Fight:141098

Sean Mannion 148 lbs lost to Tony Suero 149 lbs by TKO in round 8 of 10

• Date: 1980-09-18
• Location: Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey, USA
Tony Suero's triumph over Sean Mannion was lustily booed as the Playboy bunnies presented him with the belt winning the televised Northeast regional title. Mannion coudn't answer the bell for the ninth round because of a gash in the upper corner of his right eye near the bridge of his nose which was caused by a butt. Suero got away with his brawling tactics despite several warnings from the ref. The referee warned Suero for an elbow in the second, a butt in the fourth and another elbow in the seventh. Almost as damaging as the illegal "blows" was the mauling and wrestling tactics but Mannion was unable to cope with them. Mannion could handle Suero when they fought in the center of the ring, which wasn't very often. As soon as Sean was able to gain some breathing room off the ropes, he found himself back there as the head-down, wild-swinging Suero had Mannion trying to fight off the rushes. Then came the crusher for Mannion. With a bull-like rush by Suero, head flying he caught Mannion. Sean was infuriated as the gushing blood decorated him, Suero and the referee. The bell sounding the end of the eighth round had dashed Mannion's hopes in the tourney. By Bill Bode, The Star-Ledger, Friday, September 19, 1980