[Previous entry: "Eddie Futch’s Legacy – Update: 'Low Blow in Boxing.'"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "BREWSTER 'RELENTLESSLY' RAVAGES GOLOTA FOR TKO WIN, ADAMAK EDGES BRIGGS IN 'BATTLE FOR CHICAGO'!"]
05/21/2005 Archived Entry: "Gathright Upsets Supreme by Split Decision; Galvan and Rice Double DQ'ed in Merrillville Thriller"
Gathright Upsets Supreme by Split Decision; Galvan and Rice Double DQ'ed in Merrillville Thriller!
By Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Gathright (left) lands a hook on Supreme in a thrilling affair (Photo by Juan C. Ayllon)
MERRILLVILLE, INDIANA, May 20, 2005 – On the eve of the WBO World Heavyweight Championship in Chicago, One in a Million Boxing, Inc. took a gamble and scored well, serving up a thrilling fight card to a packed house at the Celebrity Ballroom in the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza.
Prior to this evening’s main event, heavyweight contender Fres Oquendo said of Ali Supreme via cell phone, “Man, I remember sparring with him years ago! I knew him as Greg Jones. Now he’s NABF Champion. That’s great! I remember winning that [the NABF Heavyweight title], knocking out Obed Sullivan.”
A friend of devout Christian and WBO World Heavyweight Champ Lamon Brewster—who will be defending his title on Saturday evening against Andrew Golota—Oquendo might have borrowed Brewster’s Palm Pilot—which features Bible software in it—and quoted the verse that says, “Pride cometh before the fall” to Ali.
Supreme dances and sings during his ring entrance
Brimming with confidence, NABF Cruiserweight Champion Ali Supreme made a flamboyant ring entrance, dancing and singing to the crowd to his entrance song. Who was to know that after eight rounds, Ali (189 lbs., 15-4-0, 7 KO’s) would lose a non-title bout to unheralded Carl Gathright (191 lbs., 2-6-0, 1 KO)?
Round one featured a brisk round of boxing, as they exchanged hard jabs in the early going. Ali boxed well and landed several hooks that appeared to stun Gathright a little.
Round two was competitive, as the two sampled each other’s power. Ali was the faster of the two, spearing with a potent jab and landing heavy hooks and crisp rights. However, Gathright began connecting with his share of hard overhand rights to the head.
Round three saw more heavy exchanges. Circling and jabbing at the beginning, Ali landed sharp combinations but received thudding right hands in return. Gathright drove him into the ropes and punished him momentarily with heavy lefts and rights. Getting away from the ropes, Ali peppered him with sharp one-twos in several pointed spurts.
Gathright made a huge statement in round four, trapping Ali for the better portion of the last two minutes and bombed away with hard rights and lefts as Ali covered—and sought to counter in spots—as best he could.
Round five featured more of the same for the first minute and a half, as Gathright repeatedly trapped Ali on the ropes and bombed away as Ali covered. Ali fought back when freed up. However, it was becoming apparent that Gathright was the stronger of the two, while Ali was the faster and sharper boxer.
By comparison, round six was a little less frantic, with Ali doing his best work from ring’s center, establishing longer range and peppering Gathright with jabs and one-twos. Oddly, towards rounds end, Ali tried to lure Gathright into an apparent trap in a corner, which Gathright obliged and got a few shots off before the bell.
Gathright (right) lets out a big "Yes!" as his victory is announced
In round seven, Ali established the jab and circled, landing more effectively. Stalking, Gathright found him more evasive, but managed to trap him on the ropes briefly a couple times. Ali appeared to edge this round.
To the crowd’s delight, both combatants let it all hang out at rings center for the better portion of round eight, trading two fisted power punches with impugnity. The pace was blistering. Tiring, Ali sagged and dropped to a knee. Both were hurt as they tired badly. Never the less, they kept swinging until the final bell tolled. In the end, it went to a split decision 78-75 for Ali, and 77-75 twice for Gathright.
Afterwards a member of Ali’s corner said, “I think they both were out of shape; I think both of them thought the other guy wasn’t in too good a shape.”
Galvan (right) and Rice trade furiously
In a bizarre, heated, and foul filled co-main event, Ruben Galvan (148 lbs., 21-6-2, 9 KO’s) and James Rice (148 lbs., 6-42-5, 2 KO’s) both suffered the indignity of a double disqualification.
Galvan shaded Rice in rounds one and two; in the second, he doubled over Rice with a borderline body shot, which resulted in a standing eight count from the ref. Referee Allen warned Galvan for using his elbows in there. Undaunted, Galvan punished Rice after baiting him by dropping his hands at his side and tapping his chin.
In the third round, Galvan was warned for a second time for using the elbows and was later warned for pushing Rice down in a corner as the two got into a heated exchange.
In round four, the two swapped blows as Rice sought to wrest control of the bout. Then, Galvan knocked Rice’s mouthpiece out, Rice froze momentarily and Galvan pounced with both hands jarring Rice’s head hard. Angered, Rice grabbed Ruben beneath the buttocks and tried to throw him. Grabbing hold so as not to be thrown down, Ruben clutched Rice hard. Intervening, Referee Blake Allen terminated matters, calling it a double disqualification. Rice collapsed to the floor in angst and Galvan argued his cause to no avail as the referee had made his decision. The call was roundly booed by the crowd, which wanted to see a decisive ending to the bout.
Speaking with this writer at ringside afterwards, Allen said that both were fouling, “…throughout the bout. We have rules and regulations to adhere to; if you have any questions, you can ask the commission. The main thing is you cannot allow a foul plagued bout to continue. Both fighters showed no regards to the rules. That’s about the extent of it.”
Just then, Referee Spivey came by and said, “Nice job, Blake.”
Announcer Joe York observed, “James [Rice] will try to get under you…he likes playing the spoiler. I think Ruben was leading, I think he was ahead on most of the scorecards. He connected very well I think it was a right. That thing destroyed his jaw umberture, the jaw placement—the word for how the jaw is set—he connected so well, you heard it. James was stunned by it. The natural thing you’re supposed to do is survive. In the Indiana rules there has to be a lull in the action, the referee calls time…there was no lull there; he saw that his opponent was vulnerable, he was throwing some really good cuts…I saw James try to pick him up and I clearly saw Ruben try to pick him up. I think Ruben was trying to defend himself and James was trying to defend himself. Both were trying to catapult each other. They’d been fowling all night. You could tell they were intense and in the moment. I can’t fault anyone who’s intense and in the moment trying to win the fight.
“Ruben was leading, James was making it very close…James was coming back…he’s a guy that will come back and haunt you. I’ve been doing this ten years and I can safely say I’ve never seen a double DQ. Who won the fight? Red corner [Galvan]. Who really won the fight? James. He was on his way with being slapped with another loss.”
IN.B.A. Lightweight Champ, Johnny Novak has his hand raised once again
IN.B.A. Lightweight Champ, Johnny Novak (134 lbs., 13-1-0, 6 KO’s), decisively decisioned game Lee Cargle (134 lbs., 34-103-1, 17 KO’s) in a non-title bout over six rounds.
Cargle (right) forces a clinch with Novak
In round one, Novak went to work, forcing Cargle into the ropes and landing effectively to the body. At one point, Cargle drove Novak into the ropes with a football like block, prompting one fan to say, “Hey, this isn’t football!”
Novak banged hard combinations to head and body in round two, drawing increasing holding from Cargle.
In round three, Novak opened up with four, five and six punch combinations to the head and ripping shots to the body. For his part, Cargle kept him honest now and again with brief return fire.
Round four saw utter domination by Novak as he worked hard, while Cargle mostly covered and grabbed.
In round five, Novak stunned Cargle with a right to the head, momentarily driving him to the ropes in a daze. Novak didn’t seem to notice and the moment passed, as Cargle came in close to smother Novak’s punches. Novak and Cargle exchanged words in between bursts of punches by Novak.
The sixth and final round was the most competitive round as the two took turns exchanging rapid five and six punch bursts early in the round. Seeking to close out the show strongly, Novak continued to press, but found a surprisingly belligerent response as Cargle swung hard with angry resolve. As the final bell rang, Cargle had Novak pinned against the ropes ripping short punches in close. Angered, Novak clipped him over the top repeatedly as the ref had to forcibly separate the two easily a good 15 to 20 seconds after the bell.
The judges scored the bout equally at 60-54 thrice for Novak in a unanimous decision victory.
Holmes' furious attack forces Patterson to hold on
Jimmy "The Fighting School Teacher" Holmes (160 lbs., 9-0-1, 6 KO’s) beat Chris Patterson (157 lbs., 3-13-0) by disqualification in the fourth round.
In round one, Holmes clipped Patterson coming in while he sidestepped Patterson’s rush as Patterson tripped over Holmes’ leg resulting in a knockdown. Lots of holding. Patterson landed a hook to the back of Holmes’ head as he slipped into a corner. The two traded blows to close out the round.
In round two, Patterson was deducted one point for excessive holding as he sought to time Holmes coming in and caught hard hooks and combinations for his efforts.
As matters got heated in round three, Patterson caught a big hook and touched the canvas with both gloves resulting in a knockdown ruling. Later, his mouthpiece was knocked out, buying time. Patterson was warned for excessive holding. Holmes banged away with both hands seeking to end matters definitively.
Holmes and Patterson share a lighter moment after the battle
As Holmes surged to finish Patterson in round four, Patterson increasingly grabbed. The ref called both fighters together for a conference regarding their holding. After one hold too many, Referee Spivey had seen enough, halting the bout at 2:21 into the round, resulting in a disqualification win for Holmes.
Michael “The Midnight Stalker” Walker (160 lbs., 6-0-0, 4 KO’s) lived up to his nickname, stopping game, but ultimately overmatched John Vaughan (162 lbs., 5-5-0, 3 KO’s) in the fifth round.
Walker initiated well in the beginning of round one, with Vaughan countering a little. Walker showed good power in combination with solid body shots, uppercuts and hooks. Fighting off the ropes the last ten seconds, he blocked, caught a few and countered well.
In round two, Vaughan proved very game, forcing Walker into the ropes a lot for some good exchanges. Walker moved well—in and out and spinning Vaughan. A left uppercut and right hook got his attention. A solid flurry at rounds end wobbled Vaughan and rendered his upper body through the ropes.
Vaughan came out punching in round four, but Walker landed more effectively throughout the round with punishing shots.
In round five, a Walker straight right put Vaughan down; a leaden left hook nailed and dropped Vaughan a second time; then Vaughan took a knee voluntarily after sustaining a terrible onslaught. As a result, the ref waved off the fight for an automatic TKO due to the three knockdown rule at 1:36 of the fifth round.
Referee Kurt Spivey said, “They both came to fight. Vaughan had an iron chin. It was the fifth round till I finally had to break them. They came out and punched for the whole bout. It was fun to watch.”
Indiana light heavyweight Guy Solis concurred, saying, “I thought Vaughan was a game fighter. Walker was too strong for him. He was more seasoned. He knew more of the game.”
Rugged Jaime Alvarado (134 lbs., 2-2-2, 1 KO) stopped Andrew Mendez (133 lbs., 0-1-0) in the second round.
Alvarado demonstrated good punching power, banging a good right to the body and landing good right hooks throughout round one.
In round two, a solid right hook by Alvarado sent Mendez to the canvas. A flurry of punches resulted in a standing eight count. The ref waved off the fight at 2:00 into round two. Clearly, Mendez was not nearly as seasoned as Alvarado.
McGee (left) is pulled off Davis
In her pro debut, exciting 2005 Golden Gloves winner Mary McGee (144 lbs.) utterly dominated debuting Jasmine Davis (144 lbs.), pitching a virtual shutout and forcing standing eight counts in rounds two, three and four. Scores were 40-32 thrice. Using a stiff jab and multiple combinations, McGee repeatedly stunned and forced Davis to cover her head with both gloves for protracted durations. Afterwards, impressed announcer Joe York said, “She’s truly a ‘Million Dollar Baby.”
The packed and lively crowd would most likely say the same about the evening’s card: One in a Million Boxing, Inc. provided an entertaining fight card that lived up to its moniker. Not bad for hosting a fight card just the evening before the WBO World Heavyweight Championship in nearby Chicago. Not bad at all!
From left to right: Jermaine White, Marty Jakubowski's son and Marty Jakubowski, Shay Mobley, Guy Solis' Son and Guy Solis
[Editor's note: One in a Million Boxing, Inc. fighter, Guy Solis, assisted this writer by filling in the details of the Walker and Alvarado bouts, as this writer was stuck in traffic riding down from Northern Illinois! Thanks, Guy! Thanks, also to the ladies on the commission who provided commission documents on the fights!]
Ladies, Joe York is still available!
All photos by Juan C. Ayllon
