Boxing Returns To Glendale Once Again:

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — While the first three fights of Glendale Glory 2 warmed up the audience and featured their share of action in spurts, they likely left the sizable crowd that turned out at the Glendale Civic Auditorium late Friday night, as well as those watching the card’s live broadcast on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights,” clamoring for more.

In the wake of two entertaining, but very brief, heavyweight contests to open the show, followed by a one-sided light heavyweight bout that went a full six rounds, the Art of Boxing Promotions/Bash Boxing-promoted card would ultimately depend on its main event to deliver the goods.

Roman “Made In Hell” Karmazin and Dionisio “Mr. Knockout” Miranda didn’t disappoint, staging a thrilling, hard-fought battle with dramatic swings in momentum and a truly surprising conclusion in their International Boxing Federation middleweight title eliminator bout.

While making sure the second sanctioned boxing event in Glendale since a 62-year ban was lifted in June of 2009 would have a truly memorable moment as its centerpiece, Karmazin (40-3, 26 knockouts) might have also saved his career, which teetered on the brink of demise as Miranda (20-5-2) seemed to be zeroing in on his 19th career knockout victory in the 10th round.

Losing, 87-84, on one judge’s card and even on the other two entering the 10th of 12 scheduled rounds, Karmazin, whom the News-Press had trailing, 87-83, at the time, shocked the Colombian and brought the crowd to its feet with his own crushing knockout at the 2:34 mark of the 10th.

“I gave my word to my kids that I was going to win the fight, and I don’t want to quit boxing,” said Karmazin, 37, when asked how he found the will to soldier on through and past a third round in which Miranda hurt him with some big right hands and appeared to be well on his way to an early knockout. “I don’t want to retire, so I just kept going, because if I lost that fight, I would have had to retire.”

Karmazin, a Russian native who resides in Los Angeles, regrouped to win some of the middle rounds and establish himself in the fight, but found himself in big trouble again in the ninth round.

Miranda, who worked his reach well and found success with a simple but effective steady diet of left jabs and overhand rights all night, connected with one of the latter and knocked Karmazin back into the ropes.