Promoter hopes to return to Murrysville SportZone for future boxing cards
Pittsburgh junior lightweight Matt “Sweet Child” Conway racked up his 20th career victory Saturday night with a win over Rodolfo Puente at “Murrysville Madness,” held at the Murrysville SportZone.
With the win, Conway (20-2, 9 KOs) will begin preparing for an International Boxing Association World title fight.
Promoter Derek Gionta of Monroeville said the day, which also included several amateur fights during the afternoon, was a success.
“This was our first time promoting this venue and things went really well overall,” Gionta said. “We’ll come back here, hopefully, in the near future.”
Saturday’s co-feature saw 2018 national Golden Gloves Champion and Pittsburgh super middleweight Kiante Irving (9-0-1, 9 KOs) battle to a six-round split draw with Antonio Louis Hernandez. Gionta said both fighters have shown interest in a rematch.
Gionta said he plans to feature Conway again at a January card at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Cheswick, with the idea of regularly rotating between the SportZone, the Shrine Center and a third venue at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
“This was our third show this year, using two different venues and it’s great to remain consistent despite the difficult times we encountered earlier this year in regard to the pandemic,” he said. “The plan is to keep moving forward and building up these guys.”
Below are the official results of the evening’s fights:
• Junior Lightweights: Matt Conway (20-2, 9 KOs), Pittsburgh, WTKO2 (1:39), over Rodolfo Puente (20-8-2, 16 KOs), Barranquilla, Colombia
• Super Middleweights: Kiante Irving (9-0-1, 9 KOs), Pittsburgh, D6 (58-56, 56-58, 57-57), with Antonio Louis Hernandez (5-11-2, 4 KOs), Kansas City, Kan.
• Super Middleweights: Eric Lomax (4-0, 3 KOs), Pittsburgh, WTKO4 (2:51), over Jacob Ibaika Martin (1-1, 1 KO), Tacoma, Wash.
• Middleweights: Paul Palombo (1-0, 1 KO), Buffalo, N.Y., WTKO2 (3:00), over Jabrandon Harris (0-7), Bryan, Tex.
• Super Lightweights: Mike Conway (4-2-1, 1 KO), Pittsburgh, WDEC4 (40-36, 40-36, 40-36), against Joshua Zimmerman (0-4), Baltimore, Md.
• Lightweights: Ryizeemmion Ford (6-1, 4 KOs), Alliance, Ohio, WTKO1 (2:01), over Carlos Jimenez (1-3-1 (0 KOs), Saltillo, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico
• Featherweights: Baszybek Baratov (5-1-2, 1 KO), Monroeville, WDEC4 (40-36, 40-36, 39-37), over Joe Reed (0-1, 0 KOs), Buffalo, N.Y.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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