BUTLER TWP— Jim Emrick won't be the only local fighter on the card Friday when professional boxing returns to the Butler Days Inn.

Butler's Emrick (3-1, 2 KOs) will be competing in his first six-round pro fight when he faces Dan Whetzel (9-13, 5 KOs) of Toledo, Ohio, in the main event.

Butler Cubs boxer Dave Cook, sporting a 10-5 record as an amateur, will make his pro debut against Gonzalee Jones (1-9) of Akron, Ohio, in a four-round middleweight bout.

The fights begin at 7:30 p.m.

"Dave came to us when he was 15," longtime Cubs boxing trainer Don Spinetti said. "He won his first fight in a Gold Gloves match in Erie six or seven years ago."

Cook joined the Air Force shortly thereafter and served four years. He returned to boxing when he returned to Butler.

"He's gotten pretty good and he wants to give this a shot,"Spinetti said. "It'll be a little different for him, fighting without the headgear."

Cook's fight is one of five four-round bouts on the undercard of the Emrick-Whetzel bout. The co-main event will no longer feature Chris Stallworth (10-3), as his scheduled opponent was not approved by the sanctioning commission.

Mike Strauss (4-0), a welterweight from Carnegie being trained by Tom Yankello, has replaced Stallworth on the card. Strauss' opponent has not been determined.

Strauss owns three knockouts among his four professional fights.

"He is an up and comer," Emrick said. "That guy is going to be a world-class fighter."

Yankello trains Butler heavyweight Brian Minto, who will be in Emrick's corner during Friday's fight.

"I'm not a trainer, but I'm doing this for him,"Minto said. "Jimmy and I are good friends. I know boxing and I'm sure I can give him a few helpful tips from his corner.

"Jimmy's got a lot of heart and determination. He's a competitor. He's getting a late start as a pro, but so did I."

Emrick described himself as "a 37-year-old going on 30."

Whetzel has dropped five of his last six fights, including a six-round split decision to Stallworth Dec. 30 in Chester, W.Va.

Emrick admitted that he's taking this fight more seriously than his four previous bouts.

"I was serious about those, too, but I didn't know where I was going with boxing then," he said. "I feel like I've made strides since then and I want to give myself a chance."

Emrick has been working with a nutritionist the past few weeks and Butler High School football defensive coordinator Erich Campbell has been working with him on conditioning.

"I feel so much better now stamina-wise,"Emrick said. "My diet is more in tune with boxing.

"When it's time for me to quit (boxing), I'll quit. In the meantime, if I don't eat right and train right, I'm not being fair to myself or my boxing career."

Emrick's 11-year-old sons, Justin and Jimmy, both promising young amateur fighters, will put on a display of punching skills with Yankello in the ring Friday.

Tickets are still available for the fights at the Days Inn and Butler Health and Fitness.

"Our goal is to sell all the tickets we have, except for what I've given the fighters to sell, before Friday,"Emrick said. "We may not make that goal, but we're gonna come close."