Female fists: Spottleson jars Sahli

Miranda Spottleson shattered Stephanie Sahli's eight-bout winning streak.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- In a sport dominated by males, it was the females who took center stage Friday night at the Struthers Fieldhouse in the K.O. Drugs boxing tournament.
In the feature bout of the evening, Cardinal Mooney's Miranda "Boom Boom" Spottleson scored a unanimous decision over the "Billion Dollar Baby," Stephanie Sahli of Struthers, to capture the lightweight championship.
The win enabled Spottleson to avenge her only loss of the tournament a year ago, suffered at the hands of Sahli in the featherweight championship bout.
"She [Sahli] gave me a tough fight tonight. Stephanie fights with a lot of heart and plenty of intensity and I had to be at my best if I expected to win," Spottleson said.
"I trained since last year for this opportunity; running, lifting and doing karate to keep in shape. Sparring five-minute rounds, every other day over the past 10 days really helped me tonight."
Eight-win streak ended
Sahli, who had won eight straight bouts in K.O. Drugs action dating to last year and was the defending Tri-County champion, took the loss with the class expected of a champion.
"[Miranda] is really tough. She's a dedicated boxer and while I gave it my all, it just wasn't enough tonight," she stated.
"I would be remiss if I didn't say thanks to both Bob and Keith Burnside for training me over the past two years. I couldn't have done accomplished what I did without them.
"I'm done with the K.O. Drugs but would still like to box, perhaps this summer if the opportunity presents itself."
In another Female Division bout, Colleen Mallis scored a unanimous decision over Dominique Martino to capture the super bantamweight title.
It was her first fight of the tournament and according to her, the last time she will fight before she heads off to college.
"We both had trouble the first two rounds with our head gears, but I listened to my coach, Willie Brandon, on how to work my punches and he guided me through the final round. That really helped me out," Mallis said.
Brandon lauds Mallis
Brandon, a 40-year veteran of the boxing game and the trainer of former IBF bantamweight champion Greg Richardson, said Mallis had plenty of heart and deserved to win.
"She needed just a little motivation and that is exactly what we gave her during each round. She listens well and the end result was a title. That is what makes this such a great game," he said.
In Underclass Division action, Boardman's Chris Lorimer ran his record to 3-0 as he captured the featherweight title by defeating Austintown Fitch's Jordan Johnson, while Girard's Andrew Fricker scored a second-round TKO win over Boardman's Nick Elmo to capture the junior middleweight crown.
"This is one great feeling," said Lorimer. "The first round was pretty close, and in the second round he looked a little tired so I worked his body area.
"I was able to pull away in the third round," he said. "I trained real hard and it all paid off for me tonight."
Sahli is commended
Sahli, despite her loss, was hailed by the committee for her contribution to boxing for women and was named the Female Division's "Most Promising Boxer," while Boardman's Colby Clayton, the winner of this year's welterweight crown, was named the Underclass Division's "Most Promising Boxer.
Forty champions were crowned over the past two nights and there were 239 bouts over the course of the tournament.