By: Thomas Scherr: In the featured bout of the evening Tommy Karpency will look to bounce back against light heavyweight veteran Tiwon Taylor. Karpency (11-1-1) received the first loss of his career in a closely contested bout against Rayco Sanders in July. The bout saw Karpency drop a razor thin 1 point decision via a dubious deduction for low blows in the third round..
Even in the loss Karpency showed his ability to adapt, and was able to change from brawling early in the fight to a stick in move style that was much more effective late. Steve Simons, Karpency’s promoter commented “Tommy learned more in the past 2 fights than he did in the previous 11.”
Across the ring, we will see grizzled veteran Tiwon Taylor (26-14-1). Taylor’s career began in 1994, and in his 14 years of ring experience he has faced top names from the light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. While Taylor has faced the much stronger opposition, he has been knocked out when stepping up in class, including KO defeats by current and former titlists Adrian Diaconu and Fabrice Tiozzo. If Karpency hopes to be a future player in the light heavyweight division, he will to score a convincing victory over Taylor.
There are intriguing bouts on the undercard as well. Jim Emrick will be facing Octavius Smith in a heavyweight battle. Emrick is coming off of a split decision victory on ESPN’s Wednesday night fights. The fight was wildly entertaining, with both men throwing bombs throughout the encounter. Emrick will bring his crowd pleasing style and a 5-1-1 record to the ring when he faces Smith. Ocatavius is a bit of an enigma. While he clearly has natural talent, his conditioning is a serious question. I would expect this fight to end inside of the distance.
Also scheduled to appear on the card is super middleweight Jimmy Lubash. Lubash, who is def, has not let his handicaps stand in his way while compiling an 8-1 record in just over one year as a professional fighter. Along with his brother, Jesse Lubash, the Lubash’s have become two of the hottest prospects out of the Pittsburgh region. Jimmy will be fighting an opponent still to be named.
For more information on tickets to the fights, scheduled for Friday, August 22nd at the Waterfront Pace Hotel in Morgantown, WV, please contact Steve Simons at (304) 290-0291 or simonspromo@hotmail.com. Tickets are also available at Kegler’s Sports Bar (304) 598-9698