THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060696
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Ronald ``Winky'' Wright defended his title and Raul Marquez won his first belt at the GTE Mobilnet's championship boxing Tuesday night at the Scope.
Wright (34-1) won an unanimous decision over Andrew Council as he defended his NABF super middleweight title for the second consecutive time.
The judges scored the fight 116-112, 116-111 and 118-109.
With the loss, Council (25-4-3) ended his streak of six consecutive knockouts.
The champion was too quick and simply outboxed Council. When Council tried to cut off the ring, Wright slipped past. And the challenger didn't make things any better for himself, losing one point in the fourth round for hitting below the belt.
Marquez defeated Skipper Kelp for the vacant USBA junior middleweight title. The 1992 Olympic bronze medalist is now 23-0 with 16 knockouts.
Kelp (22-3-1) was replacement for Darrin Morris, who withdrew after injuring his ribs while training Sunday.
``Not being able to prepare for Kelp kind of messed with me,'' Marquez said. ``But I trained hard and I wanted the belt. ``
Kelp was no match for the 24-year-old Marquez, who won a unanimous decision as all three judges scored the fight 117-111.
``This is the first step to becoming a world champ,'' Marquez said. ``I will defend my title three times, then move on to a world title match.'' by CNB