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november fury Local fighters eye big wins
By Greg Gulas
CAMPBELL
With Jake Giuriceo set to meet Bryne Green in the upcoming “November Fury” main event, four local fighters are also hoping to make a splash on the eight-bout undercard.
Warren’s Marco Hall, Austintown’s Chris Koval and Youngstown’s Juan Salinas and Durrell Richardson will each have their moment Saturday at the St. Lucy Palermo Center.
All four have plenty to gain. Hall may be signed by a Buffalo promotional group if they like his continued progress; Koval is hoping to continue his comeback bid, Richardson is trying to prove he can make a comeback, and Salinas simply needs a victory to get on the winning track in his young professional career.
Hall (1-0, KO), who is trained by Jack Loew, scored a second-round TKO over Emil Brooks in his pro debut on July 1 at the Loew-Kelly Pavlik outdoor show at the Covelli Centre.
Hall is set to meet Derek Hill (0-3) of Indianapolis.
“Marco opened a lot of eyes with that fight this past summer,” said Loew, who said Hall is getting better.
“He works hard in the gym and is someone I never have to look around to see if he is doing what he is supposed to be doing,” said Loew.
“Many never heard of him in the amateurs. He’s been sparring with Dannie Williams in our gym and I look for nothing but big things from him. He’s the first one to the gym and the last one to leave so that tells you something about his work ethic.”
Koval (25-7, 10 KOs) is coming off a four-round majority decision win over James Porter on Aug. 13 and is 1-1 on the comeback trail.
He will take on Mujaheed Moore (4-6, 3 KOs) of Shaker Heights in a four-round heavyweight battle.
“I’ll probably come in 10 pounds heavier than my last fight, but right now feel like a million bucks,” said Koval. “I feel like I am right on schedule; moreso than my first time around.
“I was never the best in-shape fighter, but now that I have dedicated myself to road-work and other training areas, I feel like I am much faster and quicker so I will be ready,” Koval said.
Salinas’ (0-1) cruiserweight clash with Zach Swallen (0-3) of Toledo could be the turning point in his young professional career, according to Loew.
“There are a lot of questions to be answered by Juan to me this time out. In his only fight, he was winning but put himself in position to get KO’d,” said Loew. “He now has to prove to me that he has a chin. It’s a must-win situation for him.”
In addition to the Universal Boxing Organization’s light welterweight belt on the line for Giuriceo, Richardson (12-3, 5 KOs) will be fighting for the first time since October 2009.
The nephew of former bantamweight champ Greg Richardson and the first cousin of former Florida All-American and NFL player Keiwan Ratliff, he will try to build on his last victory when he scored a first-round TKO over Dante Craig some 25 months ago.