Monday, February 21, 2005
Nine of the 13 bouts went the distance at Packard Music Hall Saturday.
WARREN -- Boxing returned to Packard Music Hall Saturday night with a 13-bout amateur card presented by the Warren Boxing Club and veteran trainer P.C. Torres.
Nine of the bouts went the distance and the other four were stopped by the referee with all of the fights being very entertaining to the crowd of more than 1,200 fans.
A rivalry of recent vintage between Torres' Warren Boxing Club and Jack Loew's Southside Boxing Club in Youngstown was resumed with Loew's fighters splitting four bouts and Torres' boxers winning five of nine. In head-to-head competition the Southside boxers, thanks to the Salinas brothers -- Juan and Alejandro -- were 2-0. The edge on the night for the Warren Boxing Club came in the final two bouts.
Tempesta winner in final
The finale was of great interest to the hometown crowd, as "The Fighting Policeman" Frank Tempesta made short work of Jeff Lampkin-trained Cecil Porter.
In a super-heavyweight bout that began as a slugfest, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Tempesta battered the 6-1, 250 Porter into submission.
With a volley of blows Tempesta had Porter take a pair of standing eight counts in the first round and after another standing eight count in round two the referee stopped the fight at the 36 second mark.
In a 178-pound battle, Nathaniel Adams, another Warren Boxing Club fighter with a two-fisted attack, finished off Jordan Shepler from Pittsburgh at 1:48 of the first round.
The two other fights that were stopped had 6-2, 241 heavyweight Jason Evans, from Bizzaro Boxing Club in Erie, use a five punch barrage to finish Jason Miller from the Salem Boxing Club at the 18-second mark of round one, and DeAdonte Heywood, from Akron in a 130-pound fight, stop West Virginian Zack Smith at 1:53 of the second round.
Seven Junior Olympic bouts
There were seven Junior Olympic bouts with all of them going the distance and the little guys mixed it up well.
Alejandro "Popo" Salinas was a non-stop puncher in winning against Warren's Alex Smith in a battle of 60-pounders.
Juan Salinas, age 12, was in one of the best fights of the night, a 95-pound battle with tough Jamelle Vann of the Warren Boxing Club. The five judges voted 3-2 for Salinas, who said he dedicated the win to his late uncle, Jose Salinas, who passed away in the summer of 2004.
Two impressive bouts had Pittsburgh's Scott Hutton, a southpaw, win a tough decision over Tom Joseph from the Salem Boxing Club, and in a 125-pound fight, Adrian Ghisou from Erie edged Charles Fagan from the Southside Boxing Club.
Former boxer and retired Warren official Terry Nicopolis, who is associated with Torres and the Warren Boxing Club, opened the evening with a silent moment for Lalu Sabotin, who died last week.