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By PHIL MANCINI; Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Sunday, July 28, 1996 Page: 16C
DICKSON CITY — Chris Walsh was a wanted man Friday night.
However, the man that wanted him couldn’t handle him.
Walsh, of Scranton, knocked out Bobby Jones in the fifth round of a
scheduled six-round middleweight bout as part of the Coors Light Summer
Thunder boxing schedule at Genetti Manor in Dickson City .
Jones called for a rematch after losing by decision to Walsh last March,
but fared even worse the second time around.
In the main event Friday night, United States Boxing Association
welterweight champion Tony Martin scored a fourth-round technical knockout
over Robert Hightower.
International Boxing Council and World Athletic Association lightweight
champion Gene Reed of Scranton won by unanimous decision over Kentucky state
champion Shawn Simmons in one of two local main events. In the other local
main event, Pittston’s Ryan Polletti won in a unanimous decision over Ron
Preston in a cruiserweight fight.
In other fights on the card, junior welterweight Michael Angelo Erbetta
knocked out Ashland’s Ed Daubert in the second round of the professional debut
for both fighters, junior lightweight Wilson Spann defeated Travis Sowers in a
unanimous decision and Scranton’s Jim Noone, in his professional debut,
knocked out Rick Montgomery in the first round of a 176-pound bout.
When Walsh and Jones met last March, Walsh came away with a frustrating
four-round decision.
“He wanted a re-match,” Walsh said. “He must have seen something” from the
last fight.
Jones came out with a different style from the last time he fought Walsh.
In the first fight, Jones waited for Walsh to attack. This time, Jones did
some of his own attacking.
“At times, he would come to me, but most of the time I went to him,” Walsh
said. “And it’s hard to fight that way because you’re open.
“I fight better when he comes at me.”
Jones’s new style was more aggressive, but it didn’t get the job done this
time either. The deciding combination for Jones came at the 1:52 mark of the
fifth round.
Jones, who looked tired, was backed into a corner when Walsh gave out his
last two punches.
“The right uppercut just took it all out of him,” Walsh said. “The left
hook just finished it.”
The referee stepped between the two boxers and gave Jones a standing eight
count. Jones then staggered out of the corner, and when the referee saw that,
he signaled the fight was over.
Walsh, who has a 5-1-1 record at the age of 21, is still learning from his
fights.
“I don’t want to fight a guy where I punch him and he’ll fall down,” Walsh
said. “In the ring is where you learn.”
For being one of the main events, Friday night, Reed wasn’t sure he was
going to fight.
“We weren’t sure up until 10 minutes before the fight,” Reed said. “First,
I heard he was coming, then he wasn’t. I got frustrated.”
But it didn’t take much to get Reed back into focus.
“During the pre-fight, there’s a lot of confusion, but he’s mentally
prepared for it,” said Ed Kozden, who trains Reed along with Elwin White. “We
just had to remind him that, regardless, he’s here to fight. And that tuned
him right in.”
TIMES LEADER/LEWIS GEYER
Chris Walsh, top, battles Bobby Jones on the way to a TKO in a middleweight
matchup Friday night in Dickson City.
LOCAL
BOXING