Finals tonight in K.O. Drugs
By Greg Gulas
A total of 25 championship bouts are on tap at the ITAM Banquet Center.
YOUNGSTOWN — The 20th K.O. Drugs High School Boxing Tournament comes to an end tonight with 30 bouts, including 25 for championships, on tap at the ITAM Banquet Center.
Thirteen champions will be crowned in the underclass division and 12 in the upperclass. There will also be five consolation fights that will begin the program.
“This is the night for which every fighter this year has trained and we expect plenty of energy in the ring,” said Chuck Nelson, the tournament’s founder and director. “All fighters know what is on the line so we expect them to hold nothing back once on the canvas.”
Sixteen boxers will enter the ring tonight undefeated in the tournament.
In underclass action, three hopefuls have already posted three wins in the tournament while nine boxers have two victories.
Fitch’s Tyler Smith (3-0) puts his perfect mark on the line against Jaleel Lewis of Hayes (2-1) for the flyweight title; Eddie Crump (3-0) of Western Reserve meets East’s Tyruss Patterson (2-0) for the light heavyweight championship, and Campbell’s Darian Rivera (3-0) takes on Ali Abou-Osman (2-1) of Canfield for the cruiserweight crown.
Patterson has spent just 55 seconds in the ring for his two victories in the tournament; scoring first-round TKOs in both fights.
Other fighters unbeaten in their first two fights are lightweight Kyle Price of Canfield, welterweights Rob Roussler of Western Reserve and Matt Cardona of Chaney, junior middleweights Jordan Mohamed of McDonald and Ryan West of Ursuline, middleweights Donnie Livermore of Fitch and Rodney Sanders of Boardman and heavyweight Bryan Gonzalez of Chaney.
In upperclass action, six fighters will put their unblemished 3-0 marks on the line while nine others are 2-0.
The three-time winners are super featherweight Shane Middendorf of Sharpsville, lightweight Jordan Johnson of Fitch, welterweight Julius Thomas of Chaney, light heavyweights Jamil Wilkins of East and Dave Murphy of Sharon and heavyweight Jake Hochendoner of Poland.
The fighters with 2-0 records are junior welterweight Ronnie Hamayel of Canfield, junior middleweights Ben Pecchia of Canfield and Louis Greco of Fitch, middleweight Andrew Fricker of Girard, super cruiserweights Anthony Trimble of Mineral Ridge and Eric Ocheltree of Mathews, heavyweight Sam Valiquette of Struthers and super heavyweights Chris Schade of Canfield and Cain MacGregor of Girard.
In consolation bouts, Boardman schoolmates Jason Egner and Donny Zarbaugh will fight as welterweights, and Luis Santiago of Campbell and Duante’ Anderson of Fitch will lock horns at cruiserweight.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with the first bout at 7. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for adults and can be obtained at the door.