http://www.examiner.com/a-415691~Spa...ack_fight.html

ERIE, Pa. - Paul Spadafora scored a fifth-round technical knockout over Jesus Francisco Zepeda in his ring return Wednesday night at the 22nd Erie Boxing Classic.


It was the first fight for Spadafora (39-0-1), the former International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, after serving a sentence split between Camp Hill Penitentiary and a prison-style boot camp for the October 2003 shooting of his girlfriend outside a gas station in McKees Rocks.

His last fight was in April 2004.

Spadafora, known as the "Pittsburgh Kid," entered the ring in white trunks with blue trim with the nickname "Comeback Kid." He has traditionally worn black and gold trunks.

Spadafora opened a cut above Zepeda's right eye in the first round of the scheduled 10-round bout and used a sharp right jab to bloody his opponent. Instead of his customary defensive strategy, Spadafora didn't slip and dip but stood at the center of the ring and used his jab to keep Zepeda at bay.

The fight was stopped shortly after Zepeda (16-4), of Shelbyville, Ind., was examined by a ringside doctor for excessive bleeding. Spadafora then caught Zepeda with a straight right to the jaw, momentarily stunning him before referee Rick Steigerwald stopped the contest.



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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_481130.html

ERIE - Instead of wearing his customary black and gold trunks, Paul Spadafora wore white with blue trim and emblazoned with a new nickname: The Comeback Kid.

It wasn't long before the McKees Rocks boxer's trunks were splattered with the blood of Jesus Francisco Zepeda, who endured razor-sharp right jabs before succumbing to Spadafora's straight left at 2:07 of the fifth round by technical knockout Wednesday night at the 22nd Erie Boxing Classic before 1,200 at the Avalon Hotel.

Spadafora (39-0-1) fought with precision in his return to the ring after a 2 1/2-year layoff that included a 13-month prison sentence for the October 2003 shooting of his girlfriend.

"I felt great," Spadafora said. "Physically, I felt awesome. Mentally, I felt even better. I just felt great. I felt very confident. It felt so good to get back."

It was the first fight since July 2004 for the former International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, who relinquished his title and moved up to the 140-pound junior welterweight division. The fight came at a catch weight, as Spadafora weighed in at 141 1/2 pounds and Zepeda (16-4), of Shelbyville, Ind., at 139 1/2.

Spadafora, a southpaw, used his right jab as if it were a scalpel to open a cut above Zepeda's right eye in the first round. Spadafora worked the cut the next three rounds, straying from his slip-and-dip style by standing at the center of the ring and controlling the fight.

"I started using my jab," Spadafora said. "Things started opening up. He started to open up. I didn't know it was going to be that bad because I started opening his other side up, too."

In the second and third rounds, Spadafora started throwing combinations. He followed the jab with a hard right hook to the body, then a left cross. He combined a right jab with a left hook, then slipped a punch and threw an uppercut.

"I started getting the rhythm back," Spadafora said. "I waited and drew him in. I wasn't too far away. I was letting him think I was going to punch when I wasn't.

"That's my style. I'm not a big puncher. I like to move and hit 'em from different angles."

Zepeda, however, was a game opponent. He and Spadafora traded blows after the fourth-round bell, and Spadafora landed a right uppercut seconds after it rang.

In the fifth, Zepeda's bleeding worsened and referee Rick Steigerwald stopped the action to have a ringside doctor inspect the cut. Moments later, Spadafora opened a cut near the left eye then threw a straight right to the jaw that stunned Zepeda before Steigerwald stopped the contest. "I thought he was out," Spadafora said. "I thought it was over. I wanted to do it the right way."