Maureen Shea defeated Calista Silgado by unanimous decision Saturday night at Carnesecca Arena on the campus of St. John’s University in Queens, New York.

Scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 77-75 for Shea, who improves to 30-2-1, 13 knockouts.

The fight was a homecoming and a stay-busy fight for Shea, who grew up in the nearby Bronx. After residing for several months in the boxing hotbed of Oxnard, California, Shea currently lives in Boynton Beach, Florida.

From the opening bell, Silgado had her moments, standing in the pocket with Shea. By the third round, Shea dictated the pace, utilizing her skill-set to outbox Silgado throughout the rest of the fight. 

Despite having not fought since stopping Martina Horgasz in January 2020, Shea looked sharp during the second half of the fight, content to outbox Silgado until the final bell sounded.

Shea is hoping to challenge for the WBA Female world bantamweight title. She was penciled to fight for the vacant world title four months after the win over Horgasz, but the fight was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Silgado, who resides in Santiago de Tolu, Colombia, drops to 19-14-3, 14 KOs. The 34-year-old has now lost four of her previous six bouts, including losses to then-prospect Mikaela Mayer and Hyun Mi Choi of South Korea, who holds the WBA Female world junior lightweight title. 

In the co-feature, Paulo Galdino of Sao Paolo, Brazil defeated Daniel Gonzalez by split-decision. One judge scored the bout 76-75 for Gonzalez, while the other two judges scored the bout 76-75 and 77-74 for Galdino, who improves to 12-5-2, 8 KOs.

Gonzalez, who resides in nearby Woodhaven, New York, drops to 20-4-1, 7 KOs. He has now split his last six bouts, including losses to Petros Ananyan on October 16 and to Chris Algieri in January 2019.

Promoter of the card was Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing