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Women highlight fight night
Friday, April 25, 2008 12:36 PM PDT
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| Jacob Jones | The Daily World Moclips boxer Sky Bell gets assistance from her corner men between rounds during her professional debut Thursday night as part of the Bash At The Beach boxing card at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino. Bell lost her bout in a unanimous decision. |
Making her professional debut, Bell was paired with a taller, lankier opponent in an unanimous decision loss in four rounds to Brittney Cruz of Denver in the first of four fights in the resort’s Grand Hall.
Portland’s Molly McConnell climbed out of the ring with a Washington state women’s welterweight title in a crowd-pleasing majority decision win over Seattle’s Tammie Johnson.
In the main event, Puyallup’s Eric Boose put together a professionally disciplined performance for a unanimous decision over St. Joseph’s, Mo.’s Galen Brown in a six-round heavyweight bout.
Bell-Cruz
Both fighters, who made their marks in the amateur ranks, were making their professional debuts on Thursday, with Bell moving up in weight class to bantamweight to face Cruz.
The Colorado fighter held a 3-to-4-inch height advantage over Bell and a noticeable reach advantage that she used effectively throughout. Landing sharp jabs to keep Bell from coming inside, Cruz controlled the fight and scored frequently.
“It didn’t go exactly how I wanted; I fought more of her fight and not fight how I wanted,” Bell said. “I stayed outside with her jab and didn’t get inside. It is a learning experience. Now I’ll move down (to flyweight) to 110 pounds, where I originally fought (as an amateur) and wait it out for my next opponent.”
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| Jacob Jones | The Daily World Puyallup’s Eric Boose, left, defeated Galen Brown by unanimous decision in six-round heavyweight main event Thursday night. |
The predominantly partisan crowd for Bell cheered her on at the starts of the second, third and fourth rounds in an attempt to rally her. Bell landed shots inside and when Cruz was on the ropes, but Cruz would jab her way out to regain control.
“(The crowd) inspired me and got me going, but she’s a good fighter,” Bell said. “(Her height and reach) threw me off a lot. She worked her jab really good and kept me out there. I had a tough time getting inside.”
Cruz came away with a 40-36 unanimous decision win on all three judges’ scorecards.
McConnell-Johnson
From most ringside observers and from the crowd reaction, this six-round title bout was the fight of the night.
A contrast in styles — Johnson’s high workrate to McConnell’s power punching — the fight turned into a high-energy slugfest from the get-go. Johnson landed multiple shots to McConnell throughout, gaining the advantage on the ropes early on.
McConnell regained her composure with power shots that slowed Johnson.
All of this led to a furious sixth-round flurry from both boxers — Johnson early and McConnell late — to draw a thunderous roar of approval from the large crowd.
“I felt like I had the fight won,” McConnell said of the late-fight flurries, “just from landing the harder shots. I’ve seen her fight before. She’s very busy and aggressive, so we knew that was what we’d face. I was a little nervous, because it would depend upon what the judges saw and whether they looked for power or for volume. She landed some good puncheds, but I felt I had her (in power).”
In the end, one judge had the bout a draw at 57-57, with McConnell winning 59-55 and 58-56 on the other scorecards.
Boose-Brown
Boose, a member of the 1999 Washington State University and the 2001-02 Idaho State University football teams, knew he was facing an unorthodox fighter in Brown, but didn’t expect what he saw in this six-round heavyweight fight.
More intent on circling the ring, taunting Boose and mugging to the crowd, Brown proved to be an elusive target. Boose kept to his game plan and methodically tagged Brown for points.
“I just had to stay disciplined,” Boose said. “I didn’t want to make it a boring fight, but you have to win the fight. I just had to keep on that jab, just like my trainer Ken Smith said. You have to stay disciplined and if that means you have to throw your jab all day, you throw it all day.”
When Brown finally decided to trade punches with Boose, he landed a few in haymaker style, then got back onto his bike to circle the ring. In the sixth round, Brown was gearing up for a one-punch knockdown, but Boose took advantage for several solid head shots to put the fight away for good.
Two of the judges gave Boose a 59-55 decision, while the third had Boose winning all six rounds.
Johnson-Darby
Temecula, Calif.’s Deshon Johnson earned his first professional win with a four-round majority decision over Darren Darby, of Vancouver, B.C.
Johnson was the busier fighter, but Darby registered enough shots and points to tighten up the judges’ scorecards.
In the end, Johnson won over two of the judges, 39-37, while the third scored it a draw at 38-38.
Prior to the professional matches, regional amateur boxers put on two, 1-minute round exhibitions. The matchups were: Puyallup’s Alex Smith vs. Puyallup’s Jesse Jackle; Puyallup’s Tyler Fessenbek vs. Seattle’s Zach Rover; and Puyallup’s Garrett Simon, an eight-time amateur champion, vs. Seattle’s Jay Williams.
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