BOXING Austintown's Koval on accelerated pace

The heavyweight improved to 11-0 with Friday's win.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AKRON -- It's apparent after Friday night's scheduled six-round heavyweight bout at Canal Park that the pace for the ascent of Austintown boxer Chris Koval has been quickened.
In his first six-rounder, Koval, 21, showed both punching power and hand speed, and that he could take a punch.
Koval extended his professional record to 11-0 with 10 knockouts, when referee Randy Jarvis stopped the fight at 1:27 of the third round of Koval's victory over southpaw James Porter.
Porter (3-4), of Terre Haute, Ind., posed problems for Koval early in the fight. He outweighed Koval 229 pounds to 221 and tried to bring the taller Koval to him and counterpunch with a sharp left hook.
But Koval, with a near perfect one-two combination of straight lefts and rights, knocked out Porter's mouthpiece near the end of the first round.
Blow to the head
In the second round, Koval connected with a solid right to the head and continued with several rallies. But in the fight's best exchange, in the last minute of the round, Porter landed several stinging left hooks.
In the third round, Koval's hand speed took over the fight, taking Porter to his corner with a vicious barrage that made the referee step in.
"I didn't realize this guy was a southpaw until the bell rang," Koval said. "I never fought a southpaw before, so it was a new experience for me, but I knew what I had to do.
"I tried to establish my jab," Koval said. "When it wasn't working, I just started throwing right hand leads to whatever opening there was at his head or body.
"He definitely caught my attention with his left hook several times when we had good exchanges," he said.
Trainer Pat Nelson said Koval is scheduled next for an eight-round co-feature bout against Chad Van Sickle (13-0-2) of Columbus on Sept. 2 at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort. That bout will be part of an ESPN2 show.
"Chris had a test tonight against a southpaw who was a game opponent and he showed that he could take a good shot and come back with excellent power punches," Nelson said.