TYNER DOES HIS PART, GETS QUICK KAYO
Posted: February 3, 2008; Corrected: February 18, 2008
by Lindy Lindell

Joe Donofrio's evening of boxing came across pretty well after all. Hopes of getting local favorites Vernon Paris and Lanardo Tyner on the same card (though not against each other), with the idea that the two would later be matched against each other later in 2008 went by the boards when Paris begged off the show the Sunday before the fight due to a bum right hand.

It was unclear as to the extent of the injury, whether it occurred during a gym workout or whether it was due to the same nagging injury that Paris sustained two fights ago against John Brown. At any rate, Paris showed at the Friday night card with a wrapped right hand. No matter. Tyner stepped up and blew away the credible
Victorio Abadia, 22-7.

Former Detroiter Lanardo "Pain Server" Tyner gets lifted into the air following his 19th win, coming Saturday against Victorio Abadia in Auburn Hills. Photo: Susan Barnes

Not that Abadia was a raging threat; he'd been stopped in his
previous two and had lost his last three, but he appeared to have come to fight, backing Tyner into a corner shortly after the starting bell and then backing Tyner against the ropes a second time before Tyner took the advantage and pushed Abadia against the ropes where he hammered away and dropped his man with a right. Abadia arose and appeared to be ready to resume the rumble but a straight right on the beltline was a killshot for Tyner, his 11th kayo and 19th win.

An estatic Tyner couldn't contain himself with the victory--and didn't much try. He jumped up on each turnbuckle and held his arms aloft, flexing his muscles for Paris and the Palace (of Auburn Hills) crowd to see. Next was a loosey-goosey dance while holding the announcer's microphone. And then came a trio of bouquets tossed in the direction of promoter Donofrio: three "love you's" no less. Then Tyner hogged the mike to play matchmaker. The much-balyhooed "feud" with Paris was really nothing at all, Tyner cooed. He really wanted to fight him, but first the D.C. Peterson brothers were out there and he and
Paris would fight them before they would fight each other, he said.

Luigi Gjokaj (left) and Jose "Angel" Mondujano in their pro debut matchup Saturday. Photo: Bob Ryder

On the undercard, the pro-debuting Lightweight Luigi Gjokaj of
Sterling Heights was met with a rousing fan base that cheered lustily when he had a good first round against another Michigan pro-debuter, Angel Mondujano of St. John. But Mondujano moved into Gjokaj in the second, turned him around with one shot and then dropped him with another. Gjokaj went down onto his face, but beat the count.
However, he wobbled and the bout was stopped. This was an excellent match and exciting for the two rounds that it lasted.

Brian "The Lion" Mihtar had no trouble with Ukraine's Mikhall Lyubarsky. Photo: Bob Ryder.

Middleweight Brian Mihtar, 9-0, took his time and drilled an inept Mikhall Lyubarsky, 3-9.

In a dull encounter that the crowd was booing from the first round on, Chris Grays, 157, broke a losing streak with a majority decision over a fat and out-of-shape Bernard Harris, who had an even longer losing streak. Ironically, Harris, who was required to lose three pounds to participate in the fight, challenged anyone in the house at the weigh-in the night before.

Guillermo Sanchez, 3-0, 137, Buffalo, NY, won convincingly over the game but nothing else David Maund. Maund is a spirited boxer, but his act of smiling after getting hit is getting old; he hasn't won a single round in four Michigan appearances.

The card opened with Cory Hall, 129, 0-5-1, being overwhelmed by Trevor Latulas, 2-1, of West Palm Beach, FL, brought here by former champion and Olympic Gold Medal winner in the 1976 Olympics, Howard Davis.

Editor's Note: An incorrect sentence break in the editing process of the original posting mistakenly stated that the crowd booed the Mihtar-Lyubarsky fight when, in fact, the crowd reaction was to the Harris-Grays bout. We apologize for the error.