Anasta, Krupp triumph! February 28, 2004 By Randy Hammons

Famed trainer Kevin Rooney turned out to be the biggest winner of all Thursday night in Underdog Boxing’s monthly professional boxing series at TwiRo Pa in New Orleans. Rooney went down to the Big Easy from his Catskill, N.Y. base with two fighters in tow. And both came out victorious.

Middleweights Leonard P. Anasta and Jay Krupp both won decisions and both remained unbeaten.

Anasta, a native of Haiti, won by majority decision over six rounds against Miguel Aguila. Anasta improved to 12-0. He has 9 knockouts. Aguila fell to 9-31-1.

And Krupp, a native of New Orleans, won a unanimous decision over Houma veteran Steve Verdin in a four-rounder. Krupp improved to 2-0, while Verdin fell to 3-19 (1).

For all intents and purposes, the Anasta-Aguila bout turned out to be the main event. For the second time in as many months, the main event fell through. Heavyweights James Walton (19-4-2) and John Sargent (24-3) were scheduled for the main event. Sargent was also a part of the last month’s main event that fell through. He was to meet Rob Calloway last month. And heavyweight Fred Kassi (3-0) was scheduled to meet John Turlington (2-0) in a 4-rounder. And that bout never materialized.

Anasta preferred to fight outside against Aguila. But Aguila tried to crowd the quicker Anasta. Aguila was penalized a point for holding in the first round by referee Kenny Saintes.

Anasta’s best round was the sixth when he pounded away with Aguila on the ropes. After a stinging straight right to Aguila’s head, Anasta went to work on the body and delivered a series of combinations to the midsection.

Judges Barry Orgeron and Paul Sita saw Anasta winning 58-55 and 59-54, respectively. Judge Larry Berger saw it a draw at 57-57. Fightnews had Anasta winning 59-55. There were no knockdowns. Anasta weighed 162, while Aguila weighed 173 pounds. There were no knockdowns in the Krupp-Verdin bout.

In other bouts, Baton Rouge middleweight John Revish celebrated his debut and his birthday in style, winning by knockout over Indiana’s David Love (0-2). The end came at 2:09 of the first round;

Baton Rouge middleweight Zane Marks won his pro debut with a unanimous decision over Trenice Brown, who was also making his debut. The bout was scheduled for four rounds. Marks appeared to have Brown on the verge of a knockout several times in the fight. There were knockdowns that counted.

In a four-round heavyweight bout, 282-pound William R. Cook had a 76-pound weight advantage against Houma’s Darrin Carline. And Cook, who fights out of Kansas City, Mo., used it to his advantage. Cook scored a knockdown in the fourth round. Cook (4-0, 3 KO) won by unanimous decision. Carline fell to 5-4 with 4 KO.

And in a four-round female bout, Hattiesburg super bantamweight Dana Kendrick (4-0, 4 KO) won by TKO over Laurel’s Kim Dunston. The end came at 1:16 of the opening round.

Questions? Comments? Contact Randy Hammons Randy is the sports editor of the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Miss.