Giuriceo, Hazimihalis win

STAFF REPORT

sports@vindy.com

PITTSBURGH

The Heinz Field VIP Tent treated two Mahoning Valley boxers very well on Wednesday evening.

Welterweight Jake “The Bull” Giuriceo of Struthers remains undefeated after his six-round unanimous decision over Sam Gibson on the undercard of the “Summer Brawl” held outside the Steelers’ stadium.

In another bout, Chris Hazimihalis of Campbell enjoyed a first-round knockout win over Ryan Strickland, a last-minute replacement for Oswaldo Lopez Escobedo.

Despite suffering a cut near his left eye from an early-round head butt, Guiriceo improved to 7-0-1 (2 KOs) while Indiana native Gibson dropped to 2-5-2. The score was 59-55 on all three judges’ cards.

“Overall, it was a great experience,” Giuriceo said. “This is going to help me down the road with tougher opponents.

“He was more of a street fighter and he fought kind of dirty, using his head and elbows and shoulders,” Giuriceo said. “I’ve been head-butted a few times but not like this.

“It made it hard for me to work to the inside.”

Keith Burnside, Giuriceo’s trainer, said his boxer needed 10 stitches after the fight to close the wound.

“Jake dominated the fight boxing-wise,” said Burnside, adding that Giuriceo would take a couple of weeks off to heal.

“He’s had a couple of little cuts before in other fights, but nothing major like this.”

Giuriceo disputed that prediction.

“I probably won’t be out of the gym for more than a week,” Giuriceo said.

Fighting as a lightweight, Hazimihalis improved to 3-0 by knocking down Strickland for the third time just 91 seconds into the fight. Strickland stayed down, ending the fight.