Saturday, November 27th,2010 Team Sweet Science competed in the Youngstown PAL Battle of Ohio held at the beautiful Covelli Center. Mikayla Nebel was slated to make her debut,received a walk over as her opponent was unable to fight as she had fallen ill the night before and “Iron” Dan Crabtree also received a walk over as his opponent Kenneth Addison did not show up at all, circumstance unknown (hopefully he did not get discouraged by viewing the footage of Dan’s last fight in which he won by 2nd round TKO). Both Dan and Mikayla each received championship belts that the PAL organization awarded the winners, they did their part, they trained hard, kept their weights down and made all the hard sacrifices we make as fighters but were not met at the half way point by their opponents. In short they earned their belts and we are very proud of them. The Italian Stallion was the first boxer up for team SS as he faced Eric Johnson from Cleveland PAL, at the opening bell the Cleveland combatant came roaring out of his corner and began firing a steady stream of 1’s and 2’s as Nico kept his guard high and never really got hit with any meaningful shots as he tried to weather the storm, Nico received a standing 8 count due to him not throwing back and the 1st round came to a close. Round 2 saw more of the same from both boxers with young Nico landing some well placed blows in the midst of the barrage from the Cleveland fighter. In round 3, the Cleveland boxer appeared to have been exhausted from the first 2 rounds and Nico Buoni began to find his rythm by landing hard body shots and his jab at will, but it was too little too late as Eric Johnson was awarded the decision from racking up a huge lead on points in the first 2 rounds. Up next for Sweet Science was 14 year old Kevin Lark making his debut in the 144lbs division against a game and tough TeAmo Quickley fighting out of Mansfield. Round 1 saw a breif feeling out period followed by an explosion from Kevin Lark as he backed his timid opponent to the ropes and landed hard shots to the head nearly knocking TeAmo’s headgear off and the mansfield fighter received a standing 8 count from the ref to gather his bearings, seconds later as the fight resumed Lark repeated what he had done moments earlier by once again pinning his opponent to the ropes and knocked his faulty headgear off of his head and again the ref gave TeAmo a standing 8 count and allowed his corner time to adjust his headgear and round 1 abruptly ended. Round 2 saw more aggression from the Sweet Science pugilist but this time TeAmo Quickley came alive by throwing some hard shots of his own and a real battle between the 2 boys ensued. Round 3 saw more of the same from the two warriors with Lark getting the better of it and when the decision was rendered it was Lark from Sweet Science who’s hand was raised in triumph, with this win Lark moves to 1-0 and hats off to TeAmo for turning around a fight that looked as if it would not go beyond the 1st round. We would like to extend a heart felt Thank-You to the Ohio PAL and Congressman Tim Ryan for putting on such a phenomenal show as no corners were cut and no expenses were spared.

Sweet Science Boxing’s amateurs take on Youngstown next saturday November 27th,2010 held at the Covelli Center (formerly the Chevrolet Center) at 229 East Front Street , Youngstown, Oh 44503; bouts start at 2:00pm, Tickets can be purchased at the door. Here is a list of bouts already confirmed,stay tuned for updates.

“Iron” Dan Crabtree vs. Kenneth Addison
Kevin Lark vs. TeAmo Quickley
Nico Buoni vs Eric Johnson
Mikayla Nebel vs Asia Smith

The Cleveland fights sponsored by Halcyon Lodge gave the the local fight fans all they could handle with just 10 well matched bouts slated for the night! The first 4 bouts of the night were filled by local Cleveland pugilists dukin it out in back and forth battles that received great fan fair, but it was the 5th and 6th bouts that had the people out of their chairs and appreciating the “Sweet Science”. In the 5th bout “Iron” Dan Crabtree (2-2) faced Quanda Williams of Freddie’s Gym in a 3 round novice bout that saw Williams come out of his corner looking very brave and strong as he threw a multitude of shots that either grazed or missed ” Iron” Dan entirely due to his impeccable head movement and after weathering the initial storm Crabtree zapped all of his opponent’s courage away with a well placed body,head left hook combo. It was clear that the fighter from Freddie’s Gym had not paced himself and was unable to connect with any meaningful shots for the rest of the round, with Crabtree clearly in command dropping bombs on his opponent at will! In the second round it appeared that Williams spirit had been broken and about 25 seconds later Crabtree dropped him with a “Tyson Like” 3 punch combo to the head and body. Williams arose at the count of 6 with the ref allowing him to continue only to be leveled again not even 10 seconds later! The ref once again allowed the young warrior to continue and the fighter from Freddie’s threw a few punches in desperation that “Iron” Dan was able to slip and then subsequently crumble his opponent in the opposite corner with a straight right hand, left hook,right uppercut that had Freddie waving the towel and the spectators out of their seats. The referee stopped the contest giving the Sweet Science Boxer a second round TKO victory! Thank God Quanda Williams is physically okay as we felt he absorbed too much punishment and that the contest should’ve been stopped after the 2nd knock down, but they don’t call it the “hurt game” for nothing! Up next for Sweet Science Boxing was the “Italian stallion” Nico Buoni who fought Robert Richards of Cleveland PAL in yet another crowd pleaser! The opening round saw Roberts establish a good jab by using his superior height and reach advantage with Buoni either slipping or blocking the blows and returning fire with a nice whip like jap of his own. The Cleveland fighters assault was mostly the product of 1’s and 2’s, while the Stallion caught him with counter left hooks, uppercuts, and right hands. Round 2 saw more of the same with Buoni showing superior head movement and boxing skill. Round 3 was identical to the first 2 rounds and when the bell sounded the victory was awarded to the Cleveland fighter who seemed just as surprised as everyone else was. Overall it was a great night of boxing (except for the creepy,devilish, masonic temple it was held in)! Stay tuned as Sweet Science takes on Youngstown November 27th,2010.

Sweet Science’s amateurs went a perfect 4-0 at the annual Zanesville PAL Fall Brawl this past Saturday November 6, 2010. Amateur phenom Miles Delmindo ( 2-2 ) set the tone of the night when he fought Cody Crane of Douglas Rec(coached by local legend Vonzell Johnson) in the 2nd bout of the 20 bout card! Crane was a very strong and game fighter whose style was likened to a young Mike Tyson! From the opening bell he displayed a lot of head movement and began dropping what can only be described as bombs in an attempt to rattle young Miles. Delmindo stayed calm and composed and quickly found his rhythm connecting with counter left hooks and straight right hands to take control of the fight! Crane began to look discouraged by Delmindo’s hand speed and ring generalship about half-way through the 2nd round of the 3 round bout. The 3rd round saw more of the same from Delmindo with intermittent spurts of hard punches from Crane until the final bell sounded, with Delmindo’s hand being raised when the decision was rendered! Up next for team Sweet Science was Nico Buoni (1-3) who arguably put forth the best performance of the night when he faced Ace Shryock of Z-PAL! The two boys wasted no time getting busy as soon as the opening bell sounded as neither boxer appeared willing to give any ground to their opponent. They began to exchange a multitude of shots coming from all angles until the bell sounded ending the 1st round. Ace appeared to be throwing up in his corner from the high intensity action, and when the 2nd round started Nico and Ace picked up where they left off by once again letting the fists fly, in between all the punches Buoni displayed his superior skills by stepping to the side, and maneuvering off of the ropes while maintaining his work-man like pace. In the 3rd round Buoni left no doubt in the judges minds by clearly being the better conditioned of the 2 athletes while slipping and countering with beautiful hooks and a variety of punches and was awarded the decision by all judges. This bout was a real crowd pleaser as both boxers were game and eager to win a trophy that appeared to be as tall as they were! Congrats to Nico Buoni! In the 17th bout of the night “Iron” Dan Crabtree and Cory Byers engaged in a back and forth battle that saw Crabtree come out of his corner throwing heavy shots to the body and a stunning uppercut that sent sweat flying into the 3rd row seats. Byers appeared to be unable to let his hands off for most of the 1st round with Crabtree being the aggressor and Byers displaying excellent footwork to evade some of “Iron” Dan’s onslaught. In the 2nd round Byers seemed to get into rhythm by snapping quick jabs and straight right hands with Crabtree continuing his attack on Byers’ body! Crabtree appeared to have injured his right arm somewhere in the middle of the 2nd stanza with Byers able to capitalize on it, Crabtree continued with a one arm assault of jabs and left hooks. In the 3rd and final round Byers seemed to be the fresher of the 2 fighters by picking up his pace using dazzling footwork to frustrate Crabtree who appeared to be unable to land many meaningful blows, however it was too little,too late for Byers as the decision went to “Iron” Dan Crabtree with a 2 rounds to 1 verdict. Up last for Sweet Science was Jackson Klein who faced Chris Hasten in a seemingly one sided bout with Klein being the clear victor! Young Jack showed an improvement in his boxing skill from previous bouts by displaying good head movement, fakes, and hard right hands that could not miss. Jackson was just too much for his undersized yet extremely game opponent with the victory. Team Sweet Science went a perfect 4-0 for the night. We are very proud of our boxers and would like to Thank Coach Tim Hartmeyer and Zanesville PAL for inviting us and allowing Team SS to take part in such a well organized and high energy event. We thank our sponsors, families, and fans for their support!