Lyell leads 8 fight pro card on Friday

The Niles boxer is 4-1 as a professional.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Promoter Jim "Tank" DiCioccio announced that the pro boxing show Friday at the Byzantine Center At The Grove, 3801 Shady Run Road, has an eight bout card.
"It is as set as a boxing card can be within the vagaries of the sport today," says DiCioccio.
Standout amateurs who have turned pro in the past year from the Southside Boxing Club stable are Billy Lyell from Niles and Youngstown's Durrell Richardson.
Lyell had a 43-12 amateur record with Loew as his trainer. He made his pro debut July 1 at Cafaro Field and has a 4-1 pro record with three wins by knockout.
Meets McCants
Lyell will face Corey McCants (2-8, 1 KO) from Cincinnati in the main event co-feature on Friday. It is a six-round junior middleweight bout.
"I have seen McCants in action and he will be stern test for Billy," says Loew, "and that is what we want for him now."
The other co-feature, also scheduled for six rounds, will have Austintown heavyweight Chris Koval in the ring with Rocky Phillips, a veteran from Dayton. Koval is managed by Pat Nelson and trained by Tom Cordell. Koval, in just over 15 months as a pro, has a 16-1 record with 14 wins by knockout. He is ranked among the top 50 heavyweights in the world.
Phillips' (20-10, 16 KOs) biggest win came in 1992 over former heavyweight champion Michael Dokes.
Koval knows that if he keeps winning anything can happen in the crowded heavyweight division.
"This is just another step along the way that I have to climb, but it will be good to fight at home in front of a lot of my friends," he says.
Second pro fight
Richardson was 37-5 as an amateur and in 2002 he won the national 147-pound title. He turned pro in April and won his first bout with a second-round knockout.
Friday night, Richardson will be in a junior middleweight four-rounder with Melvin Landers (0-2) of Cleveland.
Darnell Boone, who is trained by Loew, will make his pro debut. A hard punching talent, Boone will be in a super middleweight four-rounder with Jay Holland (0-2) from New Castle.
Zach Page and Adam Smith, both from Trumbull County, will also make their pro debuts.
Anthony Pietrantonio from Sharon and Davey McBride from Lisbon, both managed by Chuck Nelson, are also in four-rounders.
Tickets for the show are $20 for general admission and $35 for ringside. For ticket information call Loew at (330) 501-5713 or DiCioccio at (330) 727-9410.