Jake Giuriceo eyes victory before May wedding
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
On May 20, Campbell’s Jake Giuriceo will (temporarily) trade the boxing ring for a wedding ring.
In order for him to sneak in a fight before then, he had to promise to keep his hands up and his face clean.
“Oh yeah, I’ve got to watch,” said Giuriceo’s trainer, Keith Burnside. “I got to make sure he don’t get cut or get a broken nose or a black eye.
“His wife will kill me.”
Added Giuriceo, “I’ve got to look good out there. If I don’t, she’s going to beat me up.”
Saturday, Giuriceo (15-0-1, 3 KOs) will meet Colorado native Juan Santiago (13-8-1, 8 KOs) in an eight-round light welterweight bout at Mountaineer.
Santiago has lost four straight fights, including a third-round TKO at the hands of Donaldo Holguin in a WBC Latino light welterweight bout in October, 2010.
“He’s a very, very tough kid,” said Giuriceo. “He doesn’t run. He stays in and fights you, so it should be my kind of fight.”
Giuriceo is coming off a six-round unanimous decision victory over Jaime Orrantia in March in California. He wanted to stay close to home for his next bout, both because of his upcoming wedding and because his sizable fan base can travel to the fight.
“When you go down there, it’s all Ohio plates anyway,” Burnside said of Mountaineer. “I think we’ll have a lot of fans there and hopefully somebody [a promoter] will look at us. This fight is with Roy Jones Jr. promotions, so maybe something will happen out of that.”
After working on his boxing skills in previous fights, Giuriceo is trying to get back to the approach that earned him the nickname “The Bull.” Burnside wants him to stay aggressive, particularly when his opponent is in the corner or on the ropes.
“I’m getting back to an aggressive boxing style, while not wasting punches,” Giuriceo said. “Lord willing I can down there and honor God with everything I do and praise the Lord with another victory.
“That’d be awesome.”
Hazimihalis to fight
ERIE, PA.
Friday, Campbell’s Chris Hazimihalis (8-0, 7 KOs) will fight Federico Flores Jr. (7-4, 2 KOs) of Michigan in a six-round lightweight bout at the 27th annual Erie Boxing Classic at the Avalon Hotel.
Tickets are $20 and $40. Fights begin at 8 p.m.