Harley Burke dug deep in the sixth and final stanza to edge out former world title contender Avtandil “Mini Mike Tyson” Khurtsidze by majority decision in their super middleweight bout at the Paramount in Huntington, Long Island, last Saturday night.
A former IBO and WBO interim middleweight champion, who’d entered the ring with only two defeats in his 37 fights [34-2-3, 23 KOs], Khurtsidze applied relentless pressure from the opening bell, but the Galway-born Burke matched him with grit, conditioning, and smart counterpunching.
After one of the most intense fights on Star Boxing’s Rockin’ Fights 52 edition, two of the three judges scored the bout 59–55 and 58–56, respectively in Burke’s favor, while the third official had it a 57-57 draw. The win upped Burke's record to 11-0 [7 KOs], while Khurtsidze dropped to 34-3-3.
“Tough fight,” summed up the 30-year-old Burke after the biggest win of his career. “Big step up. He was tough. He brought such good pressure, such experience [but] I got the job done.”
The Yonkers resident stated that it was his hard work in the final three rounds that likely earned him the win.
“I felt like it could've gone either way heading into the last round,” he said. “But the sixth round was my best round and I definitely won the sixth so I'm very proud of that. I got engaged a little bit too much into a brawl with him, but I felt like I was landing the cleaner shots. On the inside he was doing good damage, [a] very tricky, very game veteran. On the inside, he knew where to pull his hands, where to pull my hands and where to punch. [He had] a lot of experience. I felt it in there.”
There were no knockdowns, despite the many punches thrown and landed by the two reputed bangers.
What the thrilling win over the all-action “Mini Mike Tyson” will do for his career, cannot be put into words, Burke said.
“The step up in competition for me that I did right there is huge. It was a colossal step up and I felt I passed the test. Obviously, I had to earn it. It wasn't easy, but that's what you want at this stage in my career. You want tough fights, that'll make a man out of you, that's how you learn getting tested like that so I'm very excited about it,” he said.
On what next, Burke said: “The big thing right now for me is where I'm at in the rankings. I gotta see where I'm at in the rankings. It’s a numbers game at this point, so hopefully looking for like a regional title or something like that, but more importantly I'm just ready to really get back training.
“I'm ready to climb the ladder now I feel like I passed the big test [against Khurtsidze].
FIGHT CANCELED
Ryan O’Rourke, aka “The Silent Assassin,” returned to Dublin without throwing a punch after his scheduled eight-rounder with fellow undefeated prospect Jerome “Thoroughbred” Baxter was canceled.
“The fight was called off [at the] last minute. Baxter failed his medicals – eyes -- so, we couldn't get a replacement in time,” Steven O’Rourke, Ryan’s father and trainer.
It was to be the 13-0 [3 KO] O’Rourke’s sixth fight in the U.S. In Baxter, the 26-year-old Dubliner was to face a late bloomer, who’s 31, out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a 7-0 [3 KO] record.
