Salt Lake City headquartered Lion Heart Boxing Productions does it again. Lion Heart Boxing Productions' Welterweight Wars in Valley Forge held on November 30, 2006 produced the Pennsylvania Fight of Year, a barn-burner between Bridgeport's Harry Yorgey and Forest City, North Carolina's Jeremy Yelton.
In the Main Event, undefeated junior middleweight "Lightning" Harry Yorgey (17-0-1, 8 KO's) survived three knockdowns and a broken nose to capture a blood and guts eight round unanimous decision, over highly underrated and overambitious Jeremy Yelton (17-8, 8 KO's).
Round One was all Yorgey. Yorgey controlled Round One as he systematically walked down Yelton behind stiff jabs, followed with hooks and crosses. Late in the round, a strong uppercut buckled the knees of Yelton, who was forced to hold on. Yorgey, in an attempt to break the hold, threw a hurt Yelton to the canvas and was lucky not to get penalized.
Round two was more of the same as Yorgey boosted by his raucous hometown fans from nearby Bridgeport, PA sent Yelton to his knee on the canvas early, with a body shot. The knockdown was ruled a slip, Yorgey again buckled the knees of Yelton with an uppercut. Yelton recovered quickly. Yorgey patiently went to the body as the round ended.
In Round Three Yorgey landed an overhand right that was on the back of Jeremy Yelton's head, that sent him to the canvas. Due to the nature of the shot, referee Ron Aurit gave Yelton several minutes to regain his senses. Nevertheless, Yorgey was again lucky not to have a point deducted. When the fighting resumed, Yorgey immediately dropped Yelton again with a body shot that was again ruled a slip. Yelton appeared on the verge of quitting, as Yorgey methodically landed several combinations as the bell sounded.
The tide turned early, as Jeremy Yelton smashed a beautiful left-right combination that broke Yorgey's nose and stopped him in his tracks. Like a shark seeing blood, Yelton suddenly came alive and went on a feeding frenzy. The nose swelled and it bled profusely throughout the fight. The round ended with Yelton snapping a right to the back of Yorgey's head as the bell sounded. Referee Ron Aurit eagerly took a point from the North Carolina native.
Seemingly motivated by the blood oozing from Yorgey's nose, Yelton completely turned the fight upside down in the fifth round with a power left to the jaw that sent Yorgey to the canvas for the first time in his career. Yorgey was able to get to his feet as the knockdown was more of a flash knockdown, but Yelton immediately connected again with a second left on the jaw that landed Yorgey back on the canvas for a second time. This time, Yorgey was severely hurt and covered up, as Jeremy Yelton tried to finish him off. Luckily for the hometown hero, the bell sounded to end the round.
Yorgey was a bloody mess in round six, but fought back like a warrior ala, Arturo Gatti. Yorgey was again staggered by a Yelton hook on the jaw that sent him staggering backward toward the ropes. Yorgey however, was able to stave off the attack at the end of the round six.
In the seventh round, Yelton scored another knockdown when he snapped a left as Yorgey slipped, and his glove touched the canvas. Yorgey, seemingly angered by the knockdown, fought back furiously as he sensed that the fight was in the balance. A huge Yorgey right to the body followed by left hook up top hurt Yelton and had him covering up. Yorgey tried to seize the opportunity as he pounded Yelton around the ring. Yelton stopped the onslaught with a huge counter left that stunned Yorgey. Like the true warrior he was, Yorgey threw a huge left hook flush on the jaw of Yelton that had him severely hurt again as he backed up near the end of the round.
The fight appeared dead even going into the eighth and final round, as both combatants traded vicious hooks early. Yelton landed a right hook that showered press row with Harry's blood. With hometown crowd chanting Yorgey's name, he was able to push forward and outwork Yelton right to the final bell, in what was termed by Fightnews as Pennsylvania 2006 "Fight of the Year." Everyone in whole arena and rose to their feet, and cheered the efforts of both fighters.
The fight went to the scorecards and after several minutes of tallying the numbers, all three judges had the bout in favor of Yorgey by scores of 76-72, 76-73 and 74-72. Fightnews had Yorgey winning by a single point. Many supporters of the underdog Yelton booed in dismay.
Said a relieved and obviously happy Yorgey after the fight, "I always told my father John Yorgey, that I wanted to be in a war like Gatti before I finish my career and I finally had that fight tonight."
"He punched harder then we thought he would. I let him hit me on the tail end of his punches and that is a mistake against someone with long arms." A bloodied Yorgey also explained why he abandoned the jab early in the bout, "He landed a shot on my shoulder and I couldn't lift my left arm the whole round. I would throw my first jab and the second one would just fall down. But you know I'm a warrior and I will not get a loss on my record, so I fought through using my right uppercut.
Yorgey moves to a tough 17-0-1 with 8 KO's. Jeremy Yelton slips to 17-8 with 8 KO's.
In the co-feature, welterweight, turned middleweight, Troy Browning (18-0, 8 KO's) fought off eight years of ring rust in capturing a hard fought six round unanimous decision over fellow Philadelphian Chris Hall (3-4-1 2KO's) by scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 respectively; Junior Middleweight Brandon Darby (3-4, 2 KO's) dominated Samuel Gomez (Pro Debut) of Orlando, Florida, as he pounded out a unanimous decision by scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards; Junior middleweight Andy Mejias (2-0 1 KO) of Utica, New York, outpointed Manuel Guzman (0-2) with a solid four round unanimous decision.
The Welterweight Wars was the introductory and kickoff of event of Valley Forge's version of the Thursday Night Fights series--Thursday Night Fights at the Valley Forge Convention Center. It clearly lived up to Thursday Night Fights' billing as the "best fight series of all times and Lion Heart Boxing Productions' goal of making Welterweight Wars "one of the biggest, the best and most explosive nights in 2006 Pennsylvania Boxing." The crowd left the venue drained but completely entertained.
The Pennsylvania Fight of the Year almost didn't happen as seven of the nine originally scheduled A-side fighters including Chazz Witherspoon, David Williams, Tyrone Brunson and Antonio Mesquita pulled out at the last minute and numerous of scheduled fights fell through. Some fighters such as Mesquita gave genuine reasons for their actions. A couple were pulled for political reasons (boxing B.S.) or were bent on sabotaging the event. One would have thought that Lion Heart Boxing Productions would have pulled the card given all the adversity it faced at the last minute. Determined to put on the fight at all cost and make liars out of a lot of naysayers, however, Lion Heart Boxing Productions worked feverishly to put the card back together. Finally, all that effort paid off with the main event and three undercard bouts set. The last bout was finally approved at the weigh-in, barely hours before the card was scheduled to go off.
Says Lion Heart Boxing Productions' Edward Mendy, "I was shocked when I learnt that Yorgey wanted the Yelton fight. That the fight went off was in and of itself the crowning achievement and our only goal given all the drama with the show. To pull of the Fight of the year was unimaginable. It goes to show what hard work can do. All the saboteurs out there just have to live with the fact that no weapons they form against Lion Heart Boxing Productions shall prosper. Whosoever digs a pit for Lion Heart shall fall in it and make us look ever better."
The next Thursday Night Fight event at the Valley Forge Convention Center is set for January 25, 2007 with former heavyweight Champion Bruce Sheldon as the main attraction. Tickets are reasonable priced at $ 30.00 General Admission; $ 50 for Reserved seats and $ 100.00 for VIPs/Ringside. Tickets may be purchased at the venue or by visiting http://www.lionheartboxingproductions.com or http://www.QuickTick.com. VIP tables are available by reservation only on a first-come-first-serve basis by calling 917-605-0250.
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