Niles’ Lyell captures decision to successfully defend title

Junior welterweight Jake Giuriceo scored an impressive win over James Hope as part of the “October Fists” show at the Eastwood Expo Center.

By ERIC HAMILTON

Vindicator correspondent

NILES — Billy Lyell successfully defended his NABC Inter-Continental middleweight title Saturday night after scoring a unanimous eight-round decision over Chris Gray (12-11) of Baton Rouge, La., at the Eastwood Expo Center.

It was Lyell’s (21-7) second victory since upsetting John Duddy in April.

The Niles native was able to land some big blows throughout the fight, but didn’t have enough firepower to drop his opponent. In front of a hometown crowd, Lyell took a few punches himself, but was never in danger of going down.

Lyell won the fight on all three judges’ scorecards – 77-75, 78-74 and 79-73.

“I got excited early looking for that big punch, but didn’t get it,” said Lyell. “But I settled in throughout the fight and got the win. I looked at some of his fights and he beat some undefeated guys, so I knew it would be a tough fight.

“It was nice to be in my backyard for a fight and I was excited and I think I just looked for that big shot. But he did a heck of a job.”

Read more in the Lyell fight in Monday’s Vindicator.

Junior welterweight Jake Giuriceo wanted a knockout, but he settled for an impressive win by decision Saturday night at the Eastwood Expo Center.

As one of the undercard bouts for the main event that featured NABC Inter-Continental middleweight champion Billy Lyell, Giuriceo (5-0) won by decision over James Hope (4-2).

The Campbell native hit Hope with solid combinations and had him in trouble in every round, but his opponent refused to go down.

“The kid could take a punch,” said Giuriceo. “I was confident with my combinations and I tried to get them in there fast and hit him as many times as I could. I did some body work early and I could hear him gasping for air, so I knew this was my fight to win.

“He’s by far my toughest opponent so far. He could take a punch and he could give a punch, too. He just couldn’t give enough for me tonight. It was great fighting in my own backyard and the crowd kept me going.”

Giuriceo was especially impressive in the final minute of each round, landing a lot of punches, with Hope stumbling several times before the bell sounded. Hope spent considerable time leaning inside, using his head to try to tie Giurieco up.

“I just tried to keep my hands moving and hit him wherever I could,” he said. “If I hit him hard when he was inside there, I knew his punches would slow down and that’s what happened.”

In the first co-feature bout, Durrell Richardson scored an impressive first round TKO victory over former U.S. Olympic Bronze medalist Dante Craig (18-9, 13KOs).

Richardson, who usually fights at 154 pounds, bumped up to 160 pounds for the middleweight bout. Putting on the extra pounds didn’t affect his speed, as he controlled the fight from the outset with his powerful left-hand hook.

He showed his speed early, knocking Craig down to his knees with a left hand hook.

“I knew my speed would catch up to him tonight,” said Richardson (12-3). “I just wanted to be crisp tonight and get a knockout in my hometown. I haven’t had a knockout in a while and I was coming off a loss, so this feels good.

“He had more experience than I did and had 3 knockouts, so I wanted to bump up and go against a good fighter. I’ll drop back down to 154 and hopefully 147 now, because that’s where I want to be.”

Richardson stunned Craig (18-9-1) again later in the opening round, hitting him with another solid left for another knockdown. The referee halted the fight at the 1:25 mark.

Light heavyweight Randy Campbell (2-0) of Dover won by TKO at the 1:27 mark of the second round, defeating Travis Richards (1-6) of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Campbell used a stuff jab and landed several big combinations to win round one. Richards threw some hard right hooks, but was unable to land them.

Campbell cut Richards near his right eye in the opening round and kept him off balance.

In Round 2, Richards came out fatigued and flat footed. He wound up for a couple big punches, but found nothing but the air.

The referee stopped the fight at the 1:27 mark, after Campbell landed a fury of punches to drop Richards a second time.