EST 1997 ST LOUIS MISSOURI			LIGHTS OUT VERSION 3.0

 

 

Saturday, July 11th at Hrabosky's Ball Park Saloon.

All-Star Boxing

2:00 p.m. start time…under the big tent

5 amateur bouts

7 pro bouts

Pro bouts

Joe Stoffel vs Josh Gutcher     Hwts.   4 rounds
St. Louis        Iowa

Tyrone Chatman vs Kelly Wright  142      4 rounds
St. Louis                 St. Louis

Jamaar Hampton vs Chris Holloman    140    4 rounds
St. Louis                  St. Louis

Austin Ejiofor vs Jermeiah Graziano    200    4 rounds
St. Louis            Kansas City, Mo    

Kenny Loehr  vs Clayton Emerich       165   4 rounds
St. Louis            Jeff City

Ryan Davis   vs Mustafah Johnson     154   6 rounds
Granite City       Indianapolis

WBF America's Title Fight
Chris Eppley   vs Dennis Ogboo        175   8 rounds
St. Louis             Lexington, Ky

 

Tickets:  $25.00 General Admission
         $10.00 Standing Room Only

Ringside tables still available

Sponsored by KFNS 590, Reactor Watch, and Anheuser-Busch Recycling

Contact Steve Holley @ 314-495-0820 for tickets or information.

 

 

 

The Viking – June 13, 2009

 

 

This past Saturday night, the Holiday Inn Viking in South County was the place to be for a superior boxing exhibition – and showcase for some of the area’s best fighters. Of course, it was a Rumble Time gig…RT has taken it upon themselves to procure a nice grouping of local talent, and some of the best boxers along the Cleveland Erie shore. It would be hard for me to say that the competition was exceptional…I will say that it was better than the average of local opponents in these types of venues. Sure, there were some early stoppages – and a few mismatches…but if you accept the fact that it’s a non-televised event that SHOWCASES hometown fighters – you were in for a night of ovations.

The evening started off with Junior Middleweight Lamar Harris taking on Tommy Moore, who is still getting his feet wet as a professional. Unfortunately, Moore had a daunting task ahead of him in fighting Harris – who is not only skilled and powerful…but LOOKS imposing with 200 pounds of muscle bunched up into a 154 pound physique. Lamar is quite a specimen, and it’s pretty obvious he spends more than a little time in the gym. Lamar came out with his usual gusto, landing sharp haymaker straight hands behind his loose jab. His thudding body work had the crowd grimacing in their seats. Moore was overwhelmed almost immediately, but gamely returned a little fire before the fight was given to the pumped-up Harris in the second round. He improves to 6-1.

Next up was undefeated Cleveland (and Jack Loew protégé) Willie Nelson, who at 6’3” is the tallest welterweight I have ever seen in person. When Nelson stepped into the ring, I thought he may hit his head on the Viking’s low ceiling…he’s simply freakish in his build. Think Paul Williams with heavier hands. Nelson’s opponent, Travis Hartman, looked at first like another pasty opponent who would be satisfied with taking a one-punch knockout for a pay check. Actually, he was pretty game considering that Nelson immediately started ripping him with hook/head combinations. Instead of hitting the canvas, Hartman fired back – and even landed his best punches. Nelson shook them off, but the back and forth action did surprise most of us in section 6. Round one was something of a surprise, as Hartman made it through without being turded. Round 2 saw much of the same back and forth action – until Nelson landed what was deemed a low blow late in the stanza. Hartman doubled over and reacted as if he’s been shot in his nether region. Honestly, the blow did not look low to me and I had a pretty good view of the action – but the ref. Kevin Champion saw differently, and ruled it low as Travis rolled around on the mat and pounded his fists. Either the blow actually did some real damage, or Hartman is a heck of an actor…because he was allowed far more time to recover than the customary 5 minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, Hartman got to his feet to some scattered sarcastic applause – and was immediately blasted with a long jab and right hook that sent him back to the canvas. Champion saw enough and stopped the fight. Nelson improves to 12-0 (8KO).  He is going to be a regional force at 147. A little more experience, and he will see a program like Shobox. I like his chances.

Tye Chatman (140) took on Tim Reynolds for the third fight of the evening. This one was not destined to last long. Prior to Tye entering the ring, Reynolds had a look on his face of panic, fear – and it seemed that he was in no mood for getting his new hairdo in a mess. Within seconds of the bell ringing, Chatman was all over Reynolds throwing left hand bombs with his incredibly short arms. It was as if Tye had the ability to measure his shots perfectly so that his punches would land at the peak of their power…something that is not easy to do when you are much shorter than your opponent. After being knocked down twice, it was clear that Reynolds was ready to go home and re-think his career – as this was not an impressive debut for him. It was however, another spectacular stoppage that brought the crowd of a couple hundred to its feet. Chatman improves to 3-1 (3KO).

The fourth bout of the evening featured Light Heavy, Kevin Engel (15-2) facing off against well known opponent Tyler Seever – a normally durable and professional fighter. After Kevin’s robe was removed, I noticed (as did a few others in my crew) that Kevin’s normally chiseled mid-section was a little softer than usual. This is not uncommon, there are times when fighters simply look better than other times – so I shrugged it off as that. After the fight started and through the first round, it appeared that Kevin was having a little trouble getting his shots off – almost relying on countering Seever’s power punches exclusively. Kevin landed the occasional right hand and as thunderous as they sounded, seemed to do little damage early on. In round 3, Engel landed his best shots, two right hands that sent Seever to the canvas – however, as Tyler was on his knee, another shot from Kevin blindsided him and planted him face first and out. I’m not sure that the blow was intentional, as things happen in the heat of battle, but there was no question Seever was struck after he was down. This is where things get a little confusing. Champion seemed to be concerned about the late shot, and appeared to walk over to the commissioner on hand, Tim Leuckenhoff and ask for a judgment. After conversing for a minute, Champion pointed at Engel and waved off the fight as a disqualification. Almost immediately, Leuckenhoff called Champion back to the ropes and counseled him again. Only this time, Champion walked across the ring and spoke briefly with Seever to ask him if he could continue. Seever nodded and Engel was given a two point deduction for a ‘harmful foul’.

After the fight and during intermission, I spoke with a respected boxing official who cleared things up a bit. Apparently, Leuckenhoff never gave Champion the OK to call the match a DQ. In non-title type ‘club fights’ – it is pretty customary for things like this to happen. Really, it wasn’t a big deal, but it was confusing.

After Seever had a moment to rest, the fight continued. In round 4, Seever, under immense pressure from an aggressive Engel, turned his back – signaling that he’d been in there long enough. Engel improves to 16-2. I must admit that I was not thrilled with Engel’s performance. There was a time when Kevin would have easily crushed an opponent like Seever…I won’t speculate on the reasons why this fight had holes. It was just not vintage Hitman. Hid did get the stoppage, and the W – so in that regard, he was successful, and I congratulate him.

Danny Williams was up next, fighting opponent Mike Williams out of Tuscaloosa, AL.
Mike made quite a long trip to end up on the mat within the first 20 seconds from a D.Williams left uppercut. To his credit, Mike got to his feet only to be dropped immediately by a right body shot. Again, M.Williams rose to his feet, this time in obvious pain and clutching his ribs. Rather than let his victim breathe, Dannie blasted him with another hook to the same set of ribs (which are likely broken) and sent Mike to the mat for good. I have only seen Dannie fight a few times – but I have this observation: He is fast, and has power that is rarely seen in a 130 pound fighter. I’d like to seem him against better competition, but in time – it will happen. He is really exciting, and seems to have it together in the ring.

Bout 6 featured another Clevelander – Prenice Brewer – (11-0-1), a rising junior welterweight. Rather than go through each round, I’ll attempt here to summarize what I saw take place between Prenice and his opponent, Reggie Sanders:

Prenice landed numerous left hands in the early going – and seemed to have Sanders hurt on a number of occasions. Rather than finish him off aggressively, Brewer seemed to want to practice his Roy Jones impersonation mid-ring. I’m a pretty dedicated fight fan, and I understand that showboating has a place in pro boxing – to an extent. I never liked Jones, but did appreciate the fact that he was able to land trick shots and effectively play to the crowd.
However, Prenice missed a large amount of his ‘trick shots’.  As a matter of fact, his opponent with a record of 12-43 seemed to have witnessed this act before in some capacity, because he blocked and held when he felt the shots coming his way. Prenice is a terrific fighter, and could be exciting. He definitely has the skills to go far – at least locally. But, there is something to be said about the fact that he didn’t finish his opponent off after having him hurt early in the fight. If he was looking for rounds – he succeeded. Brewer won an easy UD and improves to 12-0-1. Note to Prenice – sharpen your skills before doing something like that in the ring. It’s much more entertaining when you actually land the punches you are trying to embarrass your opponent with.

Shawn Hammack has been one of the more durable fighters in the area for the past few years. Last year, he made his mark as a cruiser and eventually a light heavyweight – only to be solidly beaten by fighters who were taller than him. In an effort to maximize his shorter reach and classic boxing skills – he moved to super middleweight. This was a smart move, and something I had been calling for – even though he had some success in a fight with highly ranked Zach Walters in Minnesota last year. However – on this night, he would again face a taller opponent with experience, Bruce Rumbolz (21-18) of Sterling, IL.

The first few rounds saw Shawn charging and lunging at the much taller Rumbolz, landing the occasional bomb – and moving around as he usually does, controlling the pace, and using his ring experience to win rounds. In the third though, Rumbolz had seen all he needed to make his move. After dodging about 15 right hands, Bruce timed Shawn perfectly, and threw an uppercut that landed flush on Shawn’s chin – sending him to the mat. Shaw was hurt – badly. So much so, he inexplicably got to his feet and began to climb out of the ring…seriously. He was still hurt when Champion started the action after the 8- count, and Shawn somehow made it through the round on grit and toughness – though obviously embarrassed by the knockdown. Rounds 4 and 5 were close, as both fighters traded right hooks and body shots at an almost equal tally. In the 6th, Shawn was again caught with another right uppercut and wobbled around the ring for a spell with rubber legs. In the last second of the fight, Hammack managed to throw his best shot – a straight right hand as the bell sounded. The fight was going to be close – and considering it was Shawn’s hometown, a few thought it might give him the advantage in this one…however, the split decision went to Rumbolz – presumably because of the knockdown in the 3rd. It should be noted that as of tonight (6/15) Boxrec has Rumbolz losing the fight. Not sure what happened there – but when I find out, I’ll update this story.

Finally, the event everyone had been waiting for – the return of Irish Outlaw Ryan Coyne was upon us. I have to mention that prior to the fight, Ryan’s brother – and his friend Scott Hanke were providing pre-fight entertainment…and I only put their names here because they had the entire room doubled over with laughter from their antics. They should have been paid for their performance…

Anyway, after having to find an opponent for Ryan at the last minute, Rumble Time settled on Kevin Bookout, from Springfield. Bookout only had 3 pro fights (3-0), but was a very good cruiserweight amateur – with over 40 fights in Missouri. Everyone was just hoping he was a durable opponent who would not fall to the canvas in 30 seconds like many last minute opponents have done in the past for other fighters. Coyne entered the ring at a cut 191  pounds. The last time I saw Ryan fight, he was between 195-199 – and I thought he looked like he was in terrific shape. Apparently, all of those hours in the Las Vegas desert have put him in Mr. Olympia mode. He was in terrific condition.

From the first bell, Bookout came right at Ryan, landing a few and missing a few. He did get in at least one shot that went through Coyne's guard and made someone behind me nervous. Of course, any time you are a watching someone you really enjoy seeing in the ring, you will get concerned about certain things – but honestly, I had no concerns whatsoever. That is, until the third round, when an unintentional head butt opened a cut above Ryan’s right eye. If you followed the Contender, you will remember that he was cut very early in the program, and again in his fight with Tim Flamos. During the finale of that show, he fought Rich Gingras – and again was opened up from a butt. THAT made us cringe a little. All I could think about was the ability of Ryan’s cut man, Jerry Leyshock. Jerry worked Bull Latimore’s corner during the Spinks fight and did an adequate job on Bull’s cut…but, you never know how bad it is until you see it up close – and even from our $55 seats, we couldn’t tell one way or the other.

After tasting his own blood again, Ryan flipped the switch that only a few of us have available to us. The 4th round was a blur of lead right hooks and short left hands. Bookout, to his credit was a tough customer with a good chin, because he took many shots that would have stopped a steer. In the middle of the round, against the ropes, Ryan landed a terrific left uppercut, followed by a very fast right hook. Immediately, Bookout hit the deck and the folks on hand rose to their feet to cheer Ryan on. Not leaving anything to chance, Coyne immediately pounced on his hurt opponent and unloaded both hands in furious combinations.
Again, Bookout amazed the crowd with his ability to take a shot – and not fall down. However, the extended punishment took it’s toll and Kevin crumpled to the canvas as Champion waved the fight off signaling Coyne the victor. Ryan stays undefeated and moves closer to a title shot, improving his record to 12-0…and earning  his 4th knockout.

Overall, the show was a good one. The fights were not the worst I have seen, and in some cases, the matchmaking was better than it is at most local shows. I have to commend Rumble Time on their current stable of fighters. It appears that Steve Smith and Co. have really upped the quality of their boxing talent. For the first time in quite a while, St. Louis has a group of fighters that could theoretically put it on the map.

Notes on the event:

Attendance was about 60% (it appeared) and tickets were $35 and up.

Coyne’s victory moves him into the top 20 for Cruiserweights in the US.

Two events were announced:

September 12th at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, CA.

August 29th at Chaifetz Arena: Bull Latimore returns on ESPN Friday Night Fights.

 

 

 

 

2008-2009 Fantasy Boxing Champion

Troy Ragsdale

 

 

 

 

 

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