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Super sub ends Salinas’ winning streak
By Greg Gulas
CAMPBELL
Sulaiman Segawa was a last-minute replacement for Jack Loew’s pro-am boxing card Saturday night at St. Lucy’s Palermo Banquet Center.
Segawa was anything but an afterthought to South Side Boxing Club’s Alejandro “Popo” Salinas.
Segawa (10-0) scored a unanimous decision over Salinas to remain undefeated as he denied Loew’s fighter a chance for his seventh consecutive win.
“I fought a tough opponent tonight,” Salinas said. “He came to fight and while I felt I did too, he had the better hand.
“I was frustrated because he beat me to the punch,” Salinas said. “I’ll take this like a man and look to bounce back.”
Salinas was originally set to take on Reggie Barnett (6-1, 2 KOs) of the Netherlands for the USA Mid-American super featherweight title.
When Barnett broke his hand, Loew was left scrambling for a similar opponent and ended up with the undefeated Segawa. The fight was not a sanctioned title fight.
Loew said earlier that Segawa was a step above Barnett yet was visibly frustrated with his fighter.
“We fought a tough kid and I though we matched him, but when you don’t listen to your corner then I don’t know what to think,” Loew said. “He is going to have to want this, put forth more of an effort and act like a pro.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this — he’s either going to fight and listen to his corner or walk away from the sport.
“I will give him the weekend to rest and we’ll talk this week to see where we go from here.”
In their professional debuts, Akron’s David Rodriguez earned a unanimous decision over Latiss Norman of Cleveland in a 154-pound pairing. At 158 pounds, Niles native Danny Rosenberger (2-4-3) and Jauvan John (2-4-1) battled to a majority draw.
In the first of seven amateur pairings, South Side Boxing Club’s Juan Jauregui (5-3) scored a unanimous decision over Devonta McFadden (1-1) of Akron in a 65-pound match-up.
“He was a very tough fighter. He hit me a couple times and knocked me backward,” Jauregui said. “I was able to land some good punches to his body and face and just kept pushing forward.
A 152-pound, all-Pittsburgh scrap saw Chris Hill improve to 5-2 with a split decision win over Gary Jackson (3-2).
Keith Burnside, Jr., who is trained by his father, Keith, Sr., made his trainer and father proud as he moved to 2-0 with a unanimous decision over Coleton Schneider (0-1) of Salem Boxing Club, who was making his ring debut.
A junior at Struthers High School, Burnside that it’s both fun and frustrating when your father is your trainer.
“At times, I feel like my Dad is harder on me, but I am all right with that because I know how much he cares,” Burnside said. South Side Boxing Club’s Ashton Owens produced the only TKO when he dropped Taylor Cahill at 1:51 of the third round. Owens improved to 2-0 with a fight upcoming before he heads to the Cleveland Golden Gloves on April 20-22.