BOXING Koval heads card at Mountaineer

The Austintown fighter will meet Anthony Colbert on the Feb. 25 show.
CHESTER, W. Va. -- Austintown heavyweight Chris Koval takes his 14-1 pro boxing record back into the ring Feb. 25 in a scheduled six-rounder, which is one of eight bouts scheduled in The Grande Ballroom of Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort's hotel.
The 21-year-old Koval, in his 16th fight since turning pro 13 months ago, has stopped 12 opponents.
Koval and Butler, Pa., heavyweight Brian Minto, with a combined record of 26-1, are both managed by Youngstown's Pat Nelson and both of them will be on the Grande Ballroom card.
Koval is fighting Cincinnati heavyweight Antonio Colbert, who is a 32-year-old genuine lower echelon trial horse with a 6-28 record. Minto, undefeated at 12-0 with seven knockouts, will be in another heavyweight six-rounder against 37-year-old Youngstown veteran Lenzie Morgan, who is 14-27-3 with seven knockouts.
Co-feature bouts
The usual promoter for the Mountaineer Grande Ballroom card is Greg Nixon, who is using two local favorites in the co-feature main events. Verquan Kimbrough, undefeated at 4-0 with a pair of knockouts, a former National Amateur Champion from Aliquippa, Pa., is in a four-round featherweight co-feature, and John "Macho Midget" Bailey, from New Cumberland, W. Va., with a 20-11-2 record, is in a welterweight six-rounder.
Bailey, who trains in Youngstown with Jack Loew at the Southside Boxing Club, has 11 knockouts. His opponent will be Brian "Mountain Man" Thacker from Gallipolis, Ohio, who has an 8-8 record with three knockouts.
Thacker has fought two of the best bouts on the last two Grande Ballroom boxing cards, getting a victory and a loss in the pair of crowd pleasers.
Alphonso "Soldier" Williams, 3-0, was a winner over Thacker on the last Mountaineer Ballroom card, and he will be in a four-round welterweight bout with Gonzalee Jones.
Another Mountaineer boxing favorite, George Klinesmith (16-8-2), a supermiddleweight, will be in a six-rounder.
The doors will open at 6 p.m. and the first bout will be at 7:30.