Minto dishes out a beating
BUTLER TWP - Brian Minto had blood toweled off his body throughout his heavyweight boxing match Friday night at the Butler Days Inn.
Good thing it wasn't his.
Minto improved to 33-2 with an eight-round unanimous decision over Matt Greer (12-5) of St. Louis in the main event of a soldout pro-am fight card. The decision ended Minto's streak of five consecutive wins by knockout.
In fact, Greer lasted longer against Minto than those last five opponents combined but it wasn't pretty.
"I thought the doctor was going to stop the fight a couple of times," Minto said."I was surprised we kept going.
"That is one tough dude. I was hitting him with some bombs, some heavy leather, yet he kept coming.'
Minto's trainer, Tommy Yankello, said he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
"It's unbelievable that a guy can take that many punches," Yankello said. "Give the guy credit, but he has to have internal bruises. ... A body can't just absorb punishment like that."
Yankello said the eight rounds were fought "at a middleweight pace."
"I wish we had punch stats to see how many Brian threw, because it was a ton," he said.
Greer weighed in at 240 pounds while Minto, who won every round on all three judges' scorecards, weighed in at 213. Greer fought out of a crouch most of the night, occasionally uncoiling with a left jab followed by a straight right hand.
He stayed on the defensive the majority of the bout, however. Minto bloodied his nose in the second round and puffiness formed under his left eye by the end of that round.
By the end of Round 4, Greer's face was a bloody mess. Blood spattered on to the tables at ringside as Minto continually battered Greer's head and body during the final four rounds.
By fight's end, Greer's right eye was nearly swollen shut, both eyes were blackened and a purple welt continued to swell on his right cheek.
"I might have fractured his cheekbone," Minto said. "My knuckles are so sore right now. I'm feeling a complex about my punching now because most guys would have gone down."
Greer did sink to his knees during Round 5 after a near low-blow from Minto. The referee offered him time to recover, but Greer fought on."He buzzed my brain a few times," Greer said. "Brian's a class fighter. I hope he goes all the way. He's the perfect weight for a heavyweight because he packs a solid punch and he can hit the slow-movers."I know I never hurt him. My main goal tonight was to put on a good show. If I got lucky and caught him with something, all the better."Yankello continues to insist Minto is ready for a world title fight or at least a bout against a fellow title contender."He's a phone call away. That's all there is to it," he said. "Brian went through a grueling pace tonight and all he has is a minor bump on his face, if that."In other fights:n Paul Zalus of Tarentum won his pro debut, scoring a TKO over Justin Riegle (2-1) 35 seconds into the second round. Zalus outweighed Riegle by 38 pounds and floored him with a right uppercut late in the first round.A combination of punches sent Riegle to the canvas again in the second round, causing the referee to stop the bout.• Russ Niggemyer of Columbus, Ohio, knocked Pittsburgh's Sam Suska down twice in the second round to score a TKO in a battle of debuting pro middleweights.• Butler's Jimmy Cress (11-5) lost a three-round decision to Devin Williams (10-0) of Erie in their 160-pound amateur bout."I didn't feel right tonight," Cress admitted. "I don't know what was wrong. I felt winded, like I had no power. Maybe I was a little nervous."Cress, 22, wants to turn pro, but trainer Don Spinetti said he wants to get him a few more amateur fights over the summer, "then we'll see where he's at.""I'll fight again in two weeks, I don't care," Cress said. "I just wish I was in better shape tonight."<B>Boxing ResultsProfessional</B>Brian Minto (Butler) 33-2, 21 KO, unanimous dec. over Matt Greer (St. Louis.) 12-5, 11 KO's, 8 rounds heavyweightPaul Zalus (Tarentum) 1-0, TKO over Justin Riegle (Canton, Ohio) 2-1, 1 KO, :35 into 2nd round, heavyweightRuss Niggemyer (Columbus, Ohio) 1-0, TKO over Sam Suska (Pittsburgh) 0-1, 1:21 of 2nd round, middleweight<B>Amateur</B>Devin Williams (Erie) dec. over Jimmy Cress (Butler), 160 poundsAdam Littlejohn (Indiana, Pa.) dec. over Jack Main Jr. (Ellwood City), 154 poundsKeziah Sims (Cleveland, Ohio) dec. over Mike Kamouyerou (Pittsburgh), 147 poundsMorgan Fitch (Aliquippa) 2nd-round TKO of Aaron Dufour (Youngstown, Ohio), 175 poundsJosh Weisnewski (Erie) dec. over Lician Clinkscales (Youngstown, Ohio), 135 poundsLuke Gloeckl (Pittsburgh) dec. over Ricardo Vega (Cleveland, Ohio), 115 pounds
