Giuriceo plans return to the ring

June 23, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

‘The Bull’ hasn’t fought since 2012

CAMPBELL

Since suffering a torn retina in his last fight, Campbell’s Jake Giuriceo needed to take a step back from boxing, a sport he will always love yet a business he refuses to endorse.

He said his priorities were all wrong so not only did he have those to straighten out, but he also needed to “get right with the Lord.”

“The Bull” last fought on Dec. 1, 2012, suffering a fifth-round loss by technical decision of his scheduled eight-round clash with Peter Oluoch (12-7-2) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort.

He’ll step back into the ring July 11 during Rivers Rumble IV at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino Amphitheater against an opponent still to be determined.

Giuriceo (16-2-1) said the loss to Oluoch made him hungrier than ever.

“I was recently married [in 2012] and during that first year, was gone while training for eight months and that’s no way to treat a new marriage if you expect it to last,” he said. “I will never leave my wife, Jackie, behind again so I’ll be training with Keith Burnside, my lead trainer from now on. Jackie kept telling me that it [his career] wasn’t over, but I wanted clearance from my doctor before ever entertaining the thought of fighting again.”

Although he had a torn retina, his doctors treated the injury as a detached retina, he said.

“And while I never got out of shape, I definitely have ring rust,” he said. “So when I got the thumbs-up that I could spar once again, that is when Keith and I kicked my training up a notch.

“During my downtime I had a lot of time to think about many things. They say the Lord disciplines his children and He really disciplined me. He’s opened my eyes to a lot of things and I’m ready now to get back into the ring.”

Giuriceo trained in California with Frankie Duarte for his last five fights, but Burnside is once again his lead trainer.

“Keith and I never fell apart; we just had a misunderstanding and I apologized to him about that,” Giucireo said. “I will always appreciate my relationship with Frankie, but I never had a separation with Keith. We’ve picked up right where we left off.”

Giuriceo secured a new boxing license in May. In addition to Burnside’s training, Giuriceo also does strength training with the Dunleavy Brothers, Dave and Paul at Iron Man Warehouse.

“I’m in the gym four days a week, spend one day strength training and then run three miles a day the other three days,” he added. “It’s only a six-round bout so I don’t want to overdo it, but want to be ready and in the best shape possible. I’ll spend the next two weeks working in the ring so I can get some of the rust off before the fight.”

Burnside said he’s bringing his fighter along slowly, but workouts will escalate over the next few weeks.

“We’re less than a month out so we’ll spar three days a week, usually four or five rounds and then next week we’ll kick that up to six rounds. The third week or so we’ll use Monday and Tuesday and go six rounds as well,” Burnside said. “He looks good, he’s determined and everything is right where we want it to be. Jake knows what’s on the line and he wants a good showing so he’ll be ready come fight time.”

Giuriceo, who currently weighs 152 pounds, will fight at 146.

“I don’t want him to lose too much weight too quickly so we will monitor that as we go. We’ll keep him fresh as we just don’t want to burn off weight. One thing we aren’t worried about is his shape because he’s ready to go right now,” Burnside added. “Jake is like my son and we’re all excited because it’s been a while since he’s been in the ring. I felt like he wasn’t getting any better in California and while I was hurt originally, I never lost faith. The eye injury opened up a lot of things for both of us and it’s like we’ve picked up right where we left off.”

Giuriceo’s manager, Joe Corvino, secured a six-month contract with TNT Promotions and hopes to position his fighter for a nice payday down the road.

“We weren’t going to fight unless Jake got clearance from his eye doctor so once that happened, he then began to spar. He’s chomping at the bit to get started,” Corvino said. “We’ve had two names thrown at us as possible opponents for July 11, but neither worked out so we are still awaiting word on exactly who that fighter will be. We’re not looking for a pushover, we want him to fight but at the same time, we won’t take a dangerous fight either. This fight will be a tuneup as he looks to move on. He’s down to a two- or three-year career right now and really needs to have a nice payday in order to get something out of the game for his efforts.”

A pre-event weigh-in for all fighters will take place July 10 at 7 p.m. at Rivers Casino Wheelhouse Bar and Grill.