St. Clairsville’s Sikole wins, remains perfect in boxing

Bellaire’s Loew claims TKO victory, now 5-3 in career

MOUNDSVILLE -- Live boxing -- professional and amateur -- returned to the Ohio Valley Saturday night for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down nearly everything.

It was a good night for the locals, as well. Three of four fighters from the valley won their bouts, two by TKO and the other by decision.

St. Clairsville's Stacy Sikole got the 10-bout card started -- despite being the co-main event -- when she posted a decision over Pittsburgh's Donya Shodja (1-1) in a USA Boxing-sanctioned 125-pound amateur fight. Sikole is still perfect at 4-0 after dominating the three two-minute rounds.

"She was a tough girl. It was fun," Sikole said after being presented a trophy by Promotor Jim Frio of Revolution Championship Boxing. "I thought I won all three rounds … definitely."

USA Boxing doesn't differentiate between a split or unanimous decision.

"She was a southpaw, so we went out and tried to stay on her right shoulder and pop the jab," Sikole said of Shodja. "My plan was to stay on her shoulder and got to the body as often as I could. It worked out well, but she kept her distance, as well. I had to track her down a little bit, but it was good."

Sikole will be back in action on Aug. 21 in Cleveland.

Bellaire's Richie Loew is now 5-3 as an amateur after a TKO of Merrick Johnson (2-2). Despite the victory at 155 pounds, Loew said there is more room for improvement.

"It was a sloppy fight. I still have a lot of work to do," he said. "The fight really didn't go the way I wanted it to or planned for it go. I wanted to look alot better, but a win is a win."

Loew wasn't surprised when Johnson called it quits at the 1:53 of the second round.

"I knew he was going to quit, either by laying down or walking out."

Loew also fought without a cornerman when his was not allowed at ringside over a license dispute.

"I don't know what happened," Loew, who trains at the Bull Pen Fight Club in East Wheeling, said.

Loew said after a couple more fights, he plans to turn pro.

Moundsville's Justin McIumphy made his amateur heavyweight debut a successful one. The 345-pound 2020 John Marshall graduate scored a TKO at 1-minute, 50-seconds of the second round over Franktown's Raymond King (0-1).

"It felt good. In the ring it was nothing but quiet," McIumphy said. "It was weird because I expected a lot of noise."

McIumphy used a bevy of body shots to wear the 318-pound King down.

"I knew he was getting tired, but I was getting tired at the same time," he admitted.

Another Moundsville fighter wasn't as fortunate as Tommy Burton dropped a unanimous decision to Philadephia's Jeryl "Shadow Baby" Sanders in a 175-pound bout.

IN Pro boxing action, Mike "The Pittsburgh Bull" Manna improved to 6-2 with a hard-earned split decision over Parkersburg's Andrew Satterfield (5-6) in the main event.

Two of the three judges scored the fight 40-36 and 39-37 for Manna, while the third had it 39-37 for Satterfield.

In the 'fight of the night,' Nelson 'The Nightmare' Best knocked out Pittsburgh's Paul 'Zeus' Zalus in 2:55 of the second round. The heavyweight bout was scheduled for four rounds, but the 283-pound Best, a Knoxville, Ohio, resident used a slew of right hands that sent Zalus crashing to the mat.

Ken Davis Jr., from Reno, Nev., was the other professional winner.

Winning amateur bouts were Joe Perez, Manny Sharp and Tonya Hopkins.