BOXING Koval gains 15th victory by unanimous decision

The Austintown heavyweight dominated Antonio Colbert at Mountaineer.
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
CHESTER, W. Va. -- Austintown heavyweight Chris Koval, bulked up at 242 pounds but weakened from a bout with the flu, won a four-round unanimous decision Wednesday night over Antonio Colbert of Cincinnati, as part of an eight-bout card in The Grande Ballroom at Mountaineer's Race Track and Gaming Resort.
Koval (15-1) came out fast against Colbert (6-29), who weighed in at 214 pounds. Koval landed some solid body shots that brought down Colbert's hands, and a right cross staggered him in round one.
In the second round, Colbert was effective with right hand leads, but Koval began to work his left jab to perfection, snapping the veteran's head back several times. In the third round Koval continued to work his jab and using a left hook off of it hurt Colbert. A series of punches early in the final round led to a standing eight count and a right to the body almost sent Colbert to the canvas again.
Koval was most impressive coming off the ropes to nail Colbert with a countering right uppercut.
Though Koval showed some effect of his illness with fatigue late in the fight, it was Colbert who wore the scars with a cut on the bridge of his noise.
Unanimous decision
Voting by the three judges was unanimous at 40-35 for Koval.
"I had this guy hurt several times, but I couldn't finish him, because he is tough and probably has one of the best chins of anyone I have faced as a pro or amateur," Koval said.
Pat Nelson, who manages Koval and Butler heavyweight Brian Minto, saw Minto improve to 13-0 with a unanimous decision over Youngstown's Lenzie Morgan.
The 37-year-old Morgan (14-28-3), an outstanding defensive fighter, withstood a continual barrage throughout his six-rounder against an aggressive Minto.
Minto continually applied pressure with counter-punching left hooks and found openings to the head and body at will.
The co-feature also had a Youngstown connection. In a welterweight six-rounder, Johnny "Macho Midget" Bailey (21-11-2) survived two accidental butts to win a unanimous decision over Brian "Mountain Man" Thacker (8-9).
Bailey, who has trained with Jack Loew at the Southside Boxing Club, decked Thacker with a short left hook in round two and had him take a standing eight count in the sixth round when he floored him with a left-right combination.
In two other bouts, Verquan Kimbrough and Monty Meza-Clay won by knockouts. Kimbrough (5-0), a former national amateur champion from Aliquippa, Pa., won his third fight by knockout when he took out Tim Travis (1-3) with a left hook at 2:50 of round one. Clay (8-0), from Rankin, Pa., stopped Columbus' Broderick Harper in the fifth round of a super heavyweight fight.