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ESPN Friday Night Fights Recap

March 23, 2007

Foxwoods Resort and Casino-Mashantucket, Connecticut

Heavyweight Match 4 Round Match:

Tony Grano (7-0-1, 6 KO's, 220 pounds) vs. John Turlington (5-10-1, 4 KO's, 225 pounds)

One of these fighters is the local guy set up to get a big win in front of a hometown crowd, the other guy is here to get knocked out. Look at the records and decide which, is which. It just doesn't need to be highlighted anymore. Turlington is 0-5 in his last matches and according to Joe Tessitore started out as a kick boxer. Turlington actually was a pro kick boxer for a while. When he discovered his striking skills weren't pro kick boxer level. Turlington then decided to become a pro boxer because there his striking skills would be so much better. Hey, he got a paid trip from Texas to a nice casino in Connecticut. Tony Grano actually did amateur boxing, a successful one and trained for this sport for a long time. Turlington's last four fights have all ended with him taking a nap and those applying the sleep aids were not real stellar opponents to say the least. Turlington is coming off a seven month lay off and took this fight on a week and a half notice. Turlington has taken some very good punches to the head and is still standing, but at a mere five feet eleven inches he may need to drop down to a lower weight class. If not for just improving his chances as fighter, but his doctor has to also be telling him that carrying that much extra weight just isn't good for him. The clock in this round apparently has called it an early night. So at some point in the first round, after awhile (there is no clock) a left from Grano ended up being the final punch to put Turlington down. Turlington answers the referee's count, only to be officially stopped a few seconds after action was allowed to resume. Grano had Turlington up against the ropes and was justfiring unblocked power shots with each hand as fast as he could throw them (which wasn't really that fast) and the referee stepped in to protect Turlington. This allowed the fight to end without forcing Turlington to go to the canvas again. Turlington has a good chin. As for Grano, this really should not count on his record as anything close to legitimate. The fight sent the fans home happy. Especially after the Connecticut fighter lost in the true main event it is always important to send the fans home happy with a hometown win.

The official decision is Tony Grano wins by TKO at 2:25 of the first round. This was an embarrassment to be called a match.