Boxing Results: Paul Spadafora Impresses, Brian Minto KO's Mike Sheppard
Boxing Results: Paul Spadafora Impresses, Brian Minto KO's Mike Sheppard By SecondsOut, special to Doghouse Boxing (Aug 21, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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By SecondsOut.com on Doghouse Boxing. By Derek Gionta: "The Pittsburgh Kid" Paul Spadafora made his
anticipated comeback to the ring on Saturday night (8/18) at the
Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia by
soundly defeating Humberto Toledo over eight rounds in the night’s main
event.
Spadafora, the former IBF lightweight champ, has been on a roller
coaster since he began his professional career and now finds himself
riding high on a career that seemed to be at a screeching halt.
Entering the ring for the first time in almost two years, Spadafora,
46-0-1 (19), found himself at the same venue where he once reached the
peak of his career when he defeated Israel Cardona for the IBF
lightweight title in August of 1999.
Legal battles, an addiction that sent him to rehab, and various other
personal conflicts kept the Pittsburgh Kid out of the boxing ring and
trapped into the negative ring of society.
Spadafora now finds himself under new promoters Roy Jones Jr. and
Troy Ridgley and rejoined with former trainer Tommy Yankello following a
contractual tug of war battle with Spadafora’s former handlers.
Also trained by Mike Rodriguez, a New Jersey based trainer he met
while in Florida, Spadafora will give it one more try to regain what he
once had and erase the demons of self destruction that kept him out of
the ring.
The crafty southpaw took on late sub Humberto Toledo, 41-8-2 (25), of
Quito, Ecuador and showed little to no signs of ring rust as he clearly
out boxed the fifty fight veteran.
Spadafora, now at junior welterweight, boxed well in the opening
rounds and attacked the body with ferocity more than usual and found
himself having his way with Toledo.
By the third round Toledo, an orthodox fighter, switched to southpaw,
but the results were the same as Spadafora finished the round strong
landing an array of shots starting with a right hook to the body.
Toledo did not land many significant punches by this point but did
manage to land a couple attention-grabbing right hands in the fourth.
Spadafora landed a right hook-straight left combo to the head of Toledo
near the round’s conclusion, sending him to the ropes only to absorb
similar blows as he did the end of the previous round.
Toledo let his emotions get the best of him in the sixth when he lifted his leg towards Spadafora and tried to showboat.
Spadafora kept his composure and finished the final two rounds in exciting fashion.
The judges scored the fight 80-72 x 2 and 79-73.
Spadafora commented after, "I stayed in the gym my whole life. I
love boxing," when asked if he was skeptical about his layoff.
Trainer Tom Yankello gave Paul an A+ on his performance. "He looked great tonight," said Yankello.
Trainer Mike Rodriguez commented, "Paulie did a great job attacking the body. We’ve been working on that in the gym."
"I’m a veteran. I’ve been around a long time. Thank god for my team," said Spadafora.
"Roy is gonna get me fights, I’m coming back."
Roy Jones Jr. even mentioned in their contract that Spadafora is not
allowed to make any more mistakes outside of the ring or it’s done.
Spadafora once told me that there is nothing like that long walk to
the ring. He once again got a chance to have that feeling and assuming
all goes according to plan, that ring walk he took Saturday night will
not be his last.
While winning this fight doesn’t put him back on the top tier, he
seems to be back on the right path towards taking one more chance.
In the co-feature bout of the night Butler, PA heavyweight Brian "The
Beast" Minto, 37-5 (24), once again found himself in an exciting fight
as he scored a fourth round stoppage over "Lightning" Mike Sheppard,
20-14-1 (9), in a scheduled twelve rounder for the NABA USA heavyweight
title.
The action started fast in the opening round as Minto and Sheppard went toe to toe, with Minto nearly hitting the canvas via a big right hand from Sheppard.
Minto regrouped and went after Sheppard again in the second landing
clean power shots from close range behind a better defensive stance. By
the third, Sheppard had a small gash on his forehead and hit the canvas
three times from Minto’s assault.
In the fourth round, an overhand right landed by Minto closed the
show in convincing fashion as Sheppard had enough by the 2:22 mark.
"I held on early when I was hurt," said Minto after the fight.
"I’m learning to hold on and not slug it out. I squared up a little, it happens."
Minto may have let his courage deter a sound defensive effort early
on but his courageous style of fighting is what enabled him to exceed
his potential level as a pro. Minto rejoined with former trainer Tommy
Yankello this past April and is now 2-0 since then.
Winning the NABA title will possibly rank Minto, undefeated in WBA
regional title fights, in the top fifteen in that sanctioning body. That
would give him an opportunity to challenge a few top guys in the
heavyweight and cruiserweight division.
Minto’s manager Pat Nelson is optimistic about Brian’s opportunities to land a bigger fight in the near future.
Johnstown cruiserweight Andres "Taylor Made" Taylor, 21-2-2 (8),
bounced back from a tough loss at the hands of Garrett Wilson by scoring
a devastating first round knockout over Justin "The Lumberjack" Howes,
13-4 (11), of Buckhannon, West Virginia. Taylor, trained by Tommy
Yankello, jabbed his way in to the range of his taller foe landing a big
overhand right that sent Howes crashing to the canvas in a heap. The
second the punch was landed it was evident Taylor would soon celebrate a
rewarding comeback fight, which was slated for eight rounds. The end
came at :59.
Taylor commented afterwards, "I’ve been working more on my strength
since the Wilson fight more than I have in the past. I got away from it
for the last couple of years and focused more on my boxing skills."
"Tom has me boxing and moving better than I ever have and now I feel
that I can combine it with my strength training and benefit inside the
ring."
In the third bout of the night Cleveland’s Dante Moore, 8-0-2 (4),
out boxed a resilient Mustafah Johnson, 8-14-1 (2), of Indianapolis over
six rounds. Moore circled his stalking opponent for the duration of
the fight and fired off crisp combinations to the head and body, finding
success for much of the fight. Johnson, who endured a series of clean
punches, continued pressing and throwing wide punches to both levels of
Moore. Moore landed clean left uppercuts and left hooks in the final
round, punctuating his eighth win in convincing fashion. Final tallies
were 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56. The two fought in the middleweight
division.
Pittsburgh junior welterweight Billy "Hutch" Hutchinson, 4-1-2 (2),
won a four round unanimous decision over Sharon, PA’s Clifford Gregory,
1-10-4, in a good action bout. Hutchinson, the shorter of the two,
pressed the action while the taller, more elusive Gregory looked to box
from the outside. The opening round had some excitement as Hutchinson
stalked Gregory. Hutchinson sustained a cut over his left eye during
the round, which was unclear as to whether or not there was a clash of
heads. Gregory hit the canvas towards the end of the round but the
referee ruled it a slip. The ensuing rounds played out in similar
fashion. Gregory had some success early in the third round but couldn’t
overcome the relentless attack of Hutchinson, who may have put in his
best performance as a pro so far. The judges scored the fight 40-36 x 2
and 39-37.
In the opening bout of the evening, Clarksburg, WV heavyweight "Big"
Dan Martz, 6-0 (5), stopped Justin "T-Bear" Novaria, 1-9 (1), of
Zanesville, OH at the 2:15 mark of the first round. Martz, having the
height and reach advantage over the slightly heavier Novaria, landed a
flush right hand to the head early in the round sending Novaria to the
canvas. Novaria went down two more times compliments of a Martz flurry
before referee Tim Wheeler called it off. The fight was scheduled for
four rounds.
Venue: Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia
Promoter: Roy Jones Jr. and Tammy & Troy Ridgley’s TNT Sports Promotions
Matchmaker: Mark Yankello
TV: NESportstv.com
This article provided by SecondsOut.com to Doghouse Boxing.
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