McGirt Wins Big, Stark Knocked Out in Shocker

NEW YORK - James McGirt Jr., fighting as a super middleweight for the first time, remained unbeaten with a unanimous eight-round decision over Brad Austin at Manhattan Center on Wednesday night.

McGirt, 163 pounds, the son of former world welterweight champion Buddy McGirt, improved to 15-0. Austin, 163 3/4, of Johnson City, Tenn., dropped to 8-3.

"I went into the ring thinking Austin was going to be easy to take out," said McGirt, of Brentwood, N.Y., "and I was so intent on doing that that I lost my composure. What I forgot is that I had moved up one weight class and that I was facing a heavier opponent. I went head hunting instead of going to the body. I won't make that mistake that again."

In another fight, Andres Ledesma, a junior featherweight journeyman from Miami, was hurt in the third round and came back to knock out Gary Stark Jr. with a hard right to the head at 2:08 of the fifth round of their scheduled 10-rounder.

Ledesma, 123 3/4, improved to 14-5 with nine knockouts.

Stark, 123, was fighting for first time since a controversial loss to Mike Oliver for the USBA super bantamweight title last Feb. 16. He dropped to 18-2.