Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Chris Vass (left), a Cardinal Mooney student and boxer at South Side Boxing Club, fights Cleveland’s Julian Dolin during the second round of Saturday’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre main event at Penguin City Brewing in downtown Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Cardinal Mooney’s Chris Vass always considered himself a football player first, boxer second. Yet, he still loved both sports equally because of their competitive nature.

After attending one of local trainer Jack Loew’s fight cards, the boxing bug took hold of him and the ring is now his main focus.

It’s a decision opponents wished he hadn’t made.

On Saturday night, Vass ran his record to 11-1 after scoring a unanimous decision over Julian Dolin of Cleveland in the 138-pound main event of Loew’s 10th St. Valentine’s Day Massacre show at Penguin City Brewing Company in downtown Youngstown.

Vass was in control from his first punch to the final bell with Dolin dropping to 6-4 overall with the loss.

“Julian was one of my toughest, if not the toughest opponent that I have faced so far,” said Vass, one of two winners on the night representing Loew’s South Side Boxing Club. “He threw great combinations and packed an excellent punch. I used my double and triple jab to set up my right hand.”

Lennox ‘Little Boom Boom’ Gonzalez of Youngstown Golden String Boxing Club kicked off the evening by scoring a split decision over Robert Harris of Cleveland Team DNA in a 60-pound pairing.

“My plan was to go straight at him in the first and second rounds, then do what I needed to do to match him punch for punch in the third round,” Gonzalez said.

The other SSBC winner was Kingsley Wade, who authored a third-round standing eight count and unanimous decision over Devonn Mickler of Cleveland in their 78-pound scrap.

“My coach told me to work his body and head, then use my jab,” Wade said.

In their 80-pound pairing, Messiah Speight, of Akron, scored a unanimous decision over Jaden Moore, of Youngstown, while Cleveland’s Millick Rankin was a winner by unanimous decision over Eric Triplett of SSBC in an 85-pound coupling.

“I needed to move around and lead more,” Moore said. “It was a good fight, but next time I’ll do more body punching.”

Triplett suffered a standing eight-count in the second round.

“He threw a lot of combos and was a tough fighter,” Triplett said. “Next time, I’ll weave my head around more than I did tonight.”

In a 75-pound pairing, Ashtabula’s Dream Hollis was a winner by unanimous decision over SSBC’s Lerone Burley.

“I’m not disappointed because he was a tough opponent,” Burley said. “I will train harder and come back stronger for my next bout.”

In a 115-pound battle, Xzavier Alpeza, of Cleveland, knocked down Logan Majic, of Ashtabula, to earn his unanimous decision victory, while Akron’s Braylon Henderson forced two standing eight-counts of Cleveland’s Isiah Harris in the third round of their 122-pound clash, which Henderon won by unanimous decision.

RESULTS

60 pounds — Lennox Gonzalez (Youngstown, Golden String Boxing Club) def. Robert Harris (Cleveland, Team DNA), split decision.

78 pounds — Kingsley Wade (Youngstown, South Side Boxing Club) def. Devonn Mickler (Cleveland), unanimous decision.

115 pounds — Xzavier Alpeza (Cleveland) def. Logan Majic (Ashtabula), unanimous decision.

75 pounds — Dream Hollis (Ashtabula) def. Lerone Burley (Youngstown, SSBC), unanimous decision.

122 pounds — Braylon Henderson (Akron) def. Isiah Harris (Cleveland, Team DNA).

85 pounds — Millick Rankin (Cleveland) def. Eric Triplett (Youngstown, SSBC), unanimous decision.

80 pounds — Messiah Speight (Akron) def. Jaden Moore (Youngstown), unanimous decision.

Main Event — 138 pounds – Chris Vass (Youngstown, SSBC) def. Julian Dolin (Cleveland), unanimous decision.