Sunday, November 21, 2010
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
The night before he eats the stuffing, Campbell’s Jake Giuriceo gets the chance to beat the stuffing out of another opponent in Wednesday’s 26th annual Erie Boxing Classic at Avalon Hotel.
Giuriceo (8-0-1, 2 KOs) will meet Julias Edmonds (7-8) in a six-round junior welterweight bout, while Campbell’s Chris Hazimihalis (3-0) will face Justin Goodall (1-0) of Cape Coral, Fla., in a four-round lightweights.
“He’s fought a lot of tough guys,” Giuriceo said of Edmonds. “He’s a very tough kid, very dangerous.”
Giuriceo said Edmonds looked like a promising fighter in some of his earlier bouts, but has since become more interested in putting his head into his opponent’s chest and try to back him into the ropes.
“I don’t know if he got some bad management and they threw him in with some guys he shouldn’t have been with, but he might have lost focus after his first loss,” said Giuriceo, who last fought on Sept. 25 at the ITAM Club. “He’s been back and forth since then, win some and lose some.
“When he first started, he tried to box. Now he just tries to brawl. I don’t know which guy he’s going to bring on fight night.”
Giuriceo, nicknamed “The Bull” for his fighting style, has spent the last few months working on his boxing skills, something he’ll try to put to use against Edmonds.
“It’s nice to have a few days to game plan for a kid,” said Giuriceo, who often doesn’t know his opponents far in advance. “I just want to stay on the outside, control the fight and work my jab.
“Just pull out a win, man. That’s all I’m looking to do.”
Hazimihalis, who last fought on June 30, normally trains at the Southside Boxing Club under Jack Loew, but has spent the last three weeks training in Erie.
“I just thought it was in my best interest to switch things up,” said Hazimihalis. “I’ve been working with a few trainers up there. Things are going pretty good.”
Hazimihalis said he had hoped to get into the ring several times in the last few months but a few fights fell through. In the meantime, he’s just tried to stay in the gym and work on new combinations and a smarter fighting style.
He doesn’t know much about Goodall — “He’s only been in one fight, so there isn’t too much information to get on him,” he said — but is excited to be a part of what’s become a holiday tradition in Erie.
“It should be pretty fun,” he said.