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‘Bull’ rush: Giuriceo all right with right
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Pavlik/Rubio Fight Night at Chevy Centre, February 21, 2009
The super welterweightscored a crowd-pleasing victory in his pro debut at the Chevrolet Centre.
YOUNGSTOWN — Jake Giuriceo said he hit Michael Suarez with a straight right hand after getting hit in the back of the head.
That straight right sent Suarez of Cleveland to the canvas and down for the count of 10 by referee Randy Jarvis in the second round of the pro debut of both Saturday night.
Giuriceo’s super welterweight victory was more than enough of a crowd pleaser for the crowd of 7,228 at the Chevy Centre.
The Campbell native who now lives in Struthers was workmanlike despite his flashy lime-green trunks.
After Suarez hit the canvas, Jarvis started his count and kept going as the Cleveland fighter stumbled upon getting up.
Giuriceo’s KO time was 53 seconds of the second round during the third fight of the Pavlik-Rubio undercard.
“He thought he had me hurt when he caught me in the back of the head and it kind of threw me off balance, so that’s when he came in and all I did was turn that straight right over inside and it landed flush and I got him,” Giuriceo said of the blow to Suarez’s chin.
Giuriceo’s left hook was also a weapon during the fight, which was scheduled for four rounds.
What will Jake “The Bull” Giuriceo do now?
“I want a fight. I want to keep fighting,” the 23-year-old said.
Suarez and Giuriceo came out expecting a fast pace and did so, especially at the end of the first round as both flailed away. However, Giuriceo’s left and right hooks to the head and body did more damage.
Giuriceo didn’t think Suarez’s style was much of a problem.
“It only takes me about a round to warm up, so I just got loose and went to work,” he said.
The jubilant Giuriceo thanked Pavlik and Jack Loew, among others, for getting him on the Chevy Centre card.
“I want to thank everybody in the Giuriceo crew, too,” he said.
The bout previous to Giuriceo’s was a quick one as Willie Nelson of Cleveland KO’d Damon Antoine of Akron at 1:01 of the first round. The taller and leaner Nelson caught Antoine on the right side of his abdomen in their scheduled six-round welterweight fight.
Nelson remained undefeated at 11-0-1 (7 KOs). Antoine fell to 9-27-2.
The opening fight was a bloody one as Brandon Winner of Youngstown registered a four-round unanimous decision over Billy Greenawalt, also of Youngstown.
The 36-year-old Greenawalt won the first round, but Winner, 25, despite a bloody nose, was not backing down and kept up the pressure and delivered the necessary jabs, especially a left at the end of the second round to turn the tide.
Winner improved to 2-5, while Greenawalt fell to 1-5.
In the bout following Giuriceo’s, Mark Salser of Mansfield stayed perfect at 9-0 as the lightweight boxer dispatched of Leroy Newton of Michigan City, Ind., via a second-round TKO.
Prior to the outcome, Salser smothered Newton with solid body shots, both left and rights, that dropped Newton to his knees in the first round.
After the standing 8-count, Salser, again, sent his opponent to the canvas near the end of the first round.
At 1:08 of the second round, Salser recorded his TKO when Newton (6-14) was sent backwards and down on his seat.
In the night’s fifth undercard bout, Andres Taylor of Johnstown, Pa., scored a third-round TKO at 2:19 during a heavyweight tussle with Jim Emrick of Butler, Pa.
The 29-year-old Taylor improved his record to 6-0-1, while Emrick slipped to 7-3-1.
The Winner-Greenawalt fight wasn’t the only bloody battle as Brian Camechis and Angel Hernandez went the distance in their six-round welterweight match.
The two — Camechis from Glouster, Ohio, and Hernandez from Gary, Ind. — were busy throughout although Camechis was effective with many combinations, including his right leads and right jabs.
When the dust settled, Camechis won by unanimous decision.
In the third round, Camechis (18-2) was aggressive enough to hold his edge, but then caught Hernandez (10-3) with a few left jabs in the fourth.
The bloody Hernandez was hurting but didn’t show it and even looked like he wasn’t fazed after receiving a hard left lead and left hook from Camechis that sent Hernandez up against the ropes.
However, Hernandez bounced back and finished the fourth with no ill effects as he walked to his corner.
In the fifth, the 30-year-old Camechis, also bloodied, connected with right hooks and right leads, then, in the sixth, stuck Hernandez with a right lead. Camechis worked inside and kept Hernandez on the defense, constantly threw hooks to all areas of Hernandez’s upper body.
The seventh and final undercard fight lasted fewer than three rounds as Dallas Vargas of Toledo put Kevin Engel on his knee with a hard right to the ribs. Referee George Nichols put a stop to the light heavyweight bout at 2:14 of the third.
Compubox statistics had Engel connecting on a greater percentage of punches, but not the one to which he succumbed.
Vargas is 22-4, while Engel, originally from St. Louis but fighting out of Youngstown with Jack Loew’s stable, dropped to 15-2.
bassetti@vindy.com