Van Kirk

On September 7, 2005, RAYMOND E. VAN KIRK SR., dearest son of the late Robert F., and Sophia Van Kirk, devoted father of Tiffany Frey, Tracy Van Kirk and Raymond Van Kirk Jr., beloved brother of Norman and Donald Van Kirk, Missy Lindemann, Rose Savage, Kim Van Kirk and the late Robert L., and Paul W. Van Kirk, loving grandfather of Maqueila, Nate and Jada. Also survived by a host of loving nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Family will receive friends at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home, Inc., 1501 E. Fort Avenue, Locust Point, MD, on Wednesday from 7 to 9 P.M. A memorial service will be held at 8:30 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the family.

On May 16, 2006, AUDREY A.(nee Binswanger); beloved wife of the late George Le Compte; loving aunt of Linda Callan, Rodney Van Kirk, Larry Milburn, Susan and Michael Binswanger; dear sister of Mildred Van Kirk; dear friend to Sylvia Le Compte. Also survived by other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the CONNELLY FUNERAL HOME OF DUNDALK, P.A., 7110 Sollers Point Road, on Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, 11:30 A.M. Interment Meadowridge Memorial Park.

He had to know. He had to climb in the ring and give it a shot against Vincent Pettway. He now knows, Eddie Van Kirk does, and at least there's a certain satisfaction in that."

On September 7, 2005, RAYMOND E. VAN KIRK SR., dearest son of the late Robert F., and Sophia Van Kirk, devoted father of Tiffany Frey, Tracy Van Kirk and Raymond Van Kirk Jr., beloved brother of Norman and Donald Van Kirk, Missy Lindemann, Rose Savage, Kim Van Kirk and the late Robert L., and Paul W. Van Kirk, loving grandfather of Maqueila, Nate and Jada. Also survived by a host of loving nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Family will receive friends at the Charles L. Stevens Funeral Home, Inc., 1501 E. Fort Avenue, Locust Point, MD, on Wednesday from 7 to 9 P.M. A memorial service will be held at 8:30 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the family.

After staging his first championship match last month, local boxing promoter Stuart Satosky will return to a club fight format, April 15, at the Pikesville Armory.Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk (24-7,12 KOs), who scored a last-round knockout of Jose Torres in the semifinal to the Vincent Pettway-Gilbert Baptist title fight last month, will headline the show against Edwin Curet (26-11, 11 KOs) of Boston.Most of Curet's losses have come against former champions or top contenders such as Greg Haugen, Livingston Bramble and Johnny Duplessis.

Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk's mauling style was hardly as pretty as his fringed boxing trunks, but it proved effective in dominating Anthony Ross of Alexandria, Va., in the eight-round main event at LaFontaine Bleu in Glen Burnie last night.A crowd of 450 saw Van Kirk (23-7-1) use a swarming attack to repeatedly pin Ross against the ropes and pelt his body with short, chopping blows.Every round was much the same the same, with Ross serving alittle more than a punching bag.Fighting for the first time since he lost to Vincent Pettway last March, Van Kirk, 27, had Ross (6-9)

Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk is his own worst critic.After fighting an eight-round draw with Henry Hughes of Cleveland, the inaugural boxing show at Michael's in Glen DTC Burnie, Van Kirk said: "I thought I stunk tonight. If I hadn't trained so hard and been in such good condition, after a performance like this I would have said, 'Give it up. Quit!' "But Van Kirk (23-7-2), who has not looked impressive since being stopped by world-ranked Vincent Pettway in April, still harbors title ambitions.

In parlance befitting the sport and the situation, time to put up or shut up, guys.If you listen to the words flowing from the respective fight camps, Eddie Van Kirk will be like a "freight train" when he meets Vincent Pettway at the Baltimore Arena tonight.Pettway says he'll remain "calm and focused" throughout the state welterweight title bout, which is scheduled for 12 rounds but is not expected to last much past half that.Fire vs. Ice, a matchup of diverse possibility.It's been an interesting couple of weeks leading up to the bout, which followers of the sweet science have been clamoring for for a couple of years.

Two twists have been added to spice the Vincent Pettway-Eddie Van Kirk match for the state welterweight title at the Baltimore Arena on March 4.The payday each fighter receives will depend on the outcome, with the winner ($7,500) of the scheduled 12-round bout guaranteed more than the loser ($5,000), in a special deal arranged by promoter Don Elbaum.With both fighters predicting early knockouts, it was a relatively easy sell for Elbaum. Van Kirk's manager, Tony Pulaski, produced a dummy copy of a March 4 sports page from The Sun with a headline proclaiming, "Van Kirk KOs Pettway in First Round."

Laurel welterweight Victor Davis underwent minor surgery Thursday to repair a "bruised" retina in his right eye, forcing him ZTC to cancel his scheduled March 4 bout against Eddie Van Kirk at the Baltimore Arena.Promoter Don Elbaum immediately revised his card, matching Van Kirk with Baltimore rival Vincent Pettway in a 12-round bout for the Maryland state welterweight title."This is the fight I really wanted to make, and I think it's the one the fans here want to see," said Elbaum, who witnessed the eruption of a long-festering feud between Van Kirk and Pettway at a news conference last week.

WASHINGTON - The 372nd Military Police Company from Cumberland, about 150 Army Reserve soldiers who arrived in Iraq in May and were preparing to return home last week, will remain in the country into June and perhaps well into the summer to provide security for military and civilian convoys, Pentagon officials said yesterday. When the Pentagon extended the yearlong deployments of some 20,000 soldiers in Iraq last week, no Maryland-based soldiers were on the list. Although the company has yet to officially receive its extension order, it will be coming soon, said a Pentagon official, explaining that the military reservists were tapped for extended duty last week but didn't make the list, which included active-duty and reserve soldiers.

In yesterday's editions of The Sun, Ronnie Smuck wa identified incorrectly as a co-promoter of an unsanctioned boxing show that had been scheduled at Tiffany East in June. John DiRossi was the sole director of the event, which was enjoined by the Maryland State Athletic Commission. Mr. DiRossi, who said the show would benefit the United Society of the Handicapped, raised $500 for Easter Seals through the advance sale of tickets for the non-sanctioned card.The Sun regrets the errors.Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk has been suspendefor a year by the Maryland State Athletic Commission.

Ring 93 of the National Veterans Boxing Association has joined with Ring 101 of Maryland to be co-hosts of the Hall of Fame Awards banquet at Martin's West on Nov. 29.Among the honorees will be heavyweight George Chaplin and lightweight Bobby Lee in the professional category and Richard Agro, Millard Pack and Bill Tuttle for their amateur ring achievements.Trainer Truman Tuttle will be honored for his lifetime contribution to boxing. Four current fighters -- United States Boxing Association junior middleweight champion Vincent Pettway, lightweight contender Sharmba Mitchell, middleweight Les Johnson and welterweight Eddie Van Kirk -- will receive special awards.

On Aug. 1, Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk will get a chance to spoil Hector Camacho's scheduled $1 million title fight with World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez.Van Kirk (27-7-1) got a call from promoter Don King's adviser, Jon Solberg, last weekend, asking if he could replace ailing Tommy Small, of Sofia, W.Va., as Camacho's opponent on the scheduled Showtime cable television channel's triple-header.King's card will also feature Mexico's unbeaten Chavez (80-0)

Reprinted from yesterday's late editions Boxing, as Lou Benson, Baltimore's fighting sheriff, discovered, can be a strange business."One minute I'm telling the media I want to fight Mike Tyson in prison," he said. "The next minute I'm telling you I couldn't beat the 10-count."Benson may be more realistic about challenging former heavyweight champion Tyson, who is serving a six-year sentence in Indiana for rape, after being knocked out Wednesday night by youthful Virginia cruiserweight Jason Waller seconds into the ninth round of their co-feature before 1,600 at the Pikesville Armory.

Despite appearances, Eddie Van Kirk won the fight and he was looking for a ride to the hospital to get his eyebrows reattached to his forehead.Across the hall, while handlers were moaning about the split-decision loss, Edwin Curet was saying with a shrug, "I'm used to getting jobbed . . . and I see I have no underwear to wear out of here."Lou Benson, who had been a knockout victim at the hand of Jason Walker seemingly days before, wondered what he was going to say to his wife: "I promised her I'd quit if I lost, but I don't know."

Vincent Pettway renewed his boxing life at the Baltimore Arena last night, dropping Eddie Van Kirk four times and claiming the Maryland welterweight title with a knockout at 54 seconds of the sixth round.Pettway (31-4-1), who had been stopped in his two previous fights and dropped from the world ratings, matched Van Kirk's roughhouse tactics in the first three rounds and quickly turned the fight in his favor by flooring his Baltimore rival with a right cross in the fourth."We spent weeks in the gym practicing to counter with the same punch Eddie throws," Pettway said.

On Aug. 1, Baltimore welterweight Eddie Van Kirk will get a chance to spoil Hector Camacho's scheduled $1 million title fight with World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez.Van Kirk (27-7-1) got a call from promoter Don King's adviser, Jon Solberg, last weekend, asking if he could replace ailing Tommy Small, of Sofia, W.Va., as Camacho's opponent on the scheduled Showtime cable television channel's triple-header.King's card will also feature Mexico's unbeaten Chavez (80-0)

Boxing, as Lou Benson, Baltimore's fighting sheriff, discovered, can be a strange business."One minute I'm telling the media I want to fight Mike Tyson in prison," he said. "The next minute I'm telling you I couldn't beat the 10-count."Benson's dream of challenging former heavyweight champion Tyson, who is serving a six-year sentence in Indiana for rape, was exposed as a cruel hoax last night when he was knocked out by youthful Virginia cruiserweight Jason Waller after 45 seconds of the ninth round of their co-feature at the Pikesville Armory.

Boxing, as Lou Benson, Baltimore's fighting sheriff, discovered, can be a strange business."One minute I'm telling the media I want to fight Mike Tyson in prison," he said. "The next minute I'm telling you I couldn't beat the 10-count."Benson's dream of challenging former heavyweight champion Tyson, who is serving a six-year sentence in Indiana for rape, was exposed as a hoax last night when he was knocked out by youthful Virginia cruiserweight Jason Waller after 45 seconds of the ninth round of their co-feature before 1,600 at the Pikesville Armory.