Emrick nabs split decision; Cook falls
Jim Emrick's vision might have been blurred, but victory remained in his sights.
For the final two rounds of his four-round heavyweight bout with Anthony Gatt, Emrick was hampered by a cut over his right eye.
"He caught me with a straight right in the second round," said Emrick. "Starting in the third round, I couldn't see (Gatt) well at all. He was totally blurry."
Emrick fought through it and won a split decision — 38-37, 37-38, 38-37 — in the last of six fights Wednesday night at Pullman Park.
In the third bout of the evening, Butler's Dave Cook lost a super middleweight contest to Jimmy Lubash by unanimous decision, 58-55, 57-56, 57-56.
Both bouts were televised by ESPN2.
Emrick's win was sparked by a first-round knockdown when the Butler boxer caught Gatt with a jab, followed by a left hook.
Gatt didn't stay down for long, but the sequence would come back to haunt him.
"He just caught me by surprise," Gatt said. "When it went to decision, I felt like I had won it. I was nervous about that first-round knockdown, but felt that I had done enough to make up for it."
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE4967873.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>"Jim won that first round 10-8 because of the knockdown," said Emrick's trainer, Tom Yankello.Gatt (6-1-1) did rebound with strong showings in the third and fourth rounds, with Emrick countering with occasional jabs and hooks.Emrick (5-1-1) admitted that he had doubts when the outcome went to the judges."I wasn't confident," he said. "And I couldn't have complained if the decision had gone the other way."But Yankello saw good things late in the bout during rounds taken by Gatt."Jim was blocking a lot of those punches," Yankello said. "He wasn't getting hit with as many shots as it seemed. His defense was very good tonight."Both boxers learned earlier this week that they would be facing each other after Emrick's original opponent, Darryl Spears, chose to back out of the matchup last weekend."I knew nothing about (Emrick) until he stepped in the ring," Gatt said. "Hats off to him, though. He fought a good fight."Both Dave Cook (3-1) and Jimmy Lubash knew that the winner of the sixth and final round would be the winner of the bout.It was Lubash who took advantage.Both boxers came out in the sixth using every punch in their arsenals.But by the end of the round, it was Lubash scoring points with solid right hooks and a combination seconds before the bell.
It was Cook's first pro fight of more than four rounds."I knew it was going to be won or lost in the sixth," he said. "Jimmy was going to come at me with the same stuff he started the fight with and I was going to do the same."Cook's trainer, Don Spinetti, was familiar with Lubash's style."Jimmy fights in spurts," he said. "He lulls people to sleep and then comes after you."Lubash (8-1) was called for a pair of low blows earlier in the bout and was penalized one point each time."Those low blows, they take a lot out of you," Cook said. "And he gave me some shots behind the ear."I'm not saying Jimmy's a dirty fighter, but he does use some questionable tactics," he added.Lubash, who is deaf, relayed his responses through his girlfriend."I was worried that the low blows would end up costing me the win," he said. "That's why I came out in the sixth round with bigger shots and was more aggressive."Dave's a good fighter," Lubash added.When asked what's up next for him, Cook remained positive."Straight to the top," he said with a smile. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
