Melbourne's Troy Harden wins with KO

By Matt Dewhurst

Sports writer

Fight fans from around the area packed into the Port St. Lucie Community Center April 20 for a night of professional boxing that featured fighters from as far as Tennessee and as close as down the street.

The seven fights featured three first-round knockouts and five pro debuts.

The night started out with a bang as Juan Aguirre thrilled the crowd, beating Robert Newbiggerin by unanimous decision. However, none of the next three fights would last more than two minutes.

In the next bout, Khabib Alakhverdiev dropped Devarise Crayton in just 1:33 for his second career victory. Then, Vincent Miranda sent Bud Luther to the canvas twice in 1:08 before the match was called.

Troy Harden of Melbourne wasted no time in knocking out Gregg Webb. Webb sprinted out of his corner to start the match, throwing a flurry of punches at Harden who was up against the ropes. Once the two were separated, Harden sent Webb to the floor. The official time of the bout was 1 minute.

"He came out wild so I just tried to protect myself and get off the ropes so the ref wouldn't stop the fight," said Harden, who is now 6-1.

Port St. Lucie resident "Big" Al Gazdacko proved to be the biggest draw for local fans, getting the loudest cheer of any boxer on the night. Gazdacko, who had been out of boxing for five years, was making his pro debut at the age of 40.

Despite the cheers from his hometown behind him, Gazdacko (6-foot-5-inch-221 pounds) struggled with the much bigger Leonard Collier of Orlando, losing a split decision after four rounds.

Collier (6-foot, 9-inch, 279 pounds) was able to use his long reach to keep Gazdacko. When Gazdacko did get in a jab, Collier quickly retaliated with a flurry of shots of his own.

After the bout, Gazdacko stood near the lobby shaking his head and toyed with thoughts of retirement. But those were soon erased by the flood of promoters and fans that told him to continue on.

"Not everybody can be Rocky Marciano," said Gazdacko. "I had to take the chance. When you're 40 years old, you (have) got to take chances. The guy was just too big."

Gazdacko said he plans to fight again soon, and is still on track to fight six times this year. Until then, he will continue to train at House of Champions in Vero Beach alongside fellow heavyweight Mike Marrone.

"I have to earn my respect back. I've lost as an amateur before, I know how to take it," said Gazdacko.

Promoter Moe Malacarne, who put on the event, was happy with the way the night finished. He said he is looking for another card to take place sometime this summer.

"We had a good turnout. The card was a good card, a couple of fights could have been more competitive, but fans like action," said Malacarne referring to the three knockouts. "Unfortunately we had three knockouts, but fans like to see knockouts."