Lyell loses fight in Ill.

Jose Leo Moreno of St. Paul, Minn. won the four-round super welterweight fight.
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Friday night at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Jose Leo "The Lionhearted" Moreno, outboxed and outhustled Billy Lyell of Niles, to win a unanimous decision in their four-round super welterweight fight.
Moreno from St. Paul, Minn., remained undefeated (6-0) while Lyell (4-1) suffered his first pro loss.
The 19-year-old Lyell, a 2002 Niles McKinley High graduate, co-managed and trained by Jack Loew and Jim "Tank" DiCioccio at Southside Boxing Club, offered no excuses.
"I have no one to blame but myself and I hope I have the good sense to profit from this loss," he said. "I hurt [Moreno] a few times with some good shots, but I just couldn't put punches together and Moreno is a good fighter who worked well and outhustled me."
Good start
Lyell stunned Moreno in the first round with a solid left hook and tagged him with another left hook at the end of the round. After that Moreno, who had only gone eight rounds in his five previous bouts, took over. He was the aggressor throughout the fight, always coming forward and, though Lyell landed heavier punches, Moreno landed more often and was continually taking Lyell to the ropes.
Both fighters came into the fight in good shape, but Lyell was three pounds overweight and had to lose them to make the weight limit.
"Making the weight on the day of the fight didn't help Billy and I felt it made him a little sluggish," said DiCioccio.
Two judges voted 39-37 for Moreno and the other 40-36.
"Billy landed the better shots, but Moreno just outworked and outhustled him to get the decision," said DiCioccio. "This is a tough loss for Billy at this stage of his career, but it also is a wakeup call for him and hopefully he can learn from this loss."