Bill Calogero at ringside: Saratoga Springs, NY – James McGirt Jr. dominated Raymond Joval in the first five rounds, dropping the former IBO Champion twice in the third to win a unanimous ten-round decision in their Middleweight bout. The fight was the main event of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. The Pugnacious Promotions show was broadcast live from the Saratoga Springs Center in Saratoga Springs, NY on ESPN2..
McGirt came out strong and determined. He looked very sharp and battered Joval until a devastating right hand dropped him for the first time in round three. After rising to his feet, the game Joval tried to hold on, but McGirt was able to land several more combinations until Joval crumbled to the canvas for the second time. After struggling to his feet at the count of eight, he was permitted to continue. He seemed to recover his legs enough to stay out of harms way to finish the round on his feet.
McGirt continued to control the action for the fourth and fifth rounds, but began to tire. Raymond Joval landed some hard shots during the sixth through the final bell of the tenth to make it a very entertaining fight but not enough to win or make it close.
One judge saw it at 97-91 while the other two had it 99-89 all in favor of James McGirt Jr. McGirt improves to 19-1 (9 KOs), while Raymond Joval drops to 37-6 (16 KOs).
In the co-feature, Nagy Aguilera won an eight round unanimous decision over Gary Wilcox in a heavyweight bout.
The crowd treated Wilcox, a Saratoga Springs native, like royalty. Every punch he threw had the crowd practically on their feet. The truth is, Gary Wilcox is the most boring fighter ever to lace on a pair of boxing gloves. He was able to survive the fight, but I think that was due to Nagy’s inability to keep throwing punches rather than any type of skill left in Gary Wilcox.
Nonetheless one judge scored the fight 80-72, while the other two had it 78-74 all in favor of Nagy Aguilera. He improves to 9-0 (6 KOs). Gary Wilcox drops to 21-4 (7 KOs).
In a great fight and despite a very serious cut, Julio Garcia won a unanimous four-round decision over Borngod Washington in their Super Middleweight contest. This fight featured toe-to-toe action from start to finish with both fighters landing hard shots. Not one but two cuts, one over Garcia’s left eye had the ringside Doctor on the verge of stopping the bout before the start of the fourth round. He was able to continue and all fans present were treated to a great fourth and final round. One Judge had it 40-36, while the other two scored the bout at 39-37 all in favor of Julio Garcia improving to 2-1 (1 KO). The very tough Borngod Washington drops to 0-4.
To round out the card:
Markus Williams won a four round unanimous decision over Donyell Dukes in their Super Middleweight bout. Williams improves to 2-0 (1 KO) while Dukes drops to 0-4.
Mike Faragon won a six round unanimous decision over Francisco Palacios in a Lightweight contest. Faragon improves to 4-0, while Palacios drops to 3-5-4 (1 KO).
Brian Miller and Bryan Abraham fought to a four round Majority Draw in their Jr. Welterweight bout. Brian Miller’s record now stands at 2-0-3 while Abraham, making his pro debut is now at 0-0-1.