BOXING Koval gets first-round TKO victory over Lane

Two other Pan Nelson fighters also posted wins at Eastwood Expot Center.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NILES -- Three fighters, managed by Pat Nelson of Youngstown, increased their collective record to 48-2 as they all won at George Chung's boxing show at the Eastwood Expo Center Sunday.
Nelson's fighters all won within two rounds. Austintown heavyweight Chris Koval, improved his record to 18-1 when he won by technical knockout at 2 minutes, 25 seconds of the first round over Dallas Lane of Springfield, Mo.
The 224-pound Lane (4-4-1) came out strong against the 241-pound Koval, throwing a long range left hook that caught Koval high on his head. Then Koval, nicknamed "Special K," landed a series of left jabs, driving Lane back, and after a barrage of blows a vicious right to the body sent Lane down for an eight count.
A right to the head sent Lane down for a nine count and a rapid fire combination put him right back on the canvas for another eight count.
Finally stops fight
Referee Jimmy Villers allowed the bout to continue for several seconds after the third knockdown, but a Koval barrage had Lane helpless on the ropes and the fight was stopped. It was the 15th time Koval has stopped an opponent in his 19 fights since turning pro 18 months ago.
Koval's trainer, Tom Cordell, said "Chris followed our fight plan to perfection, coming out fast and aggressive and working to the body to get Lane to drop his hands."
Koval said he took the fight on short notice to get work.
"But [Lane] came after me and after a few good jabs I tagged him with a monster body shot and after that it was over."
Vargas winner
Dallas Vargas, nicknamed "Deaf Pride," began the victory parade for Nelson, stopping John "The Hammer" Hammond of Columbus at 2:11 of the first round.
In a scheduled eight-round super middleweight bout, Hammond (9-4) came after Vargas (17-1, 13 KOs), but Vargas softened his opponent with several good left hooks to the body. It was a series of four body shots and a right to the head that sent Hammond down for an eight count and a left hook-right cross combination sent him down again seconds later with referee Bernie Profato stopping the fight.
"I hurt my hand in my last fight so I had to look for sure openings before I let loose with some good shots," said Vargas.
Minto stops opponent
Brian "The Beast" Minto, from Butler, Pa., improved to 16-0, stopping his ninth opponent, in the second round of a scheduled six-round heavyweight bout. Minto, coming in at 214 pounds to 264 pounds for Travis Fulton (7-6) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was tagged by a right to the jaw. Fulton had a good working combination in the second round. Then Minto went to work with a left-right combination, dropping Fulton for a nine count. Then a right to the head put Fulton down again and a short right sent him down a third time.
"This was a hard fight to get up for," said Minto. "He tagged me with a good shot in the first round, but I settled down and looked for openings and found them."
Added Nelson: "Tonight was another step in building a stable of contenders. There are plans for all three of these guys to be in various shows in the next month with Koval and Minto on the verge of escalating into big time bouts and the top rankings of the heavyweight division."
Salem fighter wins
The best fight of the card saw Salem lightweight "Irish" Davey McBride (4-2) win a unanimous six-round decision over Columbus boxer Tim Travis (2-5). Travis made things happen with his countering punches against the always aggressive McBride, who surprisingly had the best left jab of the night working for him.
McBride went to veteran trainer Jack Loew last week. "Jack has my jab sharper than it has ever been and defense, which has been lacking with me, was a little better," said McBride, who fights next July 7 at Mountaineer Park.