NEW YORK — Kurt Scoby made a statement in his first bout in his adopted hometown of New York City, blasting out former title challenger Henry Lundy in two rounds Thursday at Sony Hall.

The 27-year-old Scoby (12-0, 10 knockouts) scored one knockdown with a counter right hand that badly dazed the Philadelphia veteran Lundy (31-14-1, 14 KOs) before a follow-up assault brought the fight to a violent end. The loss was the sixth straight for the 39-year-old Lundy, after which he announced his retirement in the ring.

Kurt Scoby finishes off Henry Lundy with a vicious display of power punching in round two pic.twitter.com/8sM3R2bWcf

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) June 30, 2023

For Scoby, the win ushers in a new beginning for him, as he recently signed a promotional deal with DiBella Entertainment. Promoter Lou DiBella said he would be back in the ring against Narciso Carmona (11-0-1, 6 KOs) of Sevilla, Spain on August 18 in Atlanta on a show which will be part of the Overtime Boxing series which will air on DAZN.

Scoby says the decisive punch, an overhand right, was one that him and trainers Don Saxby and Leon “The Cat” Taylor worked on repeatedly at their training camp at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“I would go to bed at night and I would always see that punch. When you manifest things and believe it’s gonna happen, it shows out,” said Scoby, a native of Duarte, Calif. who now lives near Scranton, Pa.

Scoby’s work wasn’t finished once the bell rang. He went back to his hotel and got on the treadmill for a five mile run, a post-fight tradition he maintains so he doesn’t get complacent after early knockout wins.

The Scoby-Lundy fight, which was scheduled for eight rounds, headlined a Boxing Insider Promotions card, the fifth show promoted by writer turned promoter Larry Goldberg, who boasted that he was the busiest club show promoter in New York City.

In the co-feature, Brian Ceballo (15-1, 7 KOs) won his second straight eight-round unanimous decision in two months, defeating Mitch Louis-Charles (7-4-2, 4 KOs) of Montreal, Canada in a junior middleweight fight. Two judges scored the bout 79-72, while the third had it 80-71.

Ceballo scored a knockdown in the fifth round but was unable to stop Louis-Charles, who was coming off a fourth round knockout of previously unbeaten fighter Josniel Castro in January. Ceballo, who co-owns the Bout Fight Club in New York’s Financial District, has now won two straight since his lone pro defeat, a majority decision to Nicklaus Flaz in October of 2022.

Ceballo will now head to Texas to spar Errol Spence Jr. as Spence prepares for his undisputed welterweight showdown with Terence Crawford on July 29.

Mathew Gonzalez may be known as “Lefty Gunz” but the southpaw from Ridgewood, N.Y. utilized his right hook to outfight the hyper mobile Terell Bostic and win a unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 77-75 for Gonzalez while the third had it wider at 78-74.

Bostic (8-2, 1 KO) of Wyandanch, N.Y. came in as the “A-side” despite Gonzalez (13-0-1, 8 KOs) being a solid ticket seller himself, but was undone by his own reluctance to throw punches in the first half of the eight-round scheduled bout. Gonzalez looked to time Bostic with his right hook but did little to cut the ring down as Bostic moved constantly to his left.

Gonzalez hurt Bostic in the third and fifth rounds with right hooks, taking advantage of the rare moments in which Bostic would let his hands go. Bostic began to look for his own offensive opportunities in the last two rounds, particularly to the body, as Gonzalez tried unsuccessfully to time him for a big counter.

Gonzalez’s aggression and cleaner punching carried the fight, sending the 32-year-old Bostic to his first defeat since 2018, when he lost a split decision to Omar Bordoy. Gonzalez was fighting for the first time since October of 2021, when he was held to a majority draw with tough underdog Dakota Linger.

Photo by David Algranati/The Fight Photos

Welterweight prospect Arnold Gonzalez shook off some rust with a workmanlike win over Alejandro Munera over six rounds. Two judges scored it a 60-54 shutout for Gonzalez (12-0, 6 KOs), an Ecuadorian-American from Harlem, N.Y. The third judge somehow found a round to give to Munera, with Gonzalez winning by a 59-55 score.

Gonzalez, a 2018 National PAL Championships gold medalist, made the most of his first action since December, potshotting the slower Munera (8-8-4, 7 KOs) of Medellin, Colombia. Gonzalez landed right hands at will, but never seemed to press for a knockout until the sixth round. Munera showed a solid chin, but remains winless in his six fights in the United States.

Gonzalez, 28, had previously worked as a sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao, and also shared the ring with George Kambosos Jr. at those camps in Los Angeles.

Raymond Cuadrado may be known as The Scientist, but the junior lightweight prospect from Ridgewood, N.Y. was specializing in hematology in his four-round bout against Yeuri Andujar.

The 26-year-old Cuadrado (8-0, 3 KOs) used his jab and combination punching to outpoint and bloody the durable but outclassed Andujar (5-6-1, 3 KOs). All three judges scored the fight 40-36, all for Cuadrado, who will be back in action on July 22 in Atlantic City on a card headlined and promoted by Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna.

Cuadrado gave a good sampling of his deep technical arsenal, counterpunching with uppercuts and hooks and switching southpaw to create new angles to land on Andujar.

Photo by David Algranati/The Fight Photos

The Dominican boxer Andujar is now 0-4-1 in his last five bouts, having been knocked out by Bruce Carrington (KO in 5) and Robeisy Ramirez (TKO in 1).

One of the highlights of Cuadrado’s performance was his custom ring attire, which was inspired by Jotaro Kujo, one of the main protagonists in the anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The otaku-boxer says his choice of ring music, “Freek’n You” by Jodeci, was selected because it was an outro song during the series.

Cuadrado said he is eagerly anticipating the sixth season of the supernatural-adventure anime, but insists Season 3, which focused on a serial killer murder mystery storyline, was the best of the entire series.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].