By Sam Gregory: Tonight a battle between two unbeaten fighters in a scheduled 12 round fight in the Jr middleweight division will feature Ronald Hearns and his opponent Harry Joe Yorgey on the undercard of a special Saturday edition of ShoBox; The New Generation telecast from Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla.
Going into tonight’s fight both men have a record of 21 wins with no loses. Ronald “The Chosen One” Hearns of Detroit has 17 knockouts to his credit while his opponent “Lightning” Harry Joe Yorgey of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania has nine KO’s and one draw on his record.
The fight is for the IBA Jr middleweight title.
Hearns started out early using his jab and they pick up a hot pace in the middle of the ring where they exchange punches. Hearns goes to the body as Yorgey lands a good shot to Hearns’ head. Both fighters show extreme speed in the opening round of the fight.
Round 2 both fighters have a great work rate; in and out and very fast. This was more of a feeling out round; Hearns rips a good combination to Yorgey’s face in the closing seconds of the round.
Round 3 Yorgey lands a good right to Hearns’ head and forces him to back up. Yorgey missed badly with his punches; Hearns is pot shoting and landing a couple to Yorgey’s head. Hearns’ right eye bothering him after a possible thumb to his eye in this round.
Round four Yorgey catches Hearns with a good right and drops Hearns who is hurt from the punch. Hearns gets up and a left hook from Hearns drops Yorgey. Both fighters trade shots until the bell.
Round 5 a solid beautiful right hand from Yorgey drops Hearns. Hearns gets up and has Yorgey on the ropes briefly and they trade shots. Hearns able to gather himself as Yorgey can’t finish him off.
After that knockdown Hearns didn’t look like he was gonna make it up. To his credit he did and finished the round even though he was hurt.
Round six both men trade punches in the center of the ring. As the round goes on Hearns does a lot of waiting on Yorgey, not a lot of punches being thrown in this round.
Round 7 they trade punches in the center of the ring again. Hearns looks out of sync since he’s been knocked down. Hearns holding his left hand low looking to counter but not much action until Hearns gets hit flush that rocks him pretty good.
Round 8 Hearns seems to be behind in the fight. Both fighters waiting on each other; Hearns with his left hand held low and Yorgey with both hands up waiting to counter. Yorgey lands a couple over the top right hands.
Round 9 Hearns starts by firing his jab but the action is very slow compared to how the fight started. Both men look very tired in this round. The last 5 seconds of the round Yorgey fires a left right combo that KO’s Hearns. The fight is over. Yorgey wins in 2:58 of the ninth round.
Yorgey improves to 22-0 with 10 KO’s while Hearns suffers his first loss by KO falling to 21-1.