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"KO At The Tu" Thrills Fans
In Albany
Sports fans in Albany, New York turned out in droves on
Saturday night as Star Boxing presented “KO AT THE TU” at
the Times Union Center.
“We’re very pleased with the supportive crowd who saw some
great fights and truly had an entertaining evening. Our next
date here in Albany at the Times Union Center will be on
Saturday, April 28th,” said Joe DeGuardia, President of Star
Boxing.
In front of a loud and supportive crowd approaching 4,000
strong, heavyweight contender Joe “The Future “ Hanks
defended his IBA Americas Title over monstrous Cuban Rafael
Pedro.
The 28-year-old Hanks took the fight right at the 6’7”
Pedro, pressuring the giant with piston like jabs and
crunching body shots, easily winning the opening stanza.
The assault continued in the second round when the
proceedings ended abruptly. With Pedro attempting to fend
off Hanks, he fell to the canvas after attempting a right
hook. Suffering from an apparent dislocated right shoulder,
Pedro informed the referee he was unable to continue and the
bout was stopped at the 0:48 mark of the round.
With the win, Hanks of Newark, New Jersey improved his
perfect record to 19-0-0 with thirteen stoppages while Pedro
fell to 21-10-1 (15KO’s).
In the co-main event, fans were treated to a fast-paced ten
rounder between bantamweights Sahib Usarov of Moscow, Russia
and Cuban 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Yan Barthelemy for the
WBO Inter-Continental Title.
Fighting for the first time in the United States. Usarov
took the fight right at the fellow southpaw. Utilizing
excellent boxing skills, the Russian was able to score
effectively with a piston like jab and sharp left hands,
keeping the awkward Barthelemy at bay. Both fighters eyes
were swollen by the end of the fight.
Scores at the end were tallied in Usarov’s favor, 98-91 and
96-93 twice. With the win Usarov improved his unbeaten
record to 18-0-0 (6KO’s), while Barthelemy fell to 12-3-0
(4KO’s).
In a scheduled four round junior middleweight bout, son of
former Mike Tyson trainer, Kevin “Kid” Rooney Jr. got back
in the win column after a gruelling battle with the game
Stanley “Chin Checker” Harvey of San Diego.
Fighting off the early aggression from Harvey, Rooney was
quickly banging away at Harvey hurting him at various times
over the four round scrap with hard shots from both hands,
icing the victory with a brutal right hand that sent
Harvey’s mouthpiece into the air in the fourth frame.
Winning by shutout scores of 40-36 on all three score cards,
Rooney improved to 3-1-0 (1KO), while Harvey returned to
California at 1-2 (1KO).
Highly regarded middleweight prospect Jason Escalera stayed
unbeaten with a fourth round stoppage of Marcus Brooks in
their crowd pleasing, scheduled eight rounder.
Dropping Brooks in the second with a crunching body shot,
Escalera followed up with an additional knockdown of the
stalking Columbia, South Carolina native in the third round.
The gutsy and aggressive Brooks stayed after the skilled
Escalera but was dropped again in the fourth with a shot to
the body, the bout being called to a halt at the 1:09 mark
of the round.
Fighting out of Union City, New Jersey, Escalera improved to
13-0-0 with 12 knockouts while Brooks moved to 7-9-0 (3
KO’s).
In front of a large, loud and proud gathering of supporters,
Schenectady’s Bryan ‘The Brick” Abraham upset Darnell Jiles
of Rochester, New York in their junior welterweight bout
scheduled for six.
Displaying superior technique, Jiles controlled the early
action with his advantage in speed and blistering counter
shots. However, the game Abraham kept after the southpaw
with hard right hooks.
Trading heavily much to the crowds delight towards the end
of the round, Abraham drilled Jiles to the canvas with three
brutal right hooks, the bout being stopped at the time of
2:59.
The knockout raised Abraham’s record to 6-10-2 (6KO’s) while
Jiles turned to 8-3-1 (3KO’s).
In the opening bout of the evening, pro debuting Albany
native, Mike Seitz turned back the wildly aggressive Karim
Richardson of Brooklyn, New York, dropping the fellow pro
debuter to the canvas in the first round with a powerful
left hook which halted the action at the 2:00 mark of their
light heavyweight bout.
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