By James Stillerman at Ringside – It was a happy Saint Patrick`s day for the several hundred fans who packed the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell as they saw their hometown fighter, “Irish” Joe McCreedy prevail over Michael “Flash” Walchuk by way of a eight round unanimous decision by scores of 76-76, 78-74 and 77-75, in a fight he dominated throughout and almost had Walchuk knockdown several times. This fight was presented by Chicago Fight Club Promotions, CFC.
“This was a do or die fight for me and it feels great to get my career back on track with the victory against a good fighter in Walchuk and to do it in front of my hometown crowd made it even better,” said McCreedy. “Dicky Eklund, my trainer deservers a great deal of credit for helping me win this fight and for me having a new belt around my waist because he came up with a great game plan for me tonight and for pushing me hard throughout training camp.”
McCreedy controlled this fight throughout. He almost had Walchuk down in the first, third and eight round, however Walchuk hung in there and continued to fight. A Walchuk punch caused a cut over McCreedy`s right eye in the second round which he had to deal with the rest of the fight. McCreedy displayed a great left and right hook that consistently landed and severely hurt Walchuk on a number of occasions. He also showed a good jab and worked the body well. Walchuk was overly matched in the ring but he continued to fight and landed good combinations from time to time, however he could not really get anything going as he faced the constant pressure which McCreedy applied on him throughout the fight.
“All my hard work paid off tonight with my good performance. I though I had him knockdown a couple of times, but he`s a tough fighter who hung in there,” said McCreedy.
McCreedy, improved his record to 14-6-2, 6KOs and picked up the vacant UBF U.S. Northeast Light Heavyweight Title. He has won three of his last four fights. Walchuk, hailing from Canada, fell to 9-9, 2KOs.
“The light heavyweight division is where I`ll be staying because I felt great. I`ve more power, stamina and I`m not weight drained,” said McCreedy. “I`m hoping to stay active in the next couple for months and get a bigger fight at the end of this year or early next year.”
Osumanu Adama hailing from Joliet, IL by of Ghana upped his record to 21-3, 15KOs while Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer from Lawton, OK dropped his record to 30-15, 16KOs in an extremely disputed split decision where Adama garnered scores of 97-93 and 96-94 while Brewer received the other scorecard of 96-94. Brewer controlled the middleweight fight throughout. He outworked, out landed and landed the more powerful punches throughout the fight and had Adama hurt several times including in the fifth and sixth round. It was very difficult to find more than two rounds that Adama won. Even though Adama won the bout, he forfeited the WBC Continental Americans, IBO Intercontinental and UBF Inter-Continental Middleweight Champion Belt because he weighted half a pound over the limit of 160 pounds, despite four unsuccessful attempts to shed the half pound.
“Vicious” Vivian Harris, the former WBA Light Welterweight World Champion, ended his eight fight winless streak by winning a eight round unanimous decision over Shakha Moore by scores of 77-75, 78-74 and 80-72. Harris from Brooklyn by way of Guyana controlled the action with more precious and effective punches in a very tactical and counter punching welterweight bout. Harris improved his record to 30-9-2, 19KOs while Moore from Norwalk, CT, fell to 11-19-3, 2KOs.
Josh Crespo from New Haven, CT got his first professional victory with a second round technical knockout as Mike Martin`s corner threw in the towel at the end of second round, allowing Crespo to up his record to 1-1-1, 1KO while Martin hailing from Lowell, MA, who was making his professional debut, dropped to 0-1. Crespo recorded a knockdown towards the end of the second round, curtsey of a left hook, in this bantamweight matchup.
Russell Lamour won an unanimous decision over Eddie “Thunder” Caminero by scores of 57-56 and two scores of 57-55 in their six round middleweight fight. Lamour from Portland, ME, who competed in the World Series of Boxing, controlled the first three rounds by landing the more numerous and precise punches. Caminero from Lawrence, MA turned things around in the fourth round, however, as he landed a right over the top that knocked Lamour down. Lamour got up slowly but finished the round. Caminero controlled the fifth round but was knocked down in the sixth round from a right jab by Lamour. Lamour kept his undefeated record intact as he moved to 3-0, 1KO while Caminero fell to 7-8, 7KOs.
Chris Traietti, the Iraq War Veteran from Quincy, MA scored a technical knockout victory at 1:56 in the six round over Tyler Seever from Saint Joseph, MO in a cruiserweight bout, he dominated throughout and landed at will. Traietti upped his record to 11-3, 7KOs while Tyler Seever fell to 13-13-1, 11KOs. Traietti`s tremendous power advantaged showed as he registered two knockdowns in the fifth round, the first coming by way of a left hook and the second from a right to the body. Traietti finished things off in the next round with two more knockdowns by way of the left hook. After the fourth knockdown, the referee stopped the fight.
Boban Simic scored a second round technical knockout over Tyler King at 2:51 in the second round of their scheduled four round heavyweight bout as Simic landed two left hooks that had King down twice in the round. After the second knockdown, the referee quickly called a halt to the fight. Simic from Chicago, IL, with the victory improved his record to 2-0, 2KOs while King, hailing from Boston, MA, who was making his professional debut, fell to 0-1.