DUNMORE \u2014 It was a familiar opponent and the same result for JP Hale\u2019s second visit to Northeast Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, earned a victory on points in an amateur bout over Abel Lucas of Camp Hill in the main event of Mother\u2019s Day Boxing in front of a sold out crowd of 650 at the Holiday Inn Scranton East on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The pair also matched up at the same venue Nov. 1 with Hale coming out on top on points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to box him a bit more this time and I kind of got bored of it because I think I\u2019m more of a fighter,\u201d Hale said. \u201cI kind of already knew the outcome of the fight; I just wanted to make sure it was more sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucas came out attacking Hale to the body in the first round, but Hale answered with a left hook upstairs and a right hook to the body. After a nice combination from Lucas, Hale countered with a stinging right hook to the head and a left hook to the body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I have a good guard,\u201d Hale said. \u201cEspecially because he\u2019s smaller, he\u2019s going to go to the body. I just hunched over and used my body to gas him and then threw over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucas scored with a good left hook early in the second round and then went back to the body. Hale landed a combination with Lucas on the ropes and then connected with four rights in a row upstairs and then a straight left.<\/p>\n
In the third round, Hale backed Lucas against the ropes and landed a few hard shots upstairs and then a big right with Lucas in the corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more that I can read his body language and I knew he couldn\u2019t keep up with my fitness so it was more I was using my boxing and I jumped on him when I could,\u201d Hale said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the continuation of a busy stretch for Hale, who fought in Scotland and Turkey in the last few weeks and will compete in Holland next Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unreal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a boxer\u2019s dream. Just constantly busy. This is what I love doing. It\u2019s just been my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thriller from Thunder<\/p>\n
Jayden \u201cThunder\u201d Aquino entered the ring dressed like Michael Jackson with \u201cBeat It\u201d playing on the speakers. When the music stopped, the show really began.<\/p>\n
The 13-year-old who trains out of Scranton\u2019s Irish Boxing Club connected with stinging punches to earn a win on points over Caesar Vega.<\/p>\n
The southpaw Aquino landed a nice straight left hand in the first round and scored with a short right as Vega, 12, tried to get inside. Vega connected with a good left hook near the end of the first round.<\/p>\n
With both boxers on the defensive in the second, Aquino won the round with another good straight left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working on it all the time,\u201d Aquino said. \u201cThe left is my best punch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vega charged out of the corner to start the third round and the boxers traded shots. After the fighters were separated, Aquino rushed in and landed a left. Then, with Vega backed into a corner, Aquino scored with another straight left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was locked in physically and mentally so when he came in it was like, OK he\u2019s going to come in because it\u2019s the last round so I stayed calm, he came in swinging, I weaved it and I started getting active,\u201d Aquino said.<\/p>\n
Break the hold<\/p>\n
Zach Venesky\u2019s opponent Bryce Byrd was warned several times throughout the fight for holding behind the head, but Venesky used the holding to his advantage to earn a win on points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like when he was holding me he was leaving himself open to body shots, so I was just digging underneath because he had his arm there so he gave me an opening,\u201d Venesky said. \u201cI felt like he was trying to pull me down, but I was too strong so it kind of worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the first round, Venesky pushed Byrd against the ropes and landed a few body shots. Byrd landed a short left with Venesky trying to jab. Venesky was also trying to go the body, fighting as the shorter boxer for one of the few times in his amateur career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve fought a few guys that had an inch or two on me,\u201d said the 6-3 former Valley View and Rutgers football star. \u201cIt does make it a little different because with the height difference you\u2019re throwing the jab up a little higher and focus on the body more, so it was a little bit of an adjustment for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venesky landed a right to the body and a left-right combination upstairs with Byrd in the corner in the second round. Venesky went back to the body in the third round to earn the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Gene (Reed), day in and day out with the workouts, he gets us ready,\u201d Venesky said. \u201cAny adversity we face we\u2019re prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Results<\/p>\n
103 pounds: Micah Harris def. Mekhi Flowers on points.<\/p>\n
168 pounds: Haaziq Morrow def. Gabriel Hunter on points.<\/p>\n
152 pounds: Jonathan Lumpkin def. Jesse Burke by referee stoppage because of injury in Round 2.<\/p>\n
148 pounds: Martin Tinoco def. John Gilligan on points.<\/p>\n
140 pounds: Alexandel Orosco def. Stephon Caple on points.<\/p>\n
135 pounds: Giannmarco Beltran def. Eduardo Rodriguez on points.<\/p>\n
80 pounds: Jayden Aquino def. Caesar Vega on points.<\/p>\n
150 pounds: Anye Robinson def. Caleb Young on points.<\/p>\n
146 pounds: Abass Rabo def. Jordan Gonzalez on points.<\/p>\n
147 pounds: JP Hale def. Abel Lucas on points.<\/p>\n
Heavyweights: Zach Venesky def. Bryce Byrd on points.<\/p>\n
185 pounds: Robin Taylor def. Kasim Lewis on points.<\/p>\n
160 pounds: Verdo McTeer def. Yaniel Salome on points.<\/p>\n
143 pounds: Jarrod Thomas def. Joey Salvia on points.<\/p>\n
218 pounds: Jeremiah Mateo Valdez def. Jahzivelo Lopez on points.<\/p>\n
145 pounds: Johnathan Levine def. Randy Soto by TKO in Round 3.<\/p>\n
140 pounds: Jon Henriquez def. Pedro Tapia on points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUNMORE \u2014 It was a familiar opponent and the same result for JP Hale\u2019s second visit to Northeast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-189000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}