Anthony Bizzarro took a knee to the canvas during Wednesday’s Bayfront Brawl 16.
Fortunately for the Erie boxer, that was after his second-round tehcnical knockout of Lakeland, Florida, lightweight Mason Wickett.
Even better, Enida Gobeljic said yes to Bizzarro’s ensuing marriage proposal. He popped the question to his girlfriend before a sold-out crowd of 1,500 at the Bayfront Convention Center.
That Bizzarro, 24, upped his professional record to 10-0 minutes before became an afterthought.
The couple had their hands simultaneously raised in victory. Gobeljic, 27, also spoke to the crowd while The Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love” blared through the venue.
Bizzarro then carried his new fiancee out of the ring, if not over the threshold, and into the hugs of family and friends.
“I’ve always wanted to do this (kind of proposal),” he said. “It had always been in the plans, but I wanted to get right financially.
“I knew she was the one because of how supportive she’s been. Words can’t explain how she means everything to me.”
Anthony Bizzarro said Ernie Bizzarro, his uncle and the card’s promoter, was one of the few people aware of his postmatch intention. He planned to propose to Gobeljic win or lose.
Given Wickett entered the ring at 2-19-1, the latter was unlikely.
Although Gobeljic said she met Anthony Bizzarro four years ago, they didn’t become a serious couple until last year. The Central Tech graduate sensed something was up Wednesday when her fiance invited her into the ring.
“I had ideas there would be (an engagement),” Gobeljic said, “but I never knew when a proposal actually would be happening. Anthony is terrible with secrets, but this one he kept for sure.”
Crowd favorite
Although Bizzarro’s proposal highlighted the card, it didn’t end it.
Eleven mixed martial arts bouts followed. None was rowdier than the one that involved Mitchell Marfinetz, who wrestled for Girard and then Gannon University at the start of this decade.
Marfinetz improved to 2-1 as an amateur with a three-round unanimous decision over Tyler VanTassel ofKnox, Pennsylvania. Their 175-pound bout was one of only two cage fights that went their scheduled distance.
“The last fight I had here didn’t go the way I wanted,” Marfinetz said. “I thought about that every day, so I wanted to get back out here. It’s so awesome to win in front of my friends.”
Marshall Marfinetz, Mitchell’s older brother, was scheduled to make his amateur MMA debut Wednesday.However, his 145 bout with Khaled Askar was scratched ahead of time.
More: Pick a side: Erie fans have choice between hockey or fight card on Thanksgiving Eve
Bayfront Brawl 16 results
Boxing
Professional
125 pounds: Maria Antunez def. Kayla Kennedy by unanimous decision
147: Rigoberto Cepeda def. Matthew Acosta by unanimous decision
135: Anthony Bizzarro def. Mason Wickett by technical knockout at 1:35 of second round
Mixed martial arts
Amateur
145 pounds: Preston Frost def. Austin Locke by tapout, 1:26 of first round
135: Jon Morgan def. Tristan Graham by technical knockout, 1:43 of first round
115: Jessica Deitz def. Amariaunah Vera by tapout, 1:39 of first round
175: Mitchell Marfinetz def. Tyler VanTassel by unanimous decision
Note: The 170 bout between James Slaughter and Jordan Frey was declared a no-contest.
Professional
heavyweight: Tyler Gates def. Rati Datashvili by technical knockout, 1:18 of second round
185: Connor Cyphert def. Daniel Smith by unanimous decision
heavyweight: Charlie Cleveland def. Dan Albright by technical knockout, 1:47 of first round
185: Haseeb Khetab def. Tony Lichtenberger by knockout, 1:54 of first round
heavyweight: Mark Gordon def. James Carroll by technical knockout, 1:40 of second round
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie boxer Anthony Bizzarro has two decisions go in his favor
