Archive for May, 2010

Cassius Clay or Clay Pigeon? Which kind of Clay would Martinus “Magnificent” Clay end up being?  Billy Lyell definitely took the fight to Clay for eight rounds.  Dominant performance where Lyell won the fight unanimously on every scorecard, 80-72 in front of a partisan crowd.  Simons Promotions rolled out the red carpet in a very nice atmosphere for a decent night of boxing which was capped with Lyell’s dominant performance.

In round one, Lyell came out fast and strong.  He controlled the pace of the fight with his jab and swelled the nose of Clay early.  Give round one to Billy Lyell.  Clay threw punches but only hit Lyell squarely a couple of times.  Lyell threw a lot of punches but did some damage in winning the opening session handily.

The second round saw Lyell further establish his dominance of the tempo.  Lyell throws some haymakers and doesn’t get cheated, Clay was learning this the hard way.  After two, it is all Billy Lyell in Morgantown.

Rounds three and four were Clay’s best rounds of the fight to this point, But he probably still lost the rounds.  Lyell was punishing Clay on the ropes with a minute or so left in both rounds.  Lyell takes shots too, but he throws many more and lands with a higher frequency.  So far, I see it four rounds to none, Lyell.

In round five, Lyell continued to peck away at the face of Clay.  Clay was still throwing back, but Lyell was definitely in control of the pace.  Five rounds to no rounds, Billy Lyell.

In round six, Lyell had Clay covering up every time he would mount some offense.  Clay would also clinch, the couple of times he failed to clinch Lyell up, he paid dearly on the ropes by taking three or four solid shots.  Lyell stunned Clay with a left hook right before the bell and Clay wobbled for a second before he realized the bell had saved him.  Lyell was ahead on my card, 6-0.

In the seventh of eight, the boxing lesson continued.  Lyell was so fast with his counterpunches that Clay would throw first and land second.  Lyell was that much faster and showed no signs of fatigue.  7-0.

The final round, Lyell put the exclamation point on the fight despite taking a couple of shots.  Give this round to Lyell also.  Billy Lyell 8 Martinus Clay 0 was my count.

The judges saw it pretty much the same and Lyell won on all three cards 80-72.

After the fight, Keith Burnside, who trained Lyell was happy with the effort.  “Billy threw a lot of punches tonight and looked in control.  We have been working on him throwing more and you saw that tonight.”

Lyell was happy with the win as well.  “I give credit to the great team around me.  I wanted to finish him with a knockout, but I wasn’t disappointed at all with the performance.”

When asked what is next, Lyell responded, “Whatever comes my way, I am ready.”

Solid performance for Billy Lyell in running his record to 22-8 with 4 KO’s in Morgantown.  Burnside and the corner staff also mentioned that the move to 154 will help Lyell as it is more his natural weight.  In his last fight, Lyell took a last minute IBF middleweight title shot against Sebastian Sylvester in Europe and made a respectable showing but came away empty.

Greetings from Morgantown, West Virginia! Simons Promotions was holding a boxing card at the beautiful Waterfront Place which would feature the Mahoning Valley’s Billy Lyell squaring off against Martinus Clay of Philadelphia.   The card featured five preliminary bouts before the Lyell fight.  Four of the ten participants in those fights were from Morgantown, so there were some definite fan favorites.  Here is how the undercard went:

In a 139 lb. battle, Ronnell Green of Wheeling, West Virginia took on Tyrone Gamble of Baltimore, Maryland.  Gamble threw maybe ten punches before being knocked out in the first round.  Green drilled Gamble with a solid right to floor him for the ten count.  The opening fight lasted a grand total of a minute and seventeen seconds.

The second undercard fight featured two hometown boys locking it up as Eric Watkins and Wilton Bunn, both of Morgantown, did battle in a 195 lb. amateur tilt.  Can you imagine the in-town hype on this one?  Bunn and Watkins probably saw each other at the neighborhood Burger King a few weeks back and declared the other guy had no chance.  The all-Morgantown portion of the card was entertaining.  Bunn took the decision.

The next prelim featured two heavyweights as Ernest Gwynn of Reidsville, North Carolina and Mel Bankhead of Morgantown in a scheduled four-rounder.  An interesting sidenote, Bankhead owns a strip club in Morgantown and he definitely received the loudest applause to this point.  The proprietor of Lady Godiva managed to score a first-round TKO with a strong boy punch that doubled up Gwynn.

The next bout was a battle at 154.  Vance Garvey (black trunks) of Indianapolis, Indiana did battle with Matt Berkshire of, you guessed it, Morgantown.  Berkshire floored Garvey, knocking out his mouthpiece (above) in the third but to his credit, Garvey got up and stormed back in the fourth.  From a boxing perspective, it was definitely the best match to this point of the card.  Berkshire cut Garvey in the fifth but took a solid shot himself to end the round.  In the eighth and final round, Berkshire cemented the win with a forceful knockdown.  Give Garvey credit for getting up again, but in the end the judges saw the fight as a majority draw.  Berkshire got the short end of the stick in this one.

The last undercard fight featured heavyweights Octavius Smith of Indianapolis and Jason “Ironman” Bergman of Washington, PA.  Bergman made short work of Smith, flooring him twice in the round before the ref halted the contest.

The Youngstown State Softball team is struggling to win games, but the overall product is so much more polished than it used to be. Credit Coach Campbell and his staff for the great work to make this program more respectable than it has been in years.  One of the cogs in the new machine is Haley Thomas. Haley is a Phys Ed Major from Southern California who aspires to teach and coach when her college days come to an end.  As the Penguins head into tournament play this weekend, Thomas will be doing what she has all season, batting leadoff and playing CF for Youngstown State.  Just a Sophomore, Thomas started all 48 regular season games.  In those games, she has racked up eight home runs.  She leads the team in runs (40), total bases (105), walks (23), on-base percentage (.453), and batting average (.376).  I recently caught up with Thomas to discuss her future, getting homesick, and realizing her potential.

Paneech: How many years have you been playing softball?

Thomas: I just finished my tenth year.

Paneech: Have you always been an outfielder?

Thomas: No.  I started playing in the outfield.  I tried catcher and did that for awhile, and then when I got to YSU, I went back to the outfield.  I play some first base also.  I can play all three of those positions.  I have never pitched in my life.  I don’t really know how.

Paneech: What do you credit your big numbers to this season?

Thomas: I wouldn’t be leading the team in total bases and runs unless somebody was batting good behind me.  The team motivates each other to work hard.  Last year, I didn’t have a whole bunch of extra base hits.  I have worked on just trying to hit the ball hard without swinging harder, I use my natural swing.  Same swing every time – see the ball and try to hit it squarely.

Paneech: Do you prefer the 80 degree weather that we are having now, or were you more content when it was 45 degrees?

Thomas: I like the hot weather better for softball.  I grew up in California, so I was used to the hotter weather.

Paneech: Why Physical Education for a major?

Thomas: It is something that I am involved with every day, as well as something I can see myself involved with in the future.  I want to be happy doing something, so if I am not going to be happy there is no use in doing it.  I want to get involved with teaching and coaching.  I am not sure if I would accept a position as a volleyball coach somewhere, I don’t know enough about it.  I did play soccer though, so if I couldn’t coach softball, soccer would be okay.

Paneech: Are you homesick at all?  When will you be heading back West?

Thomas: I do get homesick sometimes.  I am taking a class in the Summer, but I will make my way home in July.

Paneech: Explain this season to me.

Thomas: The team has made a lot of improvement since last season.  We fought hard and played more consistently this year.  Although it may not show on paper, the quality of the team is so much higher than last year.  We don’t always get rewarded in the win column, but mentally we all know that we are striving to make a difference.

One Word Answers

Favorite Breakfast Food: A bagel with peanut butter and jelly.

Biggest Phobia: I don’t know.

Favorite TV Show: Survivor and Grey’s Anatomy.

Sport You Watch Other Than Baseball: Football, I’m a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.

Favorite Movie: Shooter, Band of Brothers.  Any war movies.

Snack You Can’t Stop Eating: Chips.  All kinds, BBQ, Salt and Vinegar.

Worst Habit: Second guessing myself.

Haley and her teammates start Horizon League Tournament play this weekend, where she claims they will “try to win one game at a time, not the whole tournament at once“.  Best of luck Lady Penguins and congratulations on an outstanding effort this season.

The New York Knicks have reported record season ticket activity for next season based on the hype alone.  For the past couple of seasons, LeBron James has been in the rumor mill as going to New York when his contract expires at season’s end.

The good news for Knicks fans anticipating the big move is that you will get to see LeBron play in Madison Square Garden next season.  The bad news is that he will still be wearing a Cavs uniform and you paid too much for those couple of games.  The newly crowned MVP will stay put.

The Jets stepped it up in the offseason, doing Yankee-like things that New Yorkers have grown to expect.  Now the people want a basketball team to spend a fortune too.  You can afford LeBron, but he is home where he sits now.  It’s his backyard and his friends and family can drive less than an hour to watch.  All the hype about a number switch as of late has barely been mentioned in Knicks conversations, has anyone who did any of the junk photoshop stuff try to use the number six?

The Cavs hold a 1-0 lead over Boston in their current quest to get “The King” a ring.  New York fans are Cleveland fans, for now.  When this supposed deal never takes place, LeBron will be booed from the Eastern end of the Bronx through Manhatten, and he will probably enjoy it.  Click your red Nike’s together three times and repeat after me… ‘There’s No Place Like Home.’

Brian Mellott has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of The National Football Foundation. Candidates were chosen from 11 colleges which fall into the Northeastern Ohio area, spanning 15 counties.  Last season, Mellott started all eleven games at right guard and was named a First-Team Academic All-American.

In other YSU related news, Donald Jones was signed by the Buffalo Bills to a free agent contract.  Jones has been unavailable for comment, but is surely disappointed that he was not drafted.