By Frank Bartolini

March 9, 2019 – A foot of snow rests on roofs, mountains and naked corn fields. Ambient wind chill temperatures tap dance around zero degrees. The Turning Stone Resort and Casino might as well be in Siberia.  It is here, where Philly native Joey Dawejko  squared off against Russian  Sergei Kuzmin. Stout and fit Dawejko, stepped off the scale at two hundred fifty pounds.Massive from the size of his feet to his oversized cranium Kuzmin weighed 248.5 pounds.

Make no doubt Dawejko was brought here to be a stepping stone. A gauge to evaluate Kuzmin, now and in the future.

Not adhering to the script Dawejko did everything a boxer that was needed to deserve a decision.Dawejko was casted as Rocky Balboa opposite Kuzmin as Drago.  Poor judging kept the Russians record spotless.

Most of the fans in attendance were not familiar with Dawejko and thought he was fodder for the Main Events promoted prospect. By the end of the second, Dawejko had won the crowd’s favor and hearts. Kuzmin looks mean but fights soft. After Dawejko scored a booming right hand off the side of Kuzmin head in round five, the Russian became apprehensive  . The next couple of heats Dawejko was in control scoring well with rights to the body. Seasoned and adapt defensively Dawejko’s left uppercuts to Kuzmin gut proved to be effective. Possessing superior hand speed Dawejko appeared to be the have the edge  even though his face was a bit banged up. Maintaining a better pace,Joey,   had the fight wrapped up after eight stanzas.  Sensing he was about to lose Kuzmin outhustled Dawejko  last six minutes of the contest .

Cat calls and boos from the seats responded to  David Diamante announcement of Kuzmin majority decision victory by scores  95-95 and 96-94 twice. All of press row had Dawejko winning. This scribe saw it in Dawejko favor 97-94, 6-3-1 in rounds. In disgust Dawejko quickly  left the ring with his dapperly dressed manager Mark Cipparone in tow. With this questionable loss Dawejko is now 19-7-4 (11 ko’s). Still having to prove that he is a worthy prospect Kuzmin stays undefeated 15-0 (11 ko’s)

This fight was delivered by Matchroom Promotions and streamed live on the DAZN

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Photo by Ed Mulholland/ Matchroom Boxing