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MURALIMOV & KARPENCY
Story by Ken Hissner |
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Frank Luca’s Crown Boxing overcame a rain delay to debut at the Meadows & Racetrack Casino in Washington, PA, Saturday night (7/26). In the main event, southpaw Jason Bergman, 23-11-2 (16), of Aldan, PA, was knocked out by Ahror “Aha” Muralimov, 16-0 (13), from Uzbekistan residing in Houston, TX, for the vacant NABA USA heavyweight title at 2:39 of round 2. After a competitive first round, Bergman was dropped, but got to his feet. However, he didn’t seem to know where he was. After questioning Bergman, referee Rick Steigerwald allowed it to continue, although it looked like PA Executive Director of Boxing, Greg Sirb wanted the fight stopped. Steigerwald questioned Bergman again and allowed him to continue. Muralimov immediately jumped on Bergman and dropped him to the canvas again, forcing referee Steigerwald to halt the action. After the stoppage, it appeared that Sirb and Steigerwald had words. Muralimov took the fight on three days notice when the original opponent Justin Jones dropped out. In the co-feature bout, southpaw Tommy Karpency, 23-4-1 (14), of Aldan, PA, easily won the PA State and NABA USA vacant light heavyweight titles over Dhafir “No Fear” Smith, 27-25-7 (4), of Philadelphia, after ten lack luster rounds. Karpency outworked Smith in the opening round, and it was more of the same in the second, with Karpency the busier of the two. In the third round, Karpency countered well with a 4-punch combination the highlight. In the next round, Karpency kept his jab in Smith's face, and when he opened up Dhafir covered up. Just prior to the bell, Smith landed his best punch, a right to the chin of Karpency. However, Smith, generally known for an excellent jab, didn’t seem to be himself. Karpency continued to win another round, as Smith seemed to just go through the motions. In the sixth and seventh rounds, Karpency continued out working Smith, while the crowd yelled, “boring, boring.” In the corner after round seven, Smith’s trainer, Buster Custus, tried to encourage his fighter to open up. In the eighth round, it was more of the same until the last 10 seconds when Smith landed a good right to the chin. Both fighters exchanged punches at the bell. Karpency came away with a small cut on the right eye brow. In the ninth round, Smith began landing some good combinations, but went on the defense whenever Karpency opened up. In the tenth and final round, Smith did not fight like he needed a knockout to win, and continued to let Karpency out work him until the bell. “I was flat tonight and you know I don’t like fighting southpaws,” said Smith. The judges scores were 100-90 twice and 98-92, all for Karpency. My score was 98-92 as well. Ernie Schafee was the referee. Light heavyweight Cian “The Celtic” Dalton, 4-0-1 (2), of Pittsburgh, PA, defeated southpaw Lawrence Blakey, 1-1 (0), of PA, over four rounds. The fighters gave the fans an honest night’s work for four solid rounds. All three judges had it 39-37. I scored it 40-36 all for Dalton. Junior middleweight Dan Karpency, 3-0 (1), of Aldan, PA, stopped Rick Morias, 1-1 (0), of OH, at 2:29 of the third round. After a pair of knockdowns - or push-downs - Morias refused to go on, forcing referee Steigerwald to signal the end. Welterweight Amonte Everhart, 1-0 (1), of Wilkinsburg, PA, stopped Glen Walls, 0-3 (0), of WV, at the end of the second round due cut over Walls' left eye, per advice from the ring physician. It was a spirited two rounds, and Walls was willing to continue. The referee was Schaffee. The show was outdoors and it looked like every seat was taken, despite the weather. The ring announcer was Amy Hayes, who did a splendid job. |
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