MURRYSVILLE, Penn. (September 20, 2021) – Pittsburgh junior lightweight Matt “Sweet Child” Conway, the reigning IBA Intercontinental Junior Lightweight Champion, notched his 20th career victory in this past Saturday night’s “Murrysville Madness” non-title main event against dangerous Colombian puncher Rodolfo “El Tsunami” Puente (20-8-2, 16 KOs).
“Murrysville Madness,” presented by Gionta Management, was held at a nearly sold-out SportsZone Arena in Murrayville (PA).
This was our first time promoting at this venue and things went really well overall,” promoter Derek Gionta said. “We will come back here, hopefully, in the near future. This was our third show this year at two different venues and it’s great to remain consistent despite the difficult times we encountered earlier this year in regard to the pandemic. The plan is to keep moving forward and building up these guys.”
“There were a number of intriguing fights. Matt Conway had a monumental victory for his 20th win as a professional. He will be come back January 15th in a big fight on our show in Cheswick, PA.”
Conway (20-2, 9 KOs) positioned himself for an IBA World title fight in January, which Gionta will promote at The Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Cheswick, PA.
Against Puente, Conway overcame Puente’s early aggression, but after the opening round, the Colombian did little more than hold. A Conway left hook dropped Puente in the second round and that marked the end of the fight and show shortly after from a referee stoppage.
The co-feature was the “Fight of the Night.” Pittsburgh super middleweight Kiante Irving (9-0-1, 9 KOs), a 2018 National Golden Gloves Champion, and Antonio Louis Hernandez (5-11-3, 3 KOs), battled to an exciting 6-round split draw.
Irving won the first three rounds, primarily by using his stiff jab and landing solid rights to Hernandez’ body. Hernandez, however, owned the last three rounds, controlling the action and landing power shots that hurt Irving on multiple occasions. High drama filed the room as Irving proved a chin and heart to go along with his power. Hernandez, sporting a deceiving record and at just 22 years old, has time to turn the corner and make up for early struggles against high quality opposition. Both sides have expressed interest in a rematch.
Ohio lightweight Ryizeemmion “The Humble Beast” Ford (6-1, 4 KOs) dominated Carlos “Jaguar” Jimenez (1-3-1), of Mexico, setting the pace until he landed a hard right that buzzed Jimenez. A follow-up attack prompted the referee to halt the action midway through the opening round.
Pittsburgh super middleweight Eric Lomax kept rollin’, setting the pace and blasting out Jacob Ikaika Martin (1-1) with only 9-seconds left in the fourth and scheduled final round. Lomax passed the test in impressive fashion as he boxed well and fought with explosiveness in spurts.
Kyrgyzstan native Baszybek Baratov (5-1-2, 1 KO), who fights out of Monroeville (PA), defeated Buffalo featherweight debutant Joe Reed, winning a unanimous decision. Scores were 40-36 x 2 and 39-37. “Baz” was slippery on the defense, while picking shots from all angles while Reed stood conventional and had some success of his own at times.
Pittsburgh super lightweight and Matt Conway’s brother, “Maverick” Mike Conway (4-2-1, 1 KO), joined his bro in the winner’s circle, pitching a “shutout” 4-round decision versus Joshua Zimmerman (0-4). Conway worked his way inside to nullify Zimmerman’s height and length advantage and used a double hook several times.
In the first match of the evening, southpaw Paul Palombo won his pro debut when his opponent, middleweight Jabrandon Harris (0-7) of Texas was unable to continue after two rounds. Palombo boxed well out of his southpaw stance and turned i up after a quiet opening round and picked his shots nicely on the inside.
Complete results below:
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
MAIN EVENT – JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS
Matt Conway (20-2, 9 KOs), Pittsburgh, PA
WTKO2 (1:39)
Rodolfo Puente (20-8-2, 16 KOs), Barramquilla, Colombia
CO-FEATURE – SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Kiante Irving (9-0-1, 9 KOs), Pittsburgh, PA
D6 (58-56, 56-58, 57-57)
Antonio Louis Hernandez (5-11-2, 4 KOs), Kansas City, KS
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Eric Lomax (4-0, 3 KOs), Pittsburgh, PA
WTKO4 (2:51)
Jacob Ibaika Martin (1-1, 1 KO), Tacoma, WA
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Paul Palombo (1-0, 1 KO), Buffalo, NY
WTKO2 (3:00)
Jabrandon Harris (0-7), Bryan, TX
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS
Mike Conway (4-2-1, 1 KO), Pittsburgh, PA
WDEC4 (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)
Joshua Zimmerman (0-4), Baltimore, MD
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Ryizeemmion Ford (6-1, 4 KOs), Alliance, OH
WTKO1 (2:01)
Carlos Jimenez (1-3-1 (0 KOs), Saltillo, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Baszybek Baratov (5-1-2, 1 KO), Monroeville, PA
WDEC4 (40-36, 40-36, 39-37)
Joe Reed (0-1, 0 KOs), Buffalo, NY