Five professional fights and one exhibition were a part of a competitive night of boxing at Fall Fisticuffs VI, presented by Integrity Fighter Management from the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows on Saturday.
The Battle of The Northside II was the match of the night. Michael “The Pittsburgh Bull” Manna (6-5-0, 4 KO) and Joey Turk (4-0-1, 1 KO) was a rematch of Turk’s victory in July.
The crowd packed into the Casino was at a fever pitch for the two Northsiders. A feeling-out process early through Round 1 gave a slight edge to Turk, who followed up with a strong Round 2. Turk had good combos, including a few jabs and a right hook through a Manna counter.
Through it all, Manna was setting up with the jab and managed to put shots on the body. His strategy from the July fight to this matchup in late October remained unchanged.
“It just didn’t work out for me (that night),” Manna said. “I threw some opportunities, and they were there.”
Round 3 was a much-needed round for Manna as he was urgent with his striking, throwing straight rights and his looping right hook. Round 4 looked to be on the road to a draw as Turk and Manna traded shots.
The shining moment came in the final 10 seconds of the round when Manna caught Turk with a right hook that put him on the mat.
“When I knocked him down, I got upset,” Manna said. “I didn’t want that. I hoped he was all right.”
Turk returned to his feet and was ready for more action, but the final bell sounded. The fight lived up to the billing, and Manna won the rematch by unanimous decision, 39-36, 38-37 and 39-36. Early thoughts for a third fight at The Priory are already blooming.
The performance of the night went to Teddy Mrkonja Jr. in his professional debut, taking on fellow Kevin Hicks of Virginia, also making his debut. Mrkonja, a decorated amateur, used his speed and movement and attacked the body of Hicks.
“All of the hard work over the past three months has paid off,” Mrkonja said. “It all came to fruition.”
The plan was to go to the body and use his speed. He overwhelmed Hicks, who did his best to quell the attack.
“We’re going for the body open upstairs,” Mrkonja said. “I figured I’d be quicker with the age advantage.”
He downed Hicks with another body shot, and referee Ernie Sharif called the fight at 2:24 of the first round.
Knockout of the night went to Devon Siegfried (2-0, 2 KO), who faced Christopher Crockett (1-2, 1 KO) of Cincinnati, Ohio. Siegfried, a police officer from Ellwood City, has shown knockout power.
It was an unorthodox start to the match, with Crockett attacking almost immediately, with some shots looking more like a street fight than an organized boxing match. At one point, he got clipped by an incidental punch to the back of the head.
Siegfried said he felt embarrassed about the “stanky leg” he went through and gave credit to his opponent.
“I remember looking down at my feet. My feet were kind of like doing that,” Siegfried said. “He came out super hot, and I’m a notoriously slow starter.”
After a talk with his trainer, Jack Maine, between rounds, Siegfried roared back to his regular form. He scored a knockdown with a right hook to Crockett.
His opponent returned to his feet, but Siegfried continued his work with a left hook that staggered the Ohio fighter and forced a TKO stoppage at 1:11 in the second round.
A three-round exhibition fight between CC Clark and Tommy Parker occurred before the main event. Parker, a member of Manna’s Northside Athletic Club, took the exhibition on 24 hour’s notice after Clark’s opponent had to withdraw. The two excited the crowd with their showmanship, asking the opposing fighter to hit them with all they had.
Dancha showcased power and skill with three knockdowns of Rutkowski, earning his first U.S. victory via TKO at 2:15 of the first round.
The lone fight that went past four rounds was a six-round heavyweight clash between Moses Johnson (9-1-2, 7 KO) of Huntington, N.Y., and Lemir Isom Riley (3-1, 1 KO) of New Cumberland.
The two fighters showed some strong skill, with the fight nearly exclusively fought head-to-head. Johnson won via unanimous decision, 58-55, 58-56 and 58-56.
The night opened with the U.S. debut of Ivan Dancha (1-0, 1 KO) from Lviv, Ukraine. He won gold at the 2015 Ukrainian national championships. He took on Anthony Rutkowski (0-1) of Grand Rapids, Mich..
Dancha, with fellow Ukrainians Lyubomyr Pinchuk, a cruiserweight contender and world No. 3-ranked WBA super-bantamweight contender in attendance, showed the Pittsburgh area crowd that the Ukraine to Pittsburgh fight pipeline is alive and well.