PRO BOXING Weber draws with Castaneda

Salem's Davey McBride won a unanimous decision on Gund Arena undercard.
CLEVELAND -- From the opening fight, in which Vonda Ward stop Marsha Valley in the fourth round, to the final bout, when Salem's "Irish" Davey McBride returned to winning ways with an impressive unanimous decision victory, a crowd of 3,857 fans in Gund Arena Friday night got their money's worth.
There wasn't any doubt which fight of the seven was the best -- the 12-round battle between Craig Weber and Rogelio Castaneda for the International Boxing Association junior welterweight championship, which ended in a draw.
Weber from Perrysville, who came in with a 19-1-1 record, came to the main event hoping to avenge the only loss of his pro career.
He came out fast, setting a pace that never lessened through the 12 rounds. With a right, Weber drew blood from Castaneda's left eye in the opening minute of the fight.
Crowd gave standing ovation
He stayed in Castaneda's face and chest, continually throwing punches, but Castaneda was always there to answer with quick punching and counter punching shots. Weber was tossing punches from all angles, to both the head and body, and Castaneda, with cuts over both eyes would move away, countering with left hooks and straight rights.
In the eighth round Castaneda tagged Weber, who seemed to be tiring, but in the next round Weber gained a second wind. When it was over the crowd gave both fighters a standing ovation.
The first judge voted 116-114 for Castaneda, the next was 115-113 for Weber and the third judge called it a draw at 115-115.
"I thought I won, at least by a little margin," said Weber. "I was a little tired in the eighth round and when he hit me with a good shot, I thought it would be nice to go down and get a break, but I kept on going."
Castaneda, now 18-10-3, said, "Weber is plenty tough with a lot of heart and he was right on top of me, pressing me a lot, but he wasn't really hitting me and I feel I won the fight by taking the last three rounds."
Knockout in the fourth round
Ward, who was stopped in her last bout in Biloxi, Miss., by Ann Wolfe, came out tentative against Valley in a scheduled 10-round cruiserweight bout.
Then, as she became more relaxed, she worked her opponent over with solid left jabs and straight rights, staggering Marsh with a solid right in the third round and sending her down twice in the next round with left hooks to the body and rights to the head. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of round four.
"We are negotiating for a fight with Laila Ali, which I really want," said Ward, "and there is a possibility of it happening in March."
McBride (6-5), in every one of the four rounds of his fight with Matt Horning of Dayton, was the aggressor, working his jab, hooking off of it and shooting rights to the body. All three judges voted 40-36 for McBride.
"It was a good fight for me coming off the losses, but I should have been better and taken [Horning] out," said McBride.
McBride will next fight Monty Meza Clay on Dec. 30 at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort.