Strap Season: Rosenberger set for USBF National Title fight in West Virginia this weekend

Danny Rosenberger will make the trip to West Virginia, a place he's certainly becoming familiar with as he will take on Vitalii Gubkin in a welterweight showdown for the USBF National Title in the events co-main event.  

This will be the second trip in a row for Rosenberg to the Mountaineer State which he has frequented many times before as a fighter.

"I'm starting to feel at home in West Virginia.  They treat me well and I'm starting to create a fanbase down there I believe", said Rosenberger on heading to Vienna, WV this weekend.  "I had about 100 people come up to me and shake my hand and want to meet me and they are very welcoming and love my style of boxing".

The fans aren't the only ones making the 31-year-old feel at home in West Virginia.

"The commission is very easy to work with and fair.  They don't play favorites like some states do for the hometown fighters so I'm excited to fight in West Virginia again and look forward to a lot more fights there soon".

Hopefully, more fights are on the docket for Rosenberger in the near future as the Niles native was one of the most if not the most active fighter in the state of Ohio before COVID scored a technical knockout and put the sport at a standstill.  

Rosenberger will be looking to remain in the winners circle having won his last time out in impressive fashion in his first bout under new trainer Joe Board who he contributes a lot of his recent success and newfound desire to succeed in the ring.

"Everything with Joe has been great", said Rosenberger of his training in preparation for Saturday night.  "We've been more dialed in on road work, sparring, and gym work, back to the old school blood, sweat, and tears training".

Though Board is the main reason Rosenberger travels over an hour each way near the Ohio River town of Toronto, he also knows he is going to get great work in that gym which he is very grateful for.

"I also have to give credit to a few people in the gym for helping me prepare for my last fight and taking time off and helping me for this fight", Rosenberger said of his preparations for the fight.

With camp now behind him, the only thing left for Rosenberger is to climb between the ropes and face Gubkin.

"He's on a nice little win streak but that will come to an end on October 30", Rosenberger said of his opponent.  "He's a Russian fighter so I know he's going to be a tough opponent and will come at me with everything he has but we are prepared for that and willing to leave it all in the ring to that title", stated Danny on his opponent.

"I believe my movement and speed will be too much for him".

Fans who can't make it to the Grande Pointe Conference and Reception Center in Vienna, West Virginia can watch the event being billed as The Takeover 3 on pay per view on their devices by heading to the following link: F55LIVE, first bell is slated for 7:00 PM. 

Youngstown-Salem Boxing Club brings afternoon of amateur boxing to Struthers to unite the community

Saturday afternoon will be more than the blood, sweat, and tears that happen between the ring as Youngstown-Salem Boxing Club will host its first amateur card to bring attention to a bigger cause.

The show is being billed as "Unity in the Community".

Recently, Youngstown has been under fire with all its shootings and tensions, and what better way to help bring unity back to the community than the sport that helped put the city on the map alongside the now paralyzed steel industry that once flourished here.

Headlining the show will be #1 ranked Zion Hensley, a student at Western Reserve, who finally gets to fight in her own backyard after spending much of the past two-plus years on the road facing the best competition at her age and weight class at the national level.

Though she will be fighting at home, the level of competition for Henley will not relax as she will be taking on the #3 ranked girl.

Many local fighters along with fighters from out of state will be showcasing their talents at The Embassy on Youngstown-Poland Road as well.

Tickets for the event, which begins at 4:00 PM will cost $25 with the doors opening at 3:00 PM.

Zion Hensley to fight for National Title today in Missouri

It's national championship day in Independence, Missouri as champions will be crowned in the 2021 Silver Gloves Tournament.

Zion Hensley, a student at Western Reserve will be in action today during today's championship session which kicks off at 1:00 PM ET.

Z, who will fight out of the blue corner will take on Emily Peres in bout #12 on ring #3 in the 90 lb. championship bout which will be streamed can be viewed here for $9.99.

For those planning on viewing, tune in early as its hard to judge how long preceding bouts will last.

Rosenberger set for ring return this weekend in Morgantown, WV

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".

Toney scores brutal knockout victory

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 back in action tonight in Kentucky

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.  

Tate steals show as boxing fans pack the Metroplex in boxing's return to Youngstown

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.

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.