By Richard Baker
bakerricharde@comcast.net
After suffering his first defeat on an ESPN2-televised bout at Shelton’s Little Creek Casino on July 11, Auburn’s Mike Gavronski returned to the ring Saturday with fists burning.
The 163-pound Gavronski (15-1-1, with 10 knockouts) scored a unanimous decision over Houston’s Gerardo Ibarra (14-2-0, 8 KOs) in a 10-round main event at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.
The judges scored it 97-93, 97-93, 96-94.
Ibarra refused to take a backward step and did not disappoint. He was in the fight from the beginning and landed some vicious shots. His punches appeared harder than Gavronski’s, but Gavronski landed more to give him the hard-fought middleweight victory.
Gavronski brought the crown to its feet. The venue erupted in cheers after the announced victory, and Gavronski, swarmed by fans, had difficulty returning to his dressing room.
Gavronski, a local favorite and rising national star, refused to discuss his one loss to Tureano Johnson, a fight in which he won the first three rounds but then seemed to tire. He said he does not believe in the past, only the future, a future in which his fight name, “Imagine,” implies, contains only victories.
Sam Ditusa is Gavronski’s trainer and manager.
Brian Halquist Productions, staged his 98th boxing event at the Emerald Queen, with Gavronski as the main attraction. Gavronski brings in fans from around the state, eager to watch his rise in the professional ranks.
Newly hired matchmaker Andy Nance made an effort to book mostly Washington and Northwest fighters rather than unknowns from out of state: Cameron Sevilla-Rivera from Spanaway; Aubrey Morrow and Adam Querido from Vancouver, B.C.; Will Hughes from Tacoma; Marcelino Pineda from Grandview; Daryl Gardner from Spokane; Benny Vinson from Oregon; Mickey White from Wenatchee; and Jeff Hatton from Aberdeen.
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