Jake Giuriceo is finally getting back in the ring ... in NYC

April 10, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

STRUTHERS

Jake "The Bull" Giuriceo

Youngstown boxer Jake "The Bull" Giuriceo will fight Ukrainian Viktor Postol in New York City.

Over the last six months, as his fighter, Jake “The Bull” Giuriceo, saw a half- dozen fights fall through, Keith Burnside developed a new policy when it comes to boxing.

Don’t trust contracts. Trust plane tickets.

“When we had those,” he said of the tickets, “we knew it was a go.”

Giuriceo (17-2, 4 KOs) will fight for the first time since July when he meets Viktor “The Iceman” Postol (26-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round super lightweight bout Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The bout is on the undercard of the Danny Garcia-Lamont Peterson welterweight bout, which will be televised on NBC. Postol is the No. 1 contender for Garcia’s WBC title.

“This is huge, man,” said Giuriceo, a Campbell High graduate who trains at the Burnside Boxing Club in Struthers. “The possibilities are endless if I win here. It would open up so many doors and it would definitely change my boxing career.”

It’s been a frustrating last three years for Giuriceo, who began his career 16-0, then lost back-to-back bouts in 2012. He suffered a detached retina in the second fight after absorbing a head butt from Peter Oluoch in the fifth round. He had surgery, then took two years off before returning to the ring in July in Pittsburgh, defeating Travis Hartman by fourth-round TKO.

Since then, he’s signed contracts to fight Errol Spence Jr. and Felix Diaz (who will both fight on the Barclays card) and Pittsburgh’s Paul Spadafora (who headlined that July card at Rivers Casino). All three fell through, including a fight against Spence on the Barclays card, and Burnside burned through $1,200 worth of sparring partners in the process.

“We kept hearing, ‘The fight’s 100 percent, 100 percent,’” Burnside said, shaking his head. “Don’t believe nobody in this game. You learn the hard way.”

Finally, manager Pat Nelson went to bat for Giuriceo, pressuring the promoters to add him to the Barclays card.

“Pat said, ‘They’ve been doing this [cancelling fights] to this kid so many times and he was getting ready for this one, so let’s make it right,’” Giuriceo said. “A week went by, the fight [against Postol] opened up and Pat said, ‘You owe the kid. Put him on.’”

Postol, who hails from Kiev, Ukraine, is fighting for just the third time in the United States. He’s also fighting for just the second time since 2013, having knocked out Selcuk Aydin last May in California. He’s got big advantages in height (he’s 5-foot-11, while Giuriceo stands 5-6) and experience (12 of his fights have been for 10 rounds or more, while this is just the second Giuriceo bout scheduled for more than eight rounds), but Giuriceo is confident he can beat him.

“Honestly, after watching him fight — and I’m not taking nothing from him because you don’t get to 26-0 with 11 KOs and not be any good — but just watching him fight, I really believe he’s not as good as his record looks. He’s tough, he can box, but he don’t like to mix it up all that much. I watch him and I look for something that grabs you, something he does great. But I don’t see nothing potentially great about him. I believe we can beat the kid. I believe if we pressure him and go to the body, we’ll be all right.”

Giuriceo declined to say how much he’s making for the bout — “Not as much as I should be for fighting a guy that’s 26-0” — but said it’s the biggest payday of his career. Considering his wife is expecting their first child (a girl) in August, that’s a nice boost.

“It will definitely help when my wife is off work,” he said.

Giuriceo turned 30 in February, so if he’s still going to make a move in his boxing career, the time is now.

Win or lose, Saturday’s fight should help.

“We’re going for the win, but if something happens and we don’t win, but it’s a close fight, a good fight, it’s still gonna be good for us,” Burnside said. “They said they’ll put us on more if he’s exciting. And he will be.”