BARCIA KNOCKED DOWN, BUT NOT OUT IN RETURN
Schuylerville teenager suffers loss at Bob Miller event
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » It was a night of a hundred faces that are known throughout the boxing circles, both in the Capital Region and across the world on hand to honor one of its own.
The Saratoga Springs City Center was filled to capacity for a night of amateur boxing to honor Uncle Sam Boxing Club founder Bob Miller who was severely injured in an Oct. car accident.
Despite being paralyzed from the next down, “The Bob-father” managed to smile and looked on intently to all 13 amateur fights, absorbing each match and making his own mental notes for many of the local boxers who can expect a call from the 50-year boxing veteran.
Schuylerville 17-year-old boxer Joey Barcia returned to the ring after a one-year layoff due to injury and was stopped by Boston fighter Francis Hogan in the third and final round.
Barcia went to the mat on three occasions, the first on an overhand right that put him down for a mandatory eight-count from the referee and then once again late in the second. Hogan had a chance for
a stoppage late in the round as Barcia regained his feet, but was saved by the proverbial bell to end the round.
“After the first knockdown I knew that we were in a bit of a whole and I had to recover from it,” Joey Barcia said. “I kept the fight going aggressively, I felt after that first knockdown I came back strong and after the second knockdown I knew that that was the fight, he was getting the decision, but no matter what happens I’m not quitting. I’m here to fight and I’m going to keep fighting my heart out.”
The third went quickly with the left-handed Hogan landing punches to the head and Barcia going backwards and then falling back onto his backside in a sitting position in the white corner stopping the contest.
“He is a real, real strong fighter, real aggressive and tonight he played to his strengths,” Barcia said. “I was boxing a lot like I was boxing a right-handed fighter and that’s how I have been sparring.
“I went in a lot of directions I should have, moved my head to my right, into his power hand, which I shouldn’t have and he used that to his advantage and he played his game smart.”
Without a lot of information available before the fight, the left-handed Hogan had the advantage.
“We usually don’t get a lot of southpaw sparring, it’s a big difference,” Saratoga Boxing Club trainer Tyrone Jackson said. “If he was getting the work, you never know what way it would have went.”
Barcia spent an extended period of time with the medical staff post-fight. He will return to the Saratoga Boxing Club on Monday to continue working out as his trainer, Tyrone Jackson, determines his next opportunity once he is again medically cleared for contact.
“I feel a lot of love right now, I feel a lot of love from everyone on my team, every one of my friends who came out to support me, the whole boxing community,” Barcia said. “I’m glad that we could do this for Bob (Miller) and its back to the drawing board for me.”
Both Barcia and his trainer, Jackson, felt the blow of a loss in his return to the ring Saturday night.
“I feel that I can take some of the blame for this because he has been off for two years and the kid that he fought has been real active, fighting every other week,” Jackson said. “It was a big chance for us to get back so soon with a big fighter like him and it just happens.”
Now Jackson will not only have to train Barcia’s body while his brain recovers from the knockdowns, but he’ll have to manage his expectations for his next return to the ring.
“We’re going to go back to the drawing board, start all over again and take it one fight at a time, try to see if we can get a little better opponent for him to start working his way back up.”
Jackson said he doesn’t question if Barcia still has a fight left in him after the battle Saturday night.
“It’s the heart that that kid has and he knows his body is conditioned,” Jackson said. “He’s just not going to be no quitter, he’s going to fight until the end.”
Another local boxer, Albany Boxing Club’s Cody Zappone also suffered a loss, another heart-breaking decision on the judge’s scorecards, this time to West Point’s Luca Botis. Zappone lost two weeks ago in a similar close decision and was looking to redeem himself in front of the packed house.
“I’m hurt a lot tonight, I met a lot of people tonight, I met a lot of world champions, a lot more people were here tonight watching me than have my whole career, I’m disappointed,” Cody Zappone said. “I thought I was landing a lot on him, I thought a couple times the crowd, I thought I would get a little more of a reaction from the crowd.”
The evening’s honoree, Bob Miller, met with fans and well-wishers throughout the night and read a speech to the crowd from his own corner below the squared-circled after the first fight with his wife, Linda, holding his notes up for him.
Still managing to finish his heartfelt thanks to the hundreds on hand and even more who couldn’t attend, with tears in his eyes, Miller received a standing ovation from everyone in the City Center, many of them impacted by his generosity and advice through the years.
The proceeds would go to the Bob Miller Fund to assist in purchasing a specialized van and motorized wheelchair.