Technically, Baez is punch King

The 2016 Daily News Golden Gloves resumed on Thursday night at the Yonkers PAL, with the 201-plus novice division kicking into action.

The first bout of the night started with a bang, as Eduardo Baez of Mendez BC made it a short night for King Oquendo of John’s Gym. The hard-hitting Baez got his man on the ropes and landed a few hellacious shots early in the first round, which resulted in a TKO.

The Colony Pest Bout of the night was between Randy Mercedes of Worldwide BC and Abe Lascina.

“I wanted to provide a lot of action, hopefully win the bout of the night and put on a good boxing performance,” Mercedes said. “That’s what the people want to see, a lot of action. It may not be the best style, but I did what I had to do to get the win.”

It was Lascina who dictated the tempo early as he landed several vicious uppercuts. The power punches didn’t faze Mercedes as he was able to bounce back and put the fight away in the later rounds.

“I noticed in the third round he was more tired than I was, so that’s when I took advantage and put more punches together, which eventually led to the stoppage.”

The Empire Casino Punch of the Night was thrown by Michael PoliteCoffie of Gleason’s Gym, who landed a sensational left hook square on the chin of Miguel Roxas from Mendez BC for a knockout at 1:12 of the first round.

Polite-Coffie was able to get his man in the corner, which set up the thunderous final punch.

“I did a double jab, straight right, left hook and I got him,” Polite-Coffie said.

PC Richard Fighter of the Night went to Cameron Benison of John’s Gym, who put on a tremendous performance against Kenneth Noel of PacPlex BC that resulted in a third-round TKO.

The lanky Benison used his size advantage to frustrate his opponent.

“The jab sets up everything, the jab and the feet,” said Benison, who says he admires defensive fighter James Toney. “A good defensive fighter beats a good offensive fighter any day.”