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Abrams defeats Salinas in Loew’s main bout
By Greg Gulas
Youngstown
Youngstown’s Alejandro “Popo” Salinas lost by decision to Cleveland’s Jeramy Abrams in Jack Loew’s March Madness main event at the Saxon Club, but said he’ll learn from this experience and hopefully the two fighters will meet once again down the road in another tournament.
Abrams, who lost by decision the last time he met Salinas, turned the tables on the Mahoning Valley native this time around.
“It was a tough fight and I felt that I fought an aggressive fight, but Jeramy had a reach advantage on me and that was tough to overcome tonight,” Salinas said. “This was a learning experience for me, but I’ll get back into the gym and work and train harder than I usually do, hoping that we will meet once again down the road.”
In one co-main, former Chaney High quarterback Vic Toney (South Side Boxing Club) defeated Akron’s Jose Rodriguez for the second time in four months while the other co-main had Lavelle ‘Turtle’ Hadley, also of South Side B.C., coming up just short against Cleveland’s Dwayne Rosebury.
“I wanted to hold my gas until the third round but that plan backfired. Rodriguez is one tough opponent and he just forced me to go deep into my tank early,” Toney said. “My jab was working, but I should have used it much more throughout the fight.”
With his win Toney moved to 9-3 in 12 amateur fights while Hadley fell to 35-13 overall.
“I planned on boxing him [Rosebury] but he took me out of my game plan early. He moved his head a lot and I just wasn’t able to execute the way that I had hoped I could,” Hadley noted.
In the opening fight of the night, Marty Adams of Cleveland, one of 13 fighters on the night from the Rock ‘n Roll city, easily decisioned fellow Clevelander Isaiah Archie in a 131 pound pairing.
The first of three Junior Olympic bouts found Akron’s Tyshawn Denison scoring a three-round decision over Chris Daniels (South Side Boxing Club) in 61 pound action while Carlos Fugueroa of Akron and Devion Daniels of S.S.B.C. also scored a victory.
Figueroa won over Terrance Graves at 109 pounds when referee Wilfredo Osario mandatorily stopped the fight in the second round, that coming after three standing eight counts.
Daniels then followed with a win by decision over Island Archie (Cleveland) in an 87 pound scrap.
In a 151 pound pairing, Dominic Rogers (Cleveland) scored a win by second round retirement over Dale Harrison (S.S.B.C.) and in 123 pound action, Killion Santiago (Cleveland) won by decision over Colton Elser of Warren Boxing Club.
Fighting for the very first time, Coshocton’s Kmarr Cooper defeated Youngstown’s Jack Trickett in a 160 pound match-up, later noting that the experience was totally different than what he had originally expected.
“It definitely wasn’t what I thought it would be as I envisioned it would be much harder,” Cooper said. “Once I settled down and developed a pattern, I used my right hand to my advantage and it was my one-two that I then relied on.”
In Master’s, 41 and over action, Steve Spinelli (Cleveland) won by decision over Brian Meyer (Cleveland) at 189 pounds.
The night’s other contest stopped in the second round found Cleveland’s Demarkus Minter winning over fellow Cleveland native, Octavius Webb.
It was Minter’s sixth straight victory as he improved to 20-3 overall.
“My coach, Arthur Torrey, told me the entire first round to throw my right and when it opened up in the second round, I caught him just right,” Minter stated.
Rounding out the card, Akron’s Chandler Clements won by decision over Devon Johnson (Cleveland) in 155 pound action and in a 153 pound scrap, Akron’s David Rodriguez defeated Youngstown’s Ronnie Hamayel.