War on the Shore IX is a knockout in Cleveland

Gionta Management and Gedeon Boxing put on a thrilling Pro-Am show at LaSalle Theatre in Cleveland last Saturday. 

 

Their first co-promotion working together, Bryan Gedeon and Derek Gionta, were very pleased with the results and plan to continue a series of shows.

 

In the main event of the evening, popular Croatian light heavyweight Christian Juresic (1-0) of Cleveland, defeated an awkward yet entertaining Deven Paulsen (0-2) of Anchorage, Alaska by unanimous decision.

 

Juresic, a former Cleveland Golden Glove champion, was eagerly anticipating turning professional and could do so in his hometown.

 

Paulsen, an MMA veteran, came out aggressively in the opening round, winning it on one of the judges’ scorecards.

 

Juresic did a great job of keeping his composure in front of the large contingent of Croatian fans behind him.

 

The movement, angle changing, and overall awkwardness of the Alaskan native were soon nullified by the clean boxing and bodywork of Juresic. 

 

Juresic dropped Paulsen in the third round with a sharp two-piece combination.  

 

Paulsen had a point deducted prior to the round as his corner removed his shoes, retying them, and delaying the start of the third. 

 

A more dominant fourth round ensued as Juresic look to finish off Paulsen with a number of flurries against the ropes. 

 

Two of the three judges had a shutout for Juresic while one judge gave one round to Paulsen.

 

Juresic stuck to the game plan and made the proper adjustments to wear his opponent down. 

 

"When you truly work hard for something and put your all into it you can achieve the unthinkable as long as you believe in yourself and are willing to do what it takes to get there," said Juresic. 

 

You will see this young man back in the ring very soon.  

 

In the co-main event, heavyweight DaJuan Calloway (7-2, 7 KOs) made quick work of West Virginia’s Alex Davis (3-3-1, 3 KOs), putting him on the canvas with a right hand that saw the referee stop his count midway through to wave it off. 

 

Calloway, a giant man, has stepped up in competition a couple of times so far in his career, and will now look to step up once again in August against prospect Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank card in Arizona. 

 

"The energy level of the show was electrifying and there was some exciting fights and this was a perfect venue to get me ready for Aug 12th where I will make a step up in competition!," said Calloway. 

 

In what may have been the most impressive individual performance of the evening, Chavon Stillwell (3-0, 3 KOs), of Mansfield, Ohio scored his third straight first-round knockout over Virginia’s Daniele Benedetto (3-2-1) with one second remaining in the round.

 

Stillwell, who fought at super middleweight and 188 lbs so far in his career, bumped up even higher in weight when Benedetto accepted the offer.  

 

Both tipped the scales around 190 lbs.

 

The slick, hard-punching southpaw got to work early and often behind a stiff jab and right hooks.

 

He dropped the usually durable Benedetto twice in the opening frame, the second with a lead right hook that put Benedetto down for the count. 

 

Stillwell plans to campaign anywhere from 168 to 175 against whoever is willing and ready to fight. 

 

"I just wanna say thanks for having me on the show and I can’t wait to fight on the next one," said Stillwell. 

 

"I was fighting at my walk around weight so I felt strong and still came out with the knockout."

 

In the evening’s "Fight of the Night," nearby Bedford, Ohio lightweight Shawn Rall (3-6, 3 KOs) scored a come-from-behind third-round TKO victory over Newark, Ohio’s Robert Presley (3-4, 1 KO).

 

Presley came out strong in the first, landing clean punches and eluding Rall’s counters.

 

Much of the same continued in the second, which was punctuated with a Presley knockdown as Rall fell to a knee following a brief Presley flurry.

 

Early in the third, Rall caught Presley with a clean counter right hook that rocked him into the ropes with no answer to the violent onslaught of punches Rall delivered. 

 

Rall briefly lost his balance looking for the knockout and fell to a knee.

 

As the referee briefly paused the action, Presley stepped back into his blue corner.  

 

As the action continued, Rall stepped forward while Presley, with his hands down, looked off to the right and the fight was quickly waved off.

 

In the opening professional bout of the night, Dillon Schimmel (1-0), of North Carolina, defeated Zane Fry (0-3), of Columbus, Ohio by unanimous decision.

 

Fry was the conventional boxer of the two while Schimmel looked to sneak in overhand rights while applying the pressure for the duration of the fight. 

 

The debuting Schimmel hopes to fight again soon, but sustained a right hand injury that could keep him on the shelf for a little while.

 

Amateur Results:

 

Brady Stone defeated Noel Sanchez. 132 LBS.

 

Don Otto defeated Joe Corrigan. 147 LBS. 

 

Dylan Prpic defeated Joe David. 203+ LBS.

 

Matt Saxon defeated Rodric Mack. 176 LBS.

 

Morgan Sapp defeated Abby Sdrakas. 128LBS 

 

Stephaine Radtke defeated  Heather Sutton 165 LBS.

 

Mike Pinto defeated John Jastrzebski. 165 LBS

 

Co-promoter Bryan Gedeon was thrilled with the outcome and can’t wait to get back to work on the next one.

 

"Last night was a tremendous success! This was my ninth show, but my first Pro-Am show that I was fortunate to co-promote with my friend from Pittsburgh, Derek Gionta," said Gedeon. 

 

"War on the Shore just kicked down another door with a successful pro-am show. I will continue to do three amateur shows per year and will now do two or three Pro-Am shows per year."

 

Gionta obliged to future plans.

 

"We put a lot of thought and effort into this show.  There was lot of great action with the amateurs and pros," said Gionta. 

 

"We saw a number of great fights, and very good individual performances.  Chavon Stillwell had an eye opening performance.  We look forward to seeing him back in the ring soon."

 

With a Cleveland and Pittsburgh promoter teaming up on shows, fans can only hope and expect to see some blue-collar matchups between some of the two cities’ best up-and-coming boxers.