WYOMISSING – The two veteran professional fighters who took the match on late notice felt at least partially satisfied with the final verdict the night of Friday, July 24, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here.
It ended in a draw.’Lightning’ Harry Joe Yorgey of Bridgeport and Eric Mitchell of Philadelphia battled it out for six rounds of their 162-pound bout in the co-main event on the five-bout pro card that was staged by Lion Heart Promotions.
Both Yorgey and Mitchell have championship belts to their credit, but on this night, the judges felt there was no clearcut winner.
One judge scored the fight for Mitchell at 60-55 while the other two judges viewed it as a 57-57 draw, and the majority decision ruled.
Yorgey, who started his career with the Phoenixville Area Police Athletic League (PAL) program, had not been in the ring for a fight since June of 2013, and the layoff definitely had an effect on the strategy he used and the way he performed, especially during the early stages of the fight. He said afterwards that personal business and family issues caused him to be sidelined for such a long period of time.
Yorgey now has a record of 27-2-2 while Mitchell checks in at 23-11-2.
‘It is a credit to him (Mitchell),’ said Yorgey. ‘He is a veteran and was working inside and holding me off. I gave the first couple rounds away. If it would have been an eight-round fight, I think I would have knocked him out. I was getting the dust off. I had not fought in a year. I was real rusty. I felt it. But there are no excuses. It (draw) is not good, but it is better than a loss. I did it to myself, but he was strong. It was two crafty veterans who have been around.’
Yorgey praised Mitchell for taking the fight on short notice, but he also said he wished his bout would have been scheduled for eight or 10 rounds. Yorgey finished the fight strong with an assortment of hooks and uppercut punches in combinations that landed to the head and body.
‘I was never hurt,’ said Yorgey. ‘I was never in danger.’
In the first round, Mitchell came out fast and backed Yorgey to the ropes with jabs and left hooks. There were several tieups that the referee had to break up. Yorgey did land a left-right combination to the body near the end of the round.
Mitchell came out strong again in the second round before Yorgey scored with a left-right combo to the body. Both fighters then landed an array of combos. Yorgey scored with a hard right to the body as he pressured Mitchell to the ropes at the end of the round.
Mitchell went to to right hand to the head early in the third round before Yorgey countered with a left to the head. Mitchell used another right to back Yorgey off as the round came to a close.
Yorgey became much more of an aggressor at the outset of the fourth round. But Mitchell answered the surge by bouncing out of trouble and away from the ropes, and wound up pushing Yorgey to the ropes himself. Yorgey’s left hook and Mitchell’s right offset each other before Mitchell found a hard right to the head at the end of the round.
In the fifth round, Mitchell came out with successive lefts up top. Yorgey came back with hard right to the head and then scored with a hard left to the body. Yorgey closed out the round with a flurry by utilizing a number of hooks and uppercuts to keep Mitchell at bay.
Yorgey continued being active in the sixth round, including a pair of left-right combinations to the body in the early stages of the final round.
NOTESIn the co-main event, lightweight Rolando ‘Ironman’ Chinea of Lancaster (9-0-1) defeated Osnel Charles of Atlantic City on a TKO at the end of the third round of a scheduled six-round bout. … Also, Eli Mendez of Reading made his pro debut with a unanimous decision over Felip Nazario of The Bronx, N.Y., in a lightweight bout; Joseph Williams of Queens, N.Y., scored a TKO at 2:20 of the third round against Edwynn Jones of Houston in a light heavyweight matchup; and Erik Spring of Reading won a TKO at 1:01 into the fourth round against Jason Wahr of Virginia Beach, Va. … The night’s activities began with five amateur bouts.
Follow Barry Sankey on Twitter @BarryBSankey1.
