Harry Yorgey vs Martinus Clay, The Rematch

Click Here to Leave a Comment

Photos by Zack Radel

It was déjà vu all over again this Friday night at The Legendary Blue Horizon. For the second time in less than a year, last minute happenings led to a main event pitting Bridgeport PA’s Harry Joe Yorgey against “Magnificent” Martinus Clay of North Carolina. In November of 2006, Clay took a last minute assignment to face the undefeated Yorgey in a fight which ended in a 10 round draw. Almost a year later, circumstances left Yorgey without an opponent with only a week to go until fight time. In a stroke of matchmaking genius by Don Elbaum, he struck a deal with Martinus Clay to return to Philly so they can settle the unfinished business that lingered from their last fight. This fight didn’t disappoint.

Almost one year ago to this day, "Lightning" Harry Yorgey was chosen for the first time in his career to headline major boxing card in the Philadelphia area. The setting was the Wachovia Spectrum, a place where many a champion fought in the past. The Yorgey camp felt the time was right to bump up the competition and their supports were ready to come by the bus load to cheer on their guy. Unlike his previous fights, the stakes were much higher in this one as Harry Joe’s 15 – 0 record was deemed worthy enough to compete for the IBU Jr. Middleweight title by the organizations chairman Don “Moose” Lewis. Scheduled to be in the opposite corner that night was Homer Gibbons, a 44 win fight game veteran who was also deemed worthy of the opportunity to compete for this title by Chairman Lewis. A night of boxing which intended to reinvigorate the fight scene at one of the cities most storied sporting venues seemed ready to go.

Not so fast….with less than two weeks to go until fight time, Gibbons pulled out of the match for undisclosed reasons. With Gibbons out of the picture and time running out, there was a possibility of Yorgey having to watch the fights from ringside.

Enter Martinus Clay, a 12 – 13 fighter from North Carolina was chosen as the replacement. To the naked eye, it was looking like an easy nights work for Harry Joe who held wins against fighters with better records on paper. That is until you dig a little deeper as see that Clay purpose in the boxing business was to fight the best prospects in the division and more than once coming out with a victory.

With little time to prepare on both sides, speculation was wide on how things would turn out. When it was all said and done, the end result was a 10 round classic which ended in a draw. Yorgey dominated early, the crafty Clay inched his way back into it in the middle rounds. The championship rounds were filled with exciting two way action. Though many felt that Yorgey deserved a close decision victory, the bottom line was that Martinus Clay struck again. While Yorgey stayed undefeated, he was no longer “perfect” in the only sport where near perfection sometimes isn’t good enough to push you to the top.

Fast forward to October 12, 2007. Harry Joe Yorgey, now 19 - 0 was once again scheduled as the headliner on a Philly fight card, this time at The Legendary Blue Horizon, a place where many a great champion fought in the past. The Yorgey faithful were still coming to his fights by the bus load to watch him do his thing as Harry Joe continued to headline fight cards all around the area. In the weeks leading up to this match, his opponent for the evening was scheduled to be Jose “El Macho” Medina, a rough North Philly slugger who is not to be taken lightly.

Not so fast… with a little more than a week to go before fight time, Medina was forced to pull out of the match due to what is said to be a bad cut sustained while training. With Medina out of the picture and time running out, there was a possibility of Yorgey having to watch the fights from ringside.

Enter Martinus Clay in a bit of last minute matchmaking genius from Don Elbaum. Since their first fight, Yorgey has gone on to beat a line of good, tough journeyman and put his name into the mix of up and coming Jr middleweight prospects ready to make some noise in the higher ranks of the sport. Clay on the other hand fattened his status (and his wallet) after the first fight and since has gone on to challenge high level undefeated prospects such as Andre Berto, Jason LeHoullier and Mike Jones.

With little time to prepare on both sides, speculation was wide on how things would turn out. One thing was crystal clear this time around; Harry Yorgey needed to avenge the lone mark on his resume if he were to be seriously considered for a major fight in the near future.

And avenge this draw he did over 10 rounds of more good, fast paced two way boxing action earning a unanimous decision by scores of 98 – 92 twice and 96 – 94. I also had the fight scored 98 – 92 in favor of Yorgey. It was a bit different from the first fight but enjoyable to watch none the less. Yorgey was the initiator throughout, raking up the points with work upstairs with uppercuts and straight rights and also using a speedy left hook to the body. Clay’s style can be best described as “squirrelly”, he helped keep the fight moving at a good pace, was able to dip and dodge at times and also landed his punches from many different angles primarily as the fights counter puncher. Clay was game as always but it just wasn’t enough this time around. Yorgey was in control for most of the fight and a couple of the rounds which were close, Harry did more down the stretch to secure it.

While one great Yogi-ism applied to the start of the fight, the Hall of Famer also once said “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”. With the win, it could be the opportune time for Harry Joe to exit the local scene and give it his best against the upper echelon in the junior middleweight division. If things don’t work out, he can always make a u-turn and come home to the bus loads of fans who will always have his back.

Winner by unanimous decision: Harry Joe Yorgey who improves to 20 – 0, 9ko’s











If you have any questions, comments or suggestions you can email Philly Keith at keith@phillykeith.com

Go to www.phillykeith.com for up to the minute info on the Philly boxing scene