On the 4th of February, Courtney Pennington faced Khiary Gray Pitts in the much awaited main event at The Win River Casino in Lincoln, Rhodes Island. Interestingly they had previously faced each other in a 2012 bout in New York, which was during the Long Island Amateur Boxing Championships. It is interesting to note that Pennington didn’t realise they had faced each other in the amateurs until after the match was announced. Back then, it was Pennington who walked out victorious of the fight in the unpaid ranks.
Pennington was quite confident he could repeat this feat once again even if he was going to fight in the backyard of Pitts. Pennington had already proved that he can fight as a road warrior, when he defeated the highly regarded and heavily favoured Boyd Melson at Foxwoods Casino back in November. Following this career best, the New Yorker knew that this match against Pitts would be very determining for his professional career. On the other hand, Pitts was coming off over his last fight in October against veteran boxer Chris Chatman whom he viciously knocked out in the 7th round.
Following the recent medical and insurance regulations forcing New York fighters to travel to other state for their matches, Pennington is quickly becoming known to be a road warrior. This Star Boxing Jr. Middleweight firstly started out slow in the bout, probably trying to get a feel of his opponent. It certainly looked like he dropped a couple of the first rounds. But then he picked up the pace against the local favourite Pitts in the fourth round, chasing him around the ring. Pennington was then successful in cornering his opponent against the ropes, where he unleashed a brutal combination that dropped Pitts.
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Coming back to the fight, the New Yorker picked up this momentum and continued to keep the pressure on Pitts using his strong inside attack on the 7th round. It seemed that Gray was knocked down twice during that round, however the referee called them slips. The round ended with Pitts standing on wobbly legs, and in the next round that followed, they both gave out some big shots. But the blows of Pennington were looking more powerful than those of Gray until this exciting bout was ended by the sound of the bell
In the end, it was Pennington who came out victorious with a unanimous 78-73, 77-74, and 76-75 well deserved score that brought the decision win in his favour. Joe DeGuardia, the co-promoter and Star boxing head said that he was proud of the New Yorker and also mentioned that it was the second time that Pennington, the underdog, went on the road to bring back victories over quality opponents.