BOXING TV card has area fighters

Etianne Whitaker will meet Tony Hanshaw in a co-feature on ESPN.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- A professional boxing card July 16 at the Canton Civic Auditorium has a Mahoning Valley flavor.
Conducting a press conference Thursday at Anthony's on the River were Larry McCartney, president of L & amp;M Productions, and Dean Chance, president of the International Boxing Association.
McCartney, of Columbus, is the promoter of the card, which will be a Tuesday night edition of ESPN's Friday Night Fights.
The 12-round feature bout has Vivian Harris (20-1-1, 15 KOs) from Brooklyn, N.Y., defending his IBA junior welterweight title against Ubaldo Hernandez (18-8-2, 9 KOs) from Mexico City.
Co-feature on TV
The press conference and a lot of its verbosity pertained to the 10-round co-feature, which also will be televised, between super middleweights Tony Hanshaw and Etianne Whitaker.
The 24-year-old Hanshaw (14-0, 10 KOs) was born in Warren but has been a longtime resident of Mansfield. The 29-year-old Whitaker (25-5-2, 13 KOs) is also a native of Warren. This match is a long-awaited one for local boxing fans.
Whitaker, a five-time Youngstown Golden Gloves champion, with three Cleveland titles and the same amount of trips to the nationals, had a late start in boxing. Hanshaw, who began fighting at the age of 5 as a Junior Olympian under the wing of his late father Henry, had more than 300 amateur bouts.
The two combatants are no strangers to each other, having sparred for other opponents, as amateurs, on several occasions.
Common opponent
As professionals they have one common opponent in Baltimore's Dana Rucker, whom Whitaker stopped in the seventh round in September 2001. Hanshaw won on a decision over Rucker in 10 rounds in Columbus last February.
Hanshaw, with new trainer John Russell, and Whitaker, with manager Pat Nelson and veteran trainer Frank West, had plenty to say about this six-bout Canton card.
"Tom Vacca, the matchmaker, contacted me June 2nd and offered the fight for $4,000," Nelson said. "We declined, but the next day we agreed on a more profitable purse and the fight was on."
With references to a shoulder injury that has bothered Hanshaw and how Whitaker would take advantage of it, Nelson drew glances from the Hanshaw camp.
"Whitaker has fought better opposition and he conditions himself by fighting," said Nelson, referring to Whitaker having fought 32 bouts in the last 36 months. "We will win this fight."
Whitaker's views
Whitaker said, "It is all from Warren and it should be a great fight, one that I look forward to and definitely will be ready for by being in good physical shape. It is one that will have me putting consistent pressure on Tony, that will have me throwing punches every minute of every round."
Whitaker recognizes Hanshaw's ability, but only to a certain extent.
"They are trying to step Hanshaw up, and this is a mountain he ain't going to climb," Whitaker said. "I want to see what happens when my fist meets his jaw."
Hanshaw said that Whitaker only has a right hand and added, "The best man will win."
Russell, who trained Buster Douglas for his 1990 upset of Mike Tyson in Tokyo, answered a Shelly Finkel call and came out of retirement to train Hanshaw.
"I said I wouldn't come back in boxing unless I had a very good reason," Russell said. "Tony Hanshaw is that reason because he has as much skill in the ring as anyone I have seen in my long career in boxing."
Training in Akron
Russell said Hanshaw is working well with his present sparring partner, Demetrius Jenkins, in his training at the Rubber City Boxing Club in Akron.
"It is good to be aboard with him and we should have a lot of fun with this fight and a lot of other fights in his career," Russell said.
McCartney feels getting Whitaker as Hanshaw's opponent will add something special to the July 16 card.
"This is the kind of fight with a lot of interest that usually doesn't get made, and now that it has been, it should be one to remember," McCartney said.
Tickets are available for $25 and $50 at Duke's Hand Car Wash on Market Street in Warren. Call (330) 393-9633.