Before COVID-19 came out swinging and sidelined the sport of boxing, Danny Rosenberger was the busiest boxer in Youngstown having fought five times in 2019 and once in early 2020. Now the middleweight is back and with a new trainer and at a new weight.
Though he's been out of competition that doesn't mean Rosenberger has been out of the gym as the Niles native has linked up with Joe Board of Board's Boxing in the Ohio River town of Toronto.
"It's definitely different in Toronto with Joe," said Rosenberger. I feel like he brings out the better Danny, the part of me I never knew. The way he talks to you and the little tricks and knowledge he has for the game of boxing just feeds my fire for the sport which is the reason I commute an hour to his gym 4-5 days a week."
Rosenberger won't have an easy task in his return, but what should we expect from a fighter who fought future "The Contender" participant Gerald Sherrell on a day's notice.
Standing in the way for his ring return is 28-year-old West Virginia native Zachary Randolph who will bring a 5-0-1 record into the evening while fighting in front of his hometown fans.
"So many fights where I feel as I won and lost due to fighting in the guy's backyards which is something that I am once again doing" stated Rosenberger when asked about fighting an opponent on his home turf. "I need to absolutely dominate or stop this guy to get the win as we know I am not the judge's favorite for the decision".
The one advantage Rosenberger sees for himself despite taking the fight on short notice on somebody else's turf is the fact that the 6-round bout will be held in the super middleweight division.
"I'm moving up to 168 pounds for this fight which is the highest weight class I've ever been at," said Rosenberger. "I walk around at 165 so I have to put on rather than cut weight this time. It is short notice but we're ready and stay in the gym for moments like this".
If all goes acorrdingly, you will be hearing plenty of news moving forward of Rosenberger getting in the ring.
"I plan to become a very active fighter once again now that the pandemic is hopefully coming to an end" said Rosenberger of his future plans". "It was defintely challenging training all those hours and driving that far the last 20 months and not fighting but now it's my time and I"m excited to step back in there".
Vic Toney is back.
Toney scored a brutal third-round knockout as the 33-year-old who now trains at the Youngstown-Salem Boxing Club with Rocky and Alecia Defrank improved his record to 6-1-1 with his destruction of the gritty Joel Guevara (4-7-1) in super welterweight action at the Boyd County Community Center in Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
From the opening bell, Toney showed dominance landing a couple furries in rounds one and two before landing a perfect combination that sent his opponent to the canvas and secured the referee stoppage.
Fingers crossed this is just the beginning for Toney as he enters a new phase of his career with a boatload of confidence.
Vic Toney will be back in action tonight for the first time since earning a draw against undefeated Will Clemons in February of 2020 in Las Vegas.
Now training at the Youngstown-Salem Boxing Club with Rocky Defrank the 33-year-old Toney will take on the gritty Joel Guevara (4-6) in super welterweight action at the Boyd County Community Center in Catlettsburg.
Toney, who currently sports a record of 5-1-1 has only had two fights since 2016 including his lone defeat to one of the top super welterweight prospects in undefeated Sebastian Fundora in September of 2017.
Guevara will be fighting for the first time in roughly two years after having a busy 2019 which saw him step between the ropes three times.
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| Devon Tate |
The city of Youngstown has a special connection to boxing and last night the fans proved that as the Metroplex found itself packed with a standing-room-only crowd in boxings return to the city since the pandemic started for the 12-bout night of amateur boxing.
The night got started in the female division as Lateesha Mohlof Harrisburg, PA outpointed Tomasia Pierce in a fight that saw both females fighting forward from bell to bell.
Youngstown took center stage in the second night as Aidan St. Clair trained by Darnell Boone of the Deezol Boxing Academy won a back and forth fight with Isaac Johnson of Southside Boxing Club.
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| Boone and St. Clair |
Both fighters landed good combos in the opening round but St. Clair started pulling away in the second round while earning the stoppage in the third round.
Devon Tate of Youngstown stole the show in what was more than likely the fight of the night in the fourth bout.
Tate found himself in a huge hole early in the fight with Tyler Martin of Columbus in the 165 Lb weight limit as Martin dominated the opening round picking his shots while Tate swung for the fences with every punch.
The fight changed roughly a minute into the second round when Tate settled down and picked his spots and began to land at will as Martin began to slow down from the onslaught.
Tate would eventually earn a stoppage late in the third round.
In what will possibly be his last fight before heading off to the Navy, recent Boardman graduate Jackson Behun outworked his opponent and took advantage of any mistake his opponent made over the course of the three rounds with his boxing skills in the 165 lb. fight against Nick Rezek of Cleveland.
Youngstown found itself back in the ring for the 7th bout of the evening as Aaron Douglas fell to Jordan Carr of Pittsburgh in the super heavyweight division.
Carr stayed very active for a super heavyweight en route to the victory on the scorecards.
In the co-feature of the evening, Antwone Peeples did enough in the eyes of the three judging the fight to score a close but unanimous victory over Alion Diassi of Butler, PA.
In the main event, Jason Cosa scored a close split decision victory over Tony Scandy in the heavyweight division of the master's division.
Both fighters came out slugging early with Scandy almost earning a stoppage in the opening round as Cosa received two standing eight counts but survived the round and followed it up with a gritty performance the rest of the fight to earn the decision which left many in the crowd to boo.
The Youngstown-Salem Boxing Club headed to Huntington, WV last weekend for the Tri-State Golden Gloves as the Market Street gym added more awards to its resume bringing home an open division championship and runner-up.
Headlining the weekend was 21-year-old Marquae Calhoun who won the 178 lb. championship.
"When I stepped into the ring I felt piece and I didn't expect to knock anyone out I was just focused on executing, breathing, listening to my coaches, and listening to my coaches," said Calhoun who won both his fights by stoppage.
"I knew I had power in my punches but I didn't know I had that kind of power until I actually did it," said Calhoun who won his first bout in 26 seconds before stopping his next opponent who sported a 5-0 record coming into the fight in the second round.
Calhoun will be the first to tell you that the power in his hands was not the only contributing factor to his championship run.
"I took the loss in my first ever match a few months ago and focused on what I did wrong and not what I did right and I faded at the end of that first fight so I started running more doing 5.2 miles every other day to the gym from my apartment to get my stamina up and kept telling myself this is what I got to do to be a champion".
Though championship aspirations drove Calhoun this past weekend he also had inspiration in the crowd.
"My dad ended up showing up and I felt like having him there took a lot of the pressure off me as he just entered my life again a few years and having him there made me realized how much he cares and it really lit a fire in me".
Calhoun also fed off the energy of his teammate Giavoni Farina who went 2-1 on the weekend including a victory over a previously undefeated fighter en route to the silver medal at 141 lbs.
Farina, 19, who hails from Struthers found himself in three complete wars during his weekend.
"I think three fights on me took its toll on me during the championship bout but I fought hard," said Farina who was 1-0 heading into the weekend and only been boxing for roughly 5 months.
"I told coach Rocky right after my championship loss I want another fight and to find me another fight so I'll be back in action on August 21st in Cleveland"
