Kunkle, Fidram, Marvin win KO Drugs openers

West Middlesex High's Josh Fette used the best body punching.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- There were 31 bouts, with 23 schools competing and 25 fights going the distance, on the first night of the 17th annual K.O. Drugs Boxing Tournament at Hubbard High.
The first bout of the night, between featherweights Kyle Kunkle from Canfield and William Rios from Campbell, was a free-swinging slugfest. Kunkle came on big in Round 2 and gained a decision victory with a closing rally in Round 3.
Tony Fidram from Hubbard worked the best jab in all 31 bouts to win a heavyweight decision over Thomas Bottles from Keystone.
Three-time tournament champion Mike Marvin from Liberty had his hands full, winning a split decision over South Range's Russell Dawson in another heavyweight bout.
Veterans
Veteran heavyweight Josh Fette of West Middlesex used the best body punching of the night against Mitch Hall of Niles as the referee stopped the contest in Round 2, giving Fette the win.
Veteran Hubbard light heavyweight fighter Larry Starr, along with Mike Duponty of Struthers and John Aldan from Poland, won handily.
Starr used a picture-book left hook to deck Will Simon from Campbell, and the referee stopped the contest in Round 2. Duponty used a left hook-right cross combination to finish Ron Hinderliter of Canfield in the third round.
Aldan showed good skills in winning a decision over Tyler Williams from Liberty with a superb two-fisted attack.
"He came out swinging," said Aldan, "and when he tired, I caught him with some good straight shots that wore him down."
In a close middleweight battle, Liberty's Jon Drennen edged out South Range's Todd Orr.
In a battle of junior welterweights, Zack Guerrieri used a short right in a good attack to turn his fight around in the third round to gain a decision over Champion's Justin Ryan.
"This was a first time in the ring for me, and it just felt good to throw punches," Guerrieri said.
Harding's Hall
Another first-time ring performer, Marco Hall, the only Warren Harding entrant, won a hard-fought decision over Kurt Leinenback from Keystone, using superior speed.
"I was throwing a lot of punches and holding my breath at the same time, and found out that you can't do both," said Hall.
There were several real standout fights, along with the opener, among the underclass bouts, with the only representatives from Austintown Fitch and Lowellville coming up with good wins.
Both of these winners, junior middleweight David Castronova and super middleweight Rocky Nolfi, come from families of the Valley's boxing community.
Nolfi used a superior left jab and a straight right off of that jab to get a decision over Rick Engelhardt of Western Reserve as a strong Lowellville following cheered him on.
Castronova, from Fitch, used a punishing attack to both the head and body of Hubbard's Dan Geisler to have the referee stop the contest in the second round.
"I was real confident going in and did the best I could do," said Castronova.
Very good action
In winning a tough decision over Hubbard's Cory Liston, David McNamara from Hubbard had a pier-six middleweight battle that was one of the best on the card. A pair of Hubbard light heavyweights facing each other were in a similar non-stop slugging battle.
Matt Silvidi won a tough decision over his friend, Sam Pedaline, and when the bout was over, the friends came together in an embrace of good sportsmanship.
"I wanted to jab and hook and see what I could do, but Sam stayed right with me," Silvidi said.
The second night of action will be held on May 4.