Second time's a charm: Mashburn scores TKO

First round of action is now complete.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Last year, Jack Mashburn lost twice in his first attempt at boxing on the amateur level.
Thursday at the Struthers Field House, the Poland welterweight atoned for those two defeats in spectacular fashion by registering a second-round TKO over Hubbard's Matt Cooper as opening round action continued in the 19th Annual K.O. Drugs Boxing Tournament.
"I didn't fare very well last year as a super lightweight, but loved every minute of my time in the ring," Mashburn said. "I went all three rounds both times, only to end up on the short end of the decision.
"I had my nose messed up in my first bout a year ago and that made me more determined to work harder this year. I started my preparation for this year's tournament in November, and trained really hard under the direction of Bob and Keith Burnside and Joe Kostic.
"I'm in wonderful shape; the best shape of my life. My goal was to knock him out, but honestly didn't think that it would happen so fast. This is truly a dream come true for me."
Other bouts
Thirty-two bouts were on tap with 11 Underclass Division bouts, two Female Division features and 19 Upperclass Division fights the storyline.
In the Female Division, Sara Fusco of Keystone Academy scored a unanimous decision over local favorite Lynne Copanic of Struthers while Miranda "Boom Boom" Spottleson of Cardinal Mooney registered a unanimous decision over Allison Dercoli of Canfield.
"This was a lot of fun, but I must admit that I was tired at the end of three rounds," Fusco said. "It was my first ever fight and was everything that I expected it to be.
"I really didn't do much training as I didn't think it would be this serious," Fusco said. "I found out differently. I'll work more with the bags, spar more and do more running to prepare for my next outing."
Nick Elmo, a sophomore at Boardman who was trained by Jack Loew, registered a first-round TKO over Vince Hill of Struthers but was sorry that Loew wasn't in attendance to see his performance.
Loew was in Tampa with junior middleweight Billy Lyell as the two were preparing for Lyell's fight tonight with Clarence Taylor (ESPN2).
"This really surprised me. I thought I would go much deeper into the fight," Elmo said. "I trained as hard as I could and was at the gym everyday preparing for this fight.
"I really worked the speed and heavy bags and was just glad to get this win for Jack. There is still plenty of work yet to do before my next fight."
The first round of action is now complete. Next Thursday at 7 p.m., second-round action is set to get under way with nearly 40 bouts on tap at the Struthers Field House.
Notes
Tom Miller, an official with the K.O. Drugs Tournament and a well-respected boxing judge nationwide, will be in Chicago tonight where he will serve as a judge for the N.A.B.O. Jr. Featherweight title match between Antonio Escalante of Mexico and Raul Ruiz of Santa Ana, Ca.