By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside

Saturday night in the Small Arena at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA., Titans Boxing Promotions put on a four-bout card featuring debuting Harrisburg fighters against regional competition. In the main event of the evening, hometown heavyweight Angel Rivera(1-0, 1 KO) scored an impressive first round TKO of Buffalo, New York’s Jimmy Levins (0-2).

Angel Rivera entered the ring to a raucous applause from the over 600 plus fans in attendance. Levins seemed to know his best chance was to frustrate Rivera and catch him by surprise. It looked like the tactic was working in the opening minute as Rivera seemed agitated as he yanked his hands from a couple of clinches. Levins even caught Rivera during a break with a solid right hand on the jaw of a break, but it only seemed to get Rivera mad. He dropped his hands and pushed forward with a vicious four punch combination to the body. Levins dropped to the ground and barely beat the ten-count. He desperately held while still taking punishment right up until the bell. Levins barely reached his corner and refused to come out for the second round, giving Angel Rivera the TKO victory at the minutes of round one.

In the co-feature of the evening, Harrisburg Carl Murphy (0-1) fell just short in his professional losing by unanimous decision to Salisbury, Maryland’s Ryan Watson (1-0). Murphy had worked all the way back from an altercation as a child where he was shot in both legs by a person who he had a beef with. The gun shots resulted in nerve damage in one leg and he spent several months in a wheelchair before going through a painful rehab. He was determined to fight and eventually made I to the ring, but lost in his first amateur bout. Murphy would not be deterred and went back to the gym and trained harder which resulted in his winning seven straight fights as an amateur. A single father of two children, Murphy knew it was time to realize his dream and turn pro. On Saturday night he got his wish.

Ryan Watson counter punched from the southpaw stance, which cut Murphy over the left eye early on in the opening round. By round three, Murphy was frustrated and only throwing single shots. Finally, in the fourth and final round, Carl Murphy switched to southpaw and found his mark, hurting Watson with a series of punches. Watson clinched and eventually recovered as the final bell sounded to end the fight. All three judges had it 39-37 in favor of Ryan Watson, giving him the four-round unanimous decision victory.

Harrisburg welterweight Ryan McGill (1-0, 1 KO) looked impressive in his first-round knockout of Dan Koch. It was an entertaining fight while it lasted as both fighters traded goods combinations right from the opening bell. McGill found his mark with a with a devastating right hand on the button. Koch was out as he fell face first to the canvas for the ten-count. The official time of the knockout was 2:21 of the opening round.

In the opening bout of the evening, Luis Morales (1-0, 1 KO) dropped Wytama Faulk (1-4) once on his way to a first-round stoppage at the three minute mark of the opening round of their scheduled four round super lightweight contest.