Dave Brunelli

I'd like to meet:

THE BEGINNING: PRO DEBUT---Results from Essington, PA--- by Rick Scharmberg 2004---It was former Golden Glover against former Toughman, and the Golden Gloves fighter won. Dan Mullarkey, 227, of Upper Darby, PA stopped former three-time Toughman champ Dave Brunelli, 226, of Northeast Philadelphia at: 16 of round two of a scheduled 4 round heavyweight bout. Mullarkey decked Brunelli in round 2, and referee Hurley McCall deemed him unfit to continue. A bout between local prospect Najal Turpin and Waklimi Young was scratched after Young experienced transportation problems.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~FIGHT #2: August 17, 2004-By Rick Scharmberg--- Dave Brunelli, 221, stopped Pat Spencer, 196, in the opening seconds of round two of a scheduled 4 round heavyweight bout. Spencer (0-2) injured his left hand in the opening round, and indicated that he could not continue seconds into round two. Brunelli (1-1, 1 KO) was awarded a TKO victory.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get Your Own! | View SlideshowFIGHT #3---First Boxing Event Ever Held In Aston, PA--- by: Kurt Wolfheimer on May 28, 2005---Former Philadelphia Phantoms hockey enforcer, Frank “the Animal” Bialowas, returns to the Ice works Skating Complex in Aston PA on Friday night, June 3rd, but this time it will not be for Hockey, but for an exciting heavyweight showdown against Dave Brunelli 1-1 1ko. Bialowas, fresh off a first round knockout of Jarard Vasquez, will be tested by Brunelli, who is a boxer puncher that has faced superior competition in Dan Mullarkey 4-0 and Pat Spencer. The bout promises to turn into an all out brawl and headlines a sharp six-bout card promoter by Damon Feldman Productions, which will be the first boxing event ever held in Aston, PA.~~~~~~~~~~~~ AFTERMATH!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~Brunelli stops Bialowas!--- June 4, 2005---By Rick Scharmberg---Former pro hockey enforcer Frank "The Animal" Bialowas discovered the difference between a hockey fight and a professional boxing match last night at The Ice Works in Aston, PA. Dave Brunelli, 217, of Philadelphia, PA used his left jab and hard right hand to beat Bialowas, 226, of Philadelphia to the punch, dropping him twice and finishing him at 2:43 of the third round in the scheduled four found main event. A big right hand by Brunelli (2-1, 2 KOs) dropped Bialowas (1-1, 1 KO) on his back, and Brunelli's follow-up combination put a wobbly Bialowas down again, and the bout was stopped.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get Your Own! | View SlideshowFIGHT #4--- Reading,PA---May 14, 2006- by Kurt Wolfheimer---Heavyweights, Dave Brunelli of Philadelphia, PA, and Jimmy Rivera of Reading, PA, fought a back-and-fourth battle, but it was Brunelli’s jab that allowed him to squeak out a close four-round majority decision by scores of 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37, respectively.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get Your Own! | View SlideshowFIGHT #5---Local fighter makes national undercard June 10,2006---Brunelli no longer just a tough man---By Joe Mason--- If Dave Brunelli was a professional wrestler, there’s a very good chance he’d have been fired by now. Brunelli, a Mayfair resident, is a professional boxer. And the 30-year-old pug has fought four career bouts, and each time he entered the ring, he was a severe underdog. And in most cases, he was supposed to be a stepping-stone for his opponent. That was the case when he took on former Philadelphia Phantom enforcer, Frank "the Animal" Bialowas, last year. And it also was the case on June 10 in Atlantic City, when he took on Jamie Campbell on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins-Antonio Tarver fight. So please excuse Brunelli and his manager, Mike Murphy, if they’re a little proud of Brunelli’s 3-1 professional record.

"I think I’m supposed to lose, but I just win, it’s pretty satisfying," said Brunelli, a 1994 graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School. In his latest bout, Brunelli battled Campbell, who came into the heavyweight bout weighing a massive 268 pounds, more than 50 pounds heavier than Brunelli. Campbell also stood 6-feet-6, or 3 inches taller than Brunelli. It didn’t matter that much. Brunelli won the four-round bout, outscoring Campbell, 39-38, on one scorecard and 39-37 on another. The final scorecard had the fight even at 38-38. "What he’s done is pretty amazing," said Miller, a lifelong friend of Brunelli’s and a fellow Mayfair resident. "He keeps ruining careers, and it’s great. "In every bout so far, he’s gone out and willed his way to wins," he said. "The last fight, if you look at the two guys, Dave has some bumps and bruises and the other guy didn’t get hurt. But Dave kept coming and coming and coming, and he refused to quit. That’s the reason he won." While Brunelli is no stranger to fighting, he’s been involved in boxing for only four years now. During his days growing up, he was a standout wrestler at Lincoln and he also did his fair share of fighting in the street. And shortly after he graduated from Lincoln, Brunelli’s behavior caught up with him and he ended up spending three years in Albion prison for aggravated assault. The three-year sentence was long, but it was a wake-up call and something that Brunelli turned into a positive. Now he’s a family man. He has a fiancée, Angela French. The couple have a 2-year-old son, Arturo, and they are expecting their first daughter. Brunelli uses his days to spend time preparing for his boxing career. He works nights as a bartender and bouncer at McNoodles, Vagabond Club and Tacony Billiards. "It’s great because it gives me my days to train and be with my family . . . it’s really worked out well," said Brunelli, who now lives in Oxford Circle. "And I work in the neighborhood, and it gives me enough time to train." Brunelli’s boxing career came about in an odd way. He started off on the "Tough Man Contest" circuit. That consisted of getting in the ring with fellow brawlers who were tough but lacked the knowledge of actually boxing. "It was just get-in-the-ring-and-brawl," he said. But two years into his tough man stint, the circuit moved out of Pennsylvania. So Brunelli had two choices: He could leave the ring or he could become a professional. He decided to become a professional. And even that didn’t start out the way he planned. His first bout came against an experienced opponent; Brunelli was knocked out. Shortly after, he was signed to take on Bialowas, who at the time was just ending his hockey career. On the ice, Bialowas was a cult hero in the Philadelphia area, having spent more time in the penalty box than on the ice while he was a member of the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 to ’99. "When I found out I was fighting him, I didn’t really know him but my friends were telling me about how tough he was," Brunelli said. "That fight was supposed to make his career. But I just went out and knocked him out. It was a huge win." So was his most recent win. Fighting in nightclubs and small venues is nice, but there’s nothing like the big fight atmosphere of boxing in the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. "I was the second fight, so a lot of people weren’t in their seat yet, but it was cool," he said. "I have a pretty big following at most of my fights, but this one, the tickets were really expensive. "I still had a good following, and I guess it was one of my career highlights so far," he added. "It was another fight, another fight where I was supposed to lose. So it was another fight where I went out and beat a tough opponent." So how much longer will his career keep him punching other guys, if not a time clock? Does Brunelli aspire to reach heavyweight champion status or is he content with what he’s accomplished in the sport? "I’m going to fight for as long as I can, as long as I keep improving," he said. "It’s fun, it’s something I enjoy. It’s a great way to get out your aggression, and so far it’s been a very positive experience. "I’ll keep doing this for as long as I can." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~Get Your Own! | View SlideshowFIGHT #6---Brunelli destroys Hampton!---August 4, 2006-By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside---Former world Tough Man Champion, Dave Brunelli (5-1, 3KOs) of Philadelphia, PA excited the hometown crowd at the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia, PA with an exciting fourth round stoppage of Wayne Hampton (4-2, 2KOs) of Capitol Heights, Maryland in the main event of a competitive five-bout card.The four round feature looked to be evenly matched as both fighters entered the ring with identical records but Brunelli appeared to be the better fighter right from the opening bell as he stalked Hampton throughout rounds one and two connected with several two and three punch combinations. Hampton tried to fight off Brunelli at the end of round two as both traded in the corner, but Philadelphia native landed a solid right on Hampton's jaw that slowed him as the bell sounded. Brunelli changed his fight plan in round three as he went to the body early, which slowed the retreating Hampton's punch output to almost zero. The body work showed as Hampton, was forced to drop his hands to cover up that allowed Brunelli to land shots at will on his face throughout round three. The visitor from Capitol Height, MD looked ready to go with ten seconds to go in the round as Brunelli landed six unanswered punches before the bell sounded. Hampton appeared to be despondent as he sat in his corner between rounds and when the bell sounded for round four, he refused to get off his stool and spit his mouthpiece, out which forced referee Hurley McCall to call a halt to the bout six seconds into the into the final stanza."He (Hampton) started to drop his hands in round two and three from the body work and it opened up a lot of holes for me." Brunelli said afterward on his key to the fight.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FIGHT #7--- OCTOBER 20, 2006 @ the Blue HorizonArmoryBlue HorizonPhilly Keith Sports---06/01/2007--- Brunelli tames Lyons, Yorgey and Ennis both look sharp!!!Heavyweight Action- 6 rounds/Dave Brunelli …..vs….Arron Lyons 6 – 2 3ko’s ……………....5 – 0 4ko’s...Leading up to the main events, there was a heavyweight showdown and the Mayfair slugger Dave Brunelli manned up and changed Arron Lyons status from hot name into a one hit wonder. When this one was signed, it was immediately a very interesting match up. Arron Lyons came to Philly and shocked the world by coming out of nowhere to score a knockout win over the unmovable force known as Joey Abell. Brunelli was coming off of a close but sluggish loss to Levon Warner at the Armory but prior to that was successful at the Blue and also scored some big knockouts. Many were predicting that Lyons would steamroll over the Mayfair power house but manager Mike Murphy called it from day 1, Team Brunelli was working hard and coming to expose the man from Mississippi. When it came down to it, he was true to his word and Brunelli picked Lyons apart over one sided 6 rounds.When the fight started, the crew from McNoodle’s made their presence known immediately. When Lyons name was announced, he was booed like JD Drew. Quotes like “Fuck him up DJ!” and “Knock his big ass out” rained down from all over the building. Lyons looked to quiet the crowd immediately and came right out throwing bombs. Team Brunelli trainer Chris Rotella quickly gave the instructions to use the jab and his fighter obliged. As Lyons would try to force in, Brunelli stuck out the left and intercepted him just about every time. It didn’t take long for Brunelli to stick in a straight right when the opening was there. And that is pretty much how the rest of the fight went. Lyons swinging wildly, Brunelli picking him off with the jab, being patient and sliding in a hard right hand when it was available. Lyons was obviously frustrated and tried to load up punches but that didn’t work. He best work came when he wrestled Brunelli into a corner and throw a few more bombs. A few landed but Brunelli was able to shake them off. After that it was Brunelli throwing more jabs, side stepping and then coming back with a strong right. One of those hard rights really rung Lyons bell very late in the 4th and Lyons was obviously shaken. Luckily for him, the bell sounded. Brunelli has a big 5th round where a worn out Lyons made the mistake of backing into a corner. Brunelli fired away and Lyons looked like he was ready to go but wisely held on for dear life. Knowing he was well ahead on the cards Brunelli picked his spots in the 6th as a gassed out Lyons desperately tried for the knockout. It broke down into a bit of a wrestling match near the end but that isn’t a bad tactic either when you are in with a guy who ko’d Joey Abell. The fight went to the cards and while I thought it was a shut out, the 3 official judges scored it 59 – 55 x2 and 58 – 56 all in favor of Brunelli.With the win, Dave Brunelli improves to 7 – 2 with 3ko’s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Fight #10---@ the ArmoryWachovia Spectrum