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Van Fleet wins by knockout, Cusumano earns decision

Above left, Matt Van Fleet has his arm raised as the winner after knocking out Lee Lee Pender in the first round. Above right, Anthony Cusumano is about to land a right against Markel Muhammed in his unanimous decision victory.

photos by steve hutz

Displaying two different styles of the Sweet Science, Old Forge fighters Matt Van Fleet and Anthony Cusumano came up with the same result as professional boxing returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania at Gus Genetti’s Manor in Dickson City on Thursday night.
In his professional boxing debut Van Fleet displayed a thunderous left hook in scoring a first-round knockout over Lee Lee Pender of Wilson, NC just 1:33 into the event.
Van Fleet, who was 22-5 as an amateur and last fought in the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Tournament in 2002, entered the ring to an eruption of cheers, as friends and family welcomed him back to the area. The Old Forge graduate had served in the Marines since graduating high school and has served tours in Iraq and Haiti. He had been living in South Carolina while training for his debut with trainer John Blanken.
“It feels good to be back,” said Van Fleet. “I’m just going to plan on fighting as much as I could.”
It didn’t take Van Fleet long to give the crowd its money’s worth. He came out and hit Pender with multiple left hooks as the crowd cheered every blow.
“It was just muscle memory,” said Van Fleet who was fighting for the first time in five years. “It just what boxers have to do.”
About a minute and half into the fight, Van Fleet connected on the left hook that would give him the victory. After ducking a Pender jab, Van Fleet countered and nailed Pender with a ferocious left hand. Pender went to his knees and never got back up.
“I just ducked down and came up underneath hitting him with it,” said Van Fleet. “I wasn’t expecting the knockout in my first pro fight.”
Cusumano’s fight went differently in that instead of ending the bout with one punch, the Old Forge business owner punished his opponent over four rounds with flurries of lightning quick punches.
Looking strong and in the best condition of his professional career, Cusumano (2-2-1) won by unanimous decision over Markel Muhammad in a rematch in the lightweight division. Cusumano lost to Muhammad on the ESPN2 card in February at the CYC in a decision.
Early in the fight, the two fighters felt each other out, each getting in their share of shots. But Cusumano was more elusive and quicker on his feet, while ducking punches thrown by Muhammad.
In the second round, the two fighters came out of their shells, exchanging a flurry of jabs and uppercuts. But in the middle of the round Cusumano connected with a few hooks, wobbling Muhammad. In the final 15 seconds of the round the fighters each kicked it into overdrive, exchanging big blows.
During the final flurry of the second round, Cusumano suffered a cut above his right eye, but the 27-year old’s corner men went to work between rounds to stop the bleeding and get the cut under control.
“I have great corner men. I got cut and they stopped the bleeding,” said Cusumano. “Those guys are just great, they give me great guidance.”
Coming out in round three, Cusumano went to work early on the body of Muhammad and controlled the round. With 20 seconds to go in the round, Cusumano threw a body combination that hurt Muhammad. The former Blue Devil football standout took that momentum – and a full tank of gas – into the final round of the fight. Through three rounds Cusumano never tired, displaying his top conditioning.
“I was in better condition this time around,” said Cusumano. “I knew I just had to stay busy during the fight if I wanted to win”
Despite being ahead on all of the judges’ cards, Cusumano came out in the final round as the aggressor once again. With about a minute to go in the round Cusumano had Muhammad against the ropes and unloaded a combination of left and right hooks that hurt his opponent.
In the final ten seconds of the fight, both fighters looking for the knockout, would exchange monster blows, but Cusumano stayed away from any hope Muhammed had of landing a last-chance knockout punch.
In the end, all the judges scored in favor of Cusumano to unanimously give him his second professional victory.
“I just was staying busier this time around. I still a lot of things I need to work on,” says Cusumano. “But I was in better condition this time around for the fight.”
Both Van Fleet and Cusumano plan to fight again in the future.
Cusumano said he isn’t sure when his next fight will be, but Van Fleet’s trainer John Blanken is hoping to get Van Fleet fighting every two or three weeks.
If Van Fleet and Cusumano could do what they did Thursday night in every fight, both will be busy for a very long time.