Tacoma, WA (June 2nd, 2013) - Saturday night, Zahir Raheem took the next step in his pursuit to a world title fight by easily defeating Justin Juuko via TKO in the fourth round. Raheem headlined the action packed Battle at the Boat card presented by Halquist Productions at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA. Six other exciting fights took place throughout the night that left fans in attendance buzzing about everything from TKO victories to questionable scorecards.

Raheem's fan base in Tacoma had grown tremendously since his first fight in the city back in March. As he entered the ring and name announced to the crowd, the entire 2000 seat showroom cheered on the former Olympic boxer who defeated Erik Morales in 2005.

Fans left the showroom impressed yet again by Raheem who landed the TKO victory against former title contender, Justin Juuko (45-11-1, 30 KO's). In the first round, Raheem took his time analyzing Juuko and throwing in sporadic jabs. The pace picked up in the second round when Raheem started to throw more combos including devastating body shots that won him the fight back in March. The third round showed that Juuko had no chance in this fight as he had only thrown a handful of punches and was being heavily outworked. A few times in the round, Juuko lost his balance putting him in serious danger of being knocked down. At 27 seconds into the fourth round, Raheem had Juuko cornered and threw a plethora of combos that Juuko couldn't keep up with causing his corner to throw in the towel. Raheem moves to 33-3-0, 20 KO's.

Raheem is scheduled to headline Battle at the Boat 93 in August at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA against an opponent to be determined.

In the semi-main event, Gabriel Pineda and Dave Petryck slugged it out for the scheduled six rounds and kept the fight at a high pace from start to finish. Pineda and Petryck both stayed inside and were relentless in their attempt to outbox one another. At the end of six rounds the fight went to the scorecards where one judge favored Pineda every round (60-54) while the other two scored the fight 59-55 in favor of Pineda giving the Hillsboro, OR resident the unanimous decision victory and improving his record to 4-0-2.

Controversy surrounded the hyped undercard fight between Zach Cooper (2-0) and Charon Spain (0-2). Cooper looked to control the entire fight landing haymakers that phased Spain, but Spain showed a great chin as he never went to the canvas. At the end of four rounds, Cooper seemed to have victory locked up, but the judges disagreed. One judge gave the fight to Cooper (40-36) while the other two judges scored the fight 38-38 resulting in a majority draw.

About Halquist Productions
Halquist Productions has created a world class boxing promotion in Battle at the Boat which has become the most popular boxing promotion in the northwest. Running since 1997, Battle at the Boat has had numerous title fights on previous cards and have had events televised on every major sports network including: ESPN, HBO and ShowTime. The Battle at the Boat boxing series remains the longest running professional boxing series at any Tribal Casino in the United States. For more information about Halquist Productions, Battle at the Boat, and CageSport MMA, please visit www.Halquistproductions.com and the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

RESULTS

Main Event - 144 lbs (10 Rounds)
Zahir Raheem (33-3, 20 KO's - Philadelphia) def

Justin Juuko (45-12-1, 30 KO's - Kampala Uganda) by TKO @ 0:27 Rd 4

Semi-Main Event - 147 lbs (6 Rounds)
Gabriel Pineda (4-0-2, 1 KO - Hillsboro OR) def Dave Petryck (4-4-1 - Surrey BC)

by Unanimous Decision (60-54, 59-55, 59-55)

Undercard
150 lbs (4 Rounds)
Zachary Cooper (2-0-1, 2 KO's - Seattle) vs Charon Spain (0-2-1 - Walla Walla WA)

results in a Majority Draw (40-36, 38-38, 38-38)

147 lbs (4 Rounds)
Antonio Neal (2-0, 2 KO's - Granger WA) def

Juan Carlos Rodriguez (1-2, 1 KO - Spokane) by TKO @ 1:32 Rd 3

140 lbs (4 Rounds)
Ricardo Maldonado (3-0 - Arlington WA) def Cory Vom Baur (2-2 - Vancouver WA)

by Unanimous Decision (All judges 39-37)

147 lbs (4 Rounds)
Drew Brokenshrie (1-0 - Tacoma) def William Fernandez (0-3 - Kelso WA)

by Unanimous Decision (40-36, 40-36, 39-37)

132 lbs (4 Rounds)
Marcello Gallardo (1-0 - Renton WA) def Anthony Smith (0-1 - Las Vegas)

by Majority Decision (39-37, 39-37, 38-38)