Photo Provided TRAVIS CLARK delivers a punch during Saturday’s Thrills in the Hills event at WesBanco Arena. Clark suffered a torn bicep during the match against Dell Long and lost for just the second time as a professional fighter.

WHEELING — Ohio Valley fighters won five bouts Saturday night during “Thrills in the Hills” inside WesBanco Arena. However, one of those who wasn’t victorious was Morristown’s Travis “The Terror” Clark.

The 39-year-old Union Local graduate suffered a serious injury to his left biceps during the fifth round and couldn’t answer the bell for the sixth as Beckley’s Dell Long (6-3-2) walked away with a TKO victory and the World Boxing Foundation’s North American Heavyweight title belt before a stunned crowd.

“I went into the fight with a little injury, but you’ve got to fight through injuries sometimes. You just have to get in there and go with it,” Clark said. “You can’t back out. Everyone gets bruises, cuts and scrapes … you’ve got to fight. That’s the way it is.

“It just so happens that (my bicep) ripped the rest of the way,” he continued while dealing with the pain. “So here we are.”

Clark (13-2) said he injured his arm while preparing for the fight, which was his first since stepping out of the ring earlier this year. It was also his first professional loss in the Ohio Valley. The other came in Paris.

“Congratulations to the winner. He deserves it,” Clark added. “I’ll get healed up and I’ll be back.”

Long, a third generation boxer, followed his gameplan to a tee.

“We wanted to take the fight to him from the first round. We wanted to set a high pace and he couldn’t handle it,” Long confirmed. “This is a long-awaited dream. My pawpaw has been pushing me for a long time for this. My uncles were close to getting titles and my momma was a professional boxer.

“I want to thank my dad for looking down on me. I lost him about a year-and-a-half ago and he really pushed me to what I’m doing.”

East Liverpool’s “Sugar Shi” Shianne Gist improved to a perfect 6-0 when she scored a first-round TKO of Bethesda’s Crystal “CoCo” Byers at 1:45. The win also allowed Gist to become the first Ohio Valley women’s welterweight champion.

“I knew she was going to come in strong so I couldn’t let her get off any shots,” Gist explained. “I knew she was going to try and take me out, so I wanted to apply pressure early and time my shots. I saw openings and I took advantage of them. I knew she was hurt when I hit her. I just focused on that area.”

Weirton’s Branko Busick was also a quick winner in his professional MMA heavyweight bout. The 241-pound Busick, fighting for the first time his father Nick “Big Bully” Busick passed away, took out Columbus native Matt Comer with an anaconda choke hold at the 2:44 mark of the first round.

“I’m just so thankful to be able to get in the ring and do what I love to do,” Busick said. “Thankful is an understatement. I’m just so thankful for a lot of things.”

Busick was a standout football player after transferring to Steubenville Big Red. He went on to play at West Virginia University before legal troubles sidelined a promising career.

“I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I wouldn’t have the vision I have today if it wasn’t for the stuff that I’ve gone through in my life.”

Amateur winners include St. Clairsville’s Abhay Horvath and Bellaire’s Richie Loew, both of whom won by TKOs.

Others victors were Grafton’s “Iron” Mike Snider; Buckhannon’s Dakota “Lone Wolf” Linger; Oak Hill’s Shawn Laughery; Masontown’s Matt Wright; Parkersburg’s “Razor” Raymond Davila; Lumberport’s Aaron Cable and St. Mary’s Corey Stewart.

The 12-fight card was put on by Dr. Troy Balgo’s Superior Sports Promotions.

FIGHT NOTE

∫ It is customary for fight promoters to honor fighters who have went to the big ring in the sky with a ceremonial 10-bell count prior to the start of the fights. Saturday night was no different as the late Busick was honored appropriately so.

“Those 10 bells touched my heart,” Branko Busick acknowledged.