SALEM Davy McBride is making strides

The 22-year-old showed an aggressive style in his second pro fight.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SALEM -- On the next-to-last night of 2003, in the Grande Ballroom of Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort's hotel, there was a fighter with an aggressive, forward-moving, free-swinging style who stopped his opponent at the end of round two.
He brought an excitement to the crowd and among them -- doing the color for a Pittsburgh television station -- was Mountaineer CEO Ted Arneault, who liked what he saw in 22-year-old "Irish" Davy McBride from Salem.
First pro KO
McBride, in his second pro fight, earned his first pro knockout when he stopped Jim Gruber. He turned pro in October with a unanimous decision over Cincinnati's Carl Hunter.
Born in East Liverpool, McBride grew up in New Waterford and graduated from Crestview High in 1999.
Being a student of karate, he became interested in kick boxing when he was 13. Training in his house, he won a pair of state championships as a featherweight and he won back-to-back national titles in 1998-99. McBride was 21-0, including a kick-box toughman contest he won at Packard Music Hall in 2002.
McBride's last taste of kick boxing was in March 2003 at the Expo Center in Niles in a bout that he lost. Living in Goshen Township with his parents, two sisters and a brother, McBride always thought about fighting as a professional.
"I wanted to turn pro, but didn't know how to take the first step," he said.
A newspaper notice caught his eye in July of last year. It was placed by the Plegge Brothers from Salem, about their new boxing gym at 788 Pershing Street in that city's downtown.
Second home
Since then, it has been McBride's second home. The Plegge brothers, Bobby and Dennis, both had good amateur and pro careers and both have trained amateur fighters for more than 20 years.
Bobby Plegge, who was a Canton Golden Gloves champion, was 28-19-1 with 12 knockouts as a pro and is best remembered for giving Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini all he could handle in a lightweight bout at Packard Music Hall in October, 1980.
Dennis, nearly two years younger than Bobby, fought as a bantamweight, winning three consecutive Canton Golden Glove championships in the early '70s. As a pro he fought as a welterweight and had an 11-6-1 record with seven knockouts.
McBride is the first pro fighter from Columbiana County since the Plegges.
Bobby Plegge, who was once crowned state of Ohio lightweight champion, said, "It would be nice to have another Salem champion."
He likes everything about McBride, but admitted, "There is a lot of fine tuning that has to be done with Davy."
Dennis Plegge remembered McBride's first days in the gym.
Clear objective
"When he first came he showed exceptional ring talent and he had no other options except to turn pro. Now if he gets in tip-top shape with a few more fights, we feel he can get in the ring with any lightweight in the world."
McBride lives within walking distance of the gym.
"I love boxing and I love to train and I really hope I can have a good career in the ring," he said.
The Plegge brothers serve as McBride's co-managers and trainers, and Chuck Nelson of Canfield is his promoter. McBride's next fight will be in February at Mountaineer.