BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — Johnstown’s Andres Taylor hopes to convert Altoona and mixed martial arts fans into members of Team “Taylor Made.”
Taylor will take his 12-1-1 record and six knockouts over the mountain to fight Manu Ntoh of Cameroon during a Saturday night card that includes mixed martial arts and boxing matchups at the Jaffa Shrine in Altoona.
“It’s another venue,” said Taylor, a World Boxing Foundation cruiserweight champion. “We went to Pittsburgh and we converted fans from Pittsburgh to Taylor Made fans. To fight in Altoona, we can convert MMA fans and Altoona boxing fans to Taylor Made fans. I like the fact that MMA and boxing are working together. We usually compete against each other. It shouldn’t be that way. We’re both combat sports.”
Taylor beat William Bailey in a unanimous decision on
Jan. 22 at the Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh during his most recent fight. Prior to that he avenged his lone career loss by beating Leo Bercier on Oct. 31 at his hometown Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Ntoh is a 41-year-old veteran with a 17-18-1 record, including 10 knockouts. The 5-foot-7 boxer has 36 fights on his resume but has lost his past five.
In his last outing in Pittsburgh, Taylor said he learned a lot by fighting Bailey, who had 30 bouts and 10 wins. He expects Ntoh to bring the same type of experience to the ring on Saturday.
“I’ve been working on the things that went wrong last fight and trying to get better,” Taylor said. “The last fight was with a journeyman (Bailey). They make you work. There were things I didn’t know. It’s been a plus fighting better fighters. A lot of people look at them like their records are half and half. They’ve lost to good fighters. These guys have had a lot of fights, a lot of experience. Those guys are the heart of the sport. They’re dangerous. You never know who’s showing up. You don’t know what’s coming at you.”
The card also includes former Pitt-Johnstown national champion wrestler Thad Benton in MMA and Blair County native Tom Wilt in boxing.
Altoona’s Tom Wilt came out of retirement to box again in his hometown. Wilt, 40, was 21-7-0 when he retired last year. The former six-time Pennsylvania Golden Gloves champion
will fight Chad Greenleaf at 165 pounds.
Advance tickets may be purchased locally by calling Flood City Boxing at 619-5859. Tickets may be purchased at the Jaffa Shrine on the day of the fight.
