On the night of the region’s first snow fall, Promoter Jim Frio’s “FALL BRAWL”, the 2nd installment of Revolution Boxing Championships took place Saturday November 19th at the Wheeling Island Casino in Wheeling WV. Despite the weather, a large crowd showed up to support local boxing.
-Things got underway with pro welterweight debut Mike Conway fighting Charleston WV’s (0-2) Christopher Kuhn in a welterweight bout. Conway wasted no time and ended the show early with a devastating left hook body shot in round one. The spike haired Kuhn could not weather the punch at 2:51 of the 1st round.
-After suffering back to back KO losses to #6 WBC world ranked Joseph Parker and (15-1) Alex Santos, Daniel Martz looked determined to get a win. He did just that against a last min sub: 41 year old (23-12-1) Arthur Saribekian. Rhode Island’s Saribekian, who has lost 9 straight by KO, had absolutely no business being approved to fight in the ring. His most recent fight was a bloody July 29th KO loss to (25-12-2) Jason Bergman. The towering Martz, who is trained by local legend Buzz Garnic and managed by Pat Nelson, smothered himself in the early goings against the aged and sizeably overmatched Saribekian. Finally the overmatched Saribekian stayed down for good in the 4th. An absolutely despicable match up.
After suffering a KO loss to Dustin “Panama Red” Echard in his last outing, Beaver PA native (8-2) Josh “The Handsome Hitman” Himes, trained by Miami’s Donati Di Martiis looked good in his comeback fight. His opponent was 42 year old (2-10) James Jones from Nashville TN. Jones was rugged and came to fight, but the size reach and jab output of Himes was too much for him to handle as he quit on his stool after the 3rd round.
Local crowd favorite and former Bellator star (10-0) Travis “The Terror” Clark squared up against Lansing MI’s Thad Berkhousen. Clark, trained by Mike Napple and managed by Integrity Fighter Management, is the current WV state heavyweight champion but this was a non title bout. Looking at both combatants, I expected this to be a slugfest war but instead I saw Clark give Berkhousen an 8 round boxing lesson. The Terror hit Berkhousen with punches from odd angles throughout, but the bull from Lansing continued to stalk Clarl right until the final bell. desperately looking for that home run punch that would not find the elusive Clark. Clark pitched a shut out as the judges gave all 8 rounds to Clark.
In the main event Pittsburgh (6-0) Matt “Sweet Child” Conway took on Charleston WV’s (9-2) Zack Kuhn. This was the second fight of the night which pitted a Conway VS a Kuhn, only this time featuring 2 different brothers. Conway, trained by his father “Captain” Jack Conway, dropped Kuhn in the 2nd with a big overhand right. It was so loud that you could hear it land at the nearby DeCarlo’s pizza. Kuhn beat the count and was saved by the bell. In rounds 3-4, Kuhn got knocked down an additional 4 times from a barrage of body shots and thudding overhand rights. Referee Mike Napple saw enough and stopped if at 1:47 of the 3rd round giving Conway the victory and the WV Jr Welterweight state title.
-Shea Smith reporting