Salinas brothers dominate Loew’s Feast

By Greg Gulas

YOUNGSTOWN — While the Saxon Club played host Wednesday to trainer Jack Loew’s 21st Annual Thanksgiving Feast, it was the Salinas brothers — Popo, Pedro and Juan — who took credit for the actual carving.

And had brother Julian not suffered a two-point pushing penalty in the third-round of his highly contested bout (100 pounds) with Isaias Rosario, it might have been a clean sweep for the fighting Salinas quartet.

The 13-bout amateur card that Loew assembled had all of the fixings of its pre-holiday billing with nine local winners taking home a belt or medal.

“We’ve been very fortunate over the years with both our Thanksgiving Feast and Bob Roth Memorial Tournament,” Loew said. “We’ve been able to match up some pretty good fighters and that has had a direct effect on putting in the seats.

“I cannot tell you how pleased I am that both events continue to grow as we try our best to keep amateur boxing alive in the area,” Loew said. “The real key is that all fights have been very competitive.”

Pedro Salinas got the action under way by scoring a decision over Reggie Sudberry.

Rosario, a Lorain native, dedicated his win to his late grandmother, who passed away nearly three months ago.

“This win is for my grandmother, Anna,” Rosario said. “I sure miss her so this is one way that I can honor her memory.

“I’ve sparred with Meol Santiago the last four years and along with my father [Isaias, Sr.], they really helped prepare me and get me in the right mindset for this fight.

“I just wanted to come out strong, throw a lot of punches and luckily for me that strategy worked,” Rosario said.

In another 100-pound bout, Edward Colon of Lorain won by decision over Aliquippa’s (Pa.) Marcus Tigner while Pittsburgh’s Justin Emrick decisioned Jorge Valle of Cleveland in an 85-pound scrap.

With everything pretty much even after the first two rounds, a strong final round helped Emrick secure a belt.

“I tried to fade a little more in the third round and that worked,” Emrick said. “I used my right hand but took what I could get, especially in the final minute.”

The first of three stoppages came when Tyler Smith of Austintown and the Southside Boxing Club, defeated Raysean Neal of Akron at 38 seconds of the third round.

A ninth grader at Fitch High, Smith moved to 5-0 as an amateur after going 8-0 with two titles in the past two K.O. Drugs Tournaments.

Smith was aggressive from pillar to post all three rounds against Neal, noting that he just likes to keep going after his opponent.

“My strategy is to just keep coming at him,” Smith said. “If I backed him up I knew that I had him. My double jab and right hand worked all night for me,” Smith said.

In the first of two 152-pound battles, Youngstown’s Matt Cardona defeated Nathan Ripley of Akron while Johnathan Gregory decisioned Charlie Fagan in an all-local match-up.

“I always lead with my jab; it’s the basic tool and the one key that will get you out of any fight,” Grergory said. “Charlie [Fagan] fought a great fight but if I couldn’t touch him with my jab, then there was no reason for me to throw my right.”

Cleveland’s Kevin Walker scored a decision over Angel Figueroa of Lorain in 141-pound action while Youngstown’s Cody Lucky barely got sweat on his brow and moved to 2-0 as an amateur by stopping Jose Torres, also of Lorain, at 55 seconds of the opening round of their 152-pound battle.

“This was just the second fight for both of us and I really didn’t know much about him,” Lucky said. “I felt like I had to be the aggressor and go after him so when I connected with a one-two that early in the fight, it helped.”

Julius Thomas of Youngstown defeated Warren’s Lucian Clinkscale in the other 141-pound pairing while Youngtown’s Richie Chacon earned a hard-fought decision over Akron’s Brian McElrath in a 132-pound match-up.

“I didn’t knock him out but kept him on his heels the entire bout,” Chacon said. “My hook and jab really worked for me, but the key was backing him up.”

Popo and Juan Salinas earned decisions on points, the former over Pittsburgh’s Matt Conway in the 112-pound co-feature and the latter over Warren’s Josh Kroesen in the 165-pound main feature.

“I was going for speed and power, trying for the knockout with my jab,” Popo said, as he improved to 41-9 as an amateur. “This was my first open fight so I didn’t want to let anyone down. I landed a couple of uppercuts early and that helped.”