K.O. DRUGS BOXING TOURNAMENT Marvin, DeColla post wins opening night

Mike Marvin (Liberty) and Billy DeColla (Canfield) have outstanding records.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- More than 400 fans were on hand at the Hubbard High School gymnasium Wednesday for the opening of the 16th Annual K.O. Drugs Boxing Tournament.
They were treated to 32 bouts with plenty of slugging action as participants from 24 high schools took part. Four won by default.
Five from Campbell Memorial earned victories.
Twenty bouts were won by decision and 11 others failed to go the distance.
Some standouts
Among the standouts in the Underclass Division (ninth and 10th graders) was Tom Peluso from Struthers, a non-stop puncher against Josh Wix of Hubbard in a junior welterweight bout.
Rob Cox from Boardman showed good punching power in not allowing Dan Allmon from Sharon to go the distance in a junior middleweight bout. Liberty and Keystone High Schools had four winners each and Canfield and Boardman each had three winners.
Marvin now 8-0
Mike Marvin from Liberty, who was voted the Upper-class Most Promising Boxer in 2002 for being middleweight champion, improved to 8-0 in his third year of fighting, winning a decision over Matt Kunkle from Mathews.
"He is a tough kid with good power in both hands and I had trouble getting in on him until the third round when I was able to land some good shots," Marvin said.
This was a cruiser-weight battle and Marvin said he put on the extra weight for his senior season of football.
Another veteran fighter is Billy DeColla from Canfield, who won an underclass light-heavyweight decision. DeColla has a record of 11-1-1 and was last year's upper-class cruiser-weight champion. DeColla earned a decision over Nick Sommerfield from Reynolds.
"I thought I did okay in the first two rounds, but he started to get to me in the last round," DeColla said.
The tournament continues next Wednesday.