Pittsburgh and the western Pennsylvania region was really a sports Mecca last weekend beginning with the opening of the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pa.
The Meadows Racetrack and Casino featured “Madness at The Meadows” professional boxing in an outdoor setting that even an impending thunderstorm could not stop, although I am reasonably certain that at least two of the fighters wish that their bouts had been postponed.
Last but not least, Pittsburgh got a taste of some serious soccer as two of our biggest allies from across the pond, the Manchester City soccer club from the United Kingdom faced off against the A.C. Milan Club hailing from Italy. Since everyone loves a good afternoon “spaghetti western” let’s call the three events, the good, the bad and the ugly.
First the good. The Steelers opened up training camp last Friday and as we all know in all training camps every team is a Super Bowl contender, until the regular season proves otherwise. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin seems to have filled most of the needs of the team at least theoretically, that may propel the team beyond an average 8-8 regular season mark and position the Steelers to make a run deep into the post season. As far as the offense and defense is concerned the questions are at running back, wide receiver, linebacker and the offensive and defensive lines may have been addressed, at least on paper anyway.
However, acquisitions through the draft as well as several off-season free agents signings to strengthen key positions may just well be what the doctor ordered.
The bad: “real” soccer came to Pittsburgh and to Heinz Field and it was not what the doctor ordered at least not for the AC Milan Club. However as far as the local economy is concerned over 34,000 fans, most of them from out of town, attended the contest injecting some “big dough” into the local economy. There was an entire family from North Carolina in the city to enjoy the Pittsburgh hospitality and the game. I grabbed the subway to Heinz Field and ran into a few fans from London. As we departed the train I said, “good luck.” The patriarch of the family replied in a very good natured but confident way; “thanks but we don’t need it.” We all had a good chuckle but it was no laughing matter once the game began because Manchester City scored 4 goals in the first 25 minutes and the rout was on. There was a rain delay and I am also reasonably certain at that point that AC Milan would have preferred to have been soaked by thundershowers than the barrage of goals from Manchester City that eventually won the lopsided contest, 5-1.
Now to the ugl…….y. Overall, Crown Boxing and The Meadows Racetrack and Casino put together a great night of professional boxing featuring the NABA USA Heavyweight Championship between Western PA native Jason Bergman and Ahror “AHA” Muralimov a native of Toytepa, Uzbekistan but now living and training in Houston, Texas. “AHA” was a replacement for Justin Jones. Tommy Karpency from Pittsburgh faced Dhafir “No Fear” Smith out of Philly for the combined NABA Light Heavyweight USA and Pennsylvania title.
The event was sponsored by Crown Boxing and the Meadows. The Karpency/Smith bout went the full scheduled 10 rounds with Karpency winning a unanimous decision but most of us at ringside could not comprehend how “No Fear” even lasted for 10 rounds.
From the beginning “No Fear” was pummeled by a barrage of punches consisting of endless combinations, jabs, hooks, uppercuts but kept on coming. As much as he was hit there was very few cuts and bruises visible on “No Fear.” Karpency won an easy decision. Next was the featured fight of the night. However everyone was completely shocked when “AHA” showed the partisan crowd that he was no laughing matter and knocked out Bergman midway through the second round. However, all in all, if Saturdays’ bouts at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino are an indicator, the popularity of boxing may again be on the rise in Western Pennsylvania.
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741 Follow him on Twitter @ultrascribe.)
