Ring Girl KOed at Sands' Saturday Night Fights

Frank Pintabone with Ron Angle

There were several knockouts at Saturday night's Fight Night, broadcast by NBC Sports at Bethlehem's Sands Event Center. Before a rowdy crowd of about 1,000 fight enthusiasts that included former heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, Vasily "The Professor" Lepikhin from Russia schooled Robert "The Mad Butcher" Berridge from New Zealand, finishing the fight with a TKO in the fifth round. Another New Zealander, 6'4" Joseph Parker, knocked out Alabaman Keith Thompson in the third. But the knock out that worried fans most of all was, believe it or not, was to one of the ring girls.

A petite blond wearing a skimpy outfit that left very little to the imagination, she drew more applause than anyone. She did a header while exiting the ring after one of the fights. The crowd was hushed into silence as she sprawled out on the floor. The ring doctor immediately went to her assistance, abandoning a fighter. But distracted by her alluring apparel, he did a header, too. Both were lying on the floor in a bit of a stupor.

The Easton assassin with a character assassin

That's when the Northampton County Bulldog, Ron Angle, sprung into action.

"I'm a doctor," he announced, and went to the girl's side, assisted by Easton School Director Frank Pintabone. Frank was at the fights, too. Though Frank has no medical degree, he had been the "cut man" in several corners throughout the night, so that has to count for something.

Angle and Pintabone pronounced the doctor dead and went to work on the girl.

"Look, I'm alright now, you can let me go," said the ring girl.

"This girl obviously has a concussion," announced Angle. "She needs mouth to mouth," he added, as he and Frank dragged her away, kicking and screaming.

Steve Cunningham

Actually, as most of you know, I'm making up the bit about Ron and Pintabone. The girl and even the doc did go down, but she left on her own two legs, with an ice bag on her derriere.

It was a great night at the fights. Frank really did act as the cut man for several of the fighters. In Easton, he is working with several fighters, including his son, Elijah "Boom Boom" Pintabone. He and Ron met each other and tried to explain to me why sane people can be school directors.

It was a night in which Bethlehem boxers Luis Acevedo and Ismael Serrano prevailed in the lightweights. But to me, the fight of the night involved two heavyweights who pounded each other for ten rounds, with neither giving an inch. One was a fighter, the other a boxer. The boxer prevailed.

Vyacheslav Glazkov from Ukraine, known as the Czar, is the boxer. I first saw him in March, when he chipped away at Tomasz Ademek, the world's then #2 ranked heavyweight contender, defeating him in a 12-round match.

Ron Cruz

On Saturday, the Czar faced an opponent disparagingly referred to as a journeyman. New York's Derric Rossy, a former golden gloves champion in NYC and one-time defensive end for Boston College, was no slouch. He was a fighter with the heart of a champion, who grew stronger in each round. Both fighters shook off punches that would have knocked me into the next century. When the bout was over, there was no clear winner. Larry Holmes, who was sitting right in front of Angle and I, said the judges would give it to Glaxkov because of his technical skill, and he was right.

In an alley, I'd take Rossy.

In addition to these heavyweight fights, there was a lot of action in the lighter divisions. Bethlehem's very own Ismael Serrano is now 2-1 after defeating Allentown's Jonathan Williams. Luis Acevedo, another Bethlehemite, was floating on air after defeating fellow featherweight Frankie Garriga, a golden gloves champion from the Bronx..

The night was also punctuated by other boxers among the fans. I met Frank's son, Elijah "Boom Boom" Pintabone, who at 15 is still an amateur. Frank introduced Ron and I to Bethlehem Basher Ronald Cruz as well as USBA heavyweight champ Steve Cunningham, who was there with his wife.

We were in heaven.

I have a story to tell you about Steve Cunningham's nine year-old daughter. I'll do that tomorrow.