

In light heavyweight fare, Bolton's Sheniell Rodriguez (5-0-1) made short work of Edgar Valenzuela, with a first round TKO. Rodriguez put his opponent on the canvas three different times, before dropping him for good with two seconds left in the round for the knockout.

While it was the first fight in Medford in a decade, it certainly won’t be the last.   

“We’re back here in April, September, and November,” said Matt Nolan. “We plan on making this our home base. It’s got the exact style and vibe that I think really lends itself well to the program.”