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Giuriceo wins to remain perfect as a pro
By Greg Gulas
Youngstown
Jake “The Bull” Giuriceo survived a cut over his eye in the first round, then changed strategy by going from brawling at the outset of the fight to boxing over the final two rounds to score a unanimous decision over Roberto Lopez at the ITAM Banquet Center on Saturday.
The Campbell native moved to 8-0-1 while Lopez (4-1-2), who hails from Kissimmee, Fla., fell for the first time professionally.
“He [Lopez] was a real brawler and we did exactly that for four rounds,” Giuriceo said. “My whole corner, led by my manager Keith Burnside, told me to get back to boxing the last two rounds and that is what sealed it for me.
“I honestly felt like I out-boxed him. I just couldn’t let him bully me in my own house.”
The first round was pretty much even with Giuriceo’s corner getting an unexpected workout when they had to fix the cut over his left eye. Round two was the closest while the third round was a back-and-forth affair .
Giuriceo relied on his two-three punch combination in the fourth, and his uppercuts in the fifth, while the final round was a pretty much an even affair between the two pugilists.
“I wanted to box more, but still ended up executing about half of my original strategy,” Giuriceo added.
In the co-main event, Antoine Slaughter of Columbus scored a unanimous decision over Ron Green (1-2, KO) of Wheeling, W.VA to move to 2-0 (KO) overall as a professional lightweight.
Slaughter cut Green over his right eye and also knocked him down in the first round, pretty much setting the tone of the match.
“I originally went in there just trying to figure him [Green] out, trying to find what he was depending on,” Slaughter said. “I wanted to land my power punches and when I saw that I cut him over his eye, that just gave me the extra push that I needed to keep going after him.”
In the light heavyweight debut for both Aaron Defour (Ashtabula) and Darian Fletcher (Evansville, IN), Defour devoured Green by scoring a TKO just 2:21 into the opening round for a rather auspicious beginning to his professional career.
“I originally wanted to land my left jab but didn’t realize that he [Fletcher] was a southpaw,” Defour said. “That forced me go straight to my right hand and that strategy proved to be the right strategy for me.”.
Fletcher was visibly upset after the match.
“He [Defour] caught me with my hands down,” Fletcher said. “I am really p----d because the fight should never have been called.”
There were four amateur bouts on tap as well with all four boxers scoring victories by points decisions.
In a 152-pound bout to start the evening’s festivities, Mario Butler of Garfield Heights outdistanced Ryan McKenty of Cleveland, scoring a decision in his very first ever bout.
“I really trained hard for this but knew more than anything that I would have to remain focused if I wanted to win,” Butler said. “My jab is what worked best for me tonight.”
In a super heavyweight clash, Nelson Best of Toronto easily defeated Melchisedes “Meechie” Rodriguez of Campbell to move to 3-0 in his career.
“I felt like I knocked the wind out of him early but I must admit that he [Rodriguez] could really take a punch,” Best said.