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[Previous entry: "David ‘The Weezel’ Estrada Knocks Out Robert Kamya in Four!"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "WBC Female Championship News"]

02/03/2008 Archived Entry: "Walker Stops Elder, Findley Flattens Martin, & Holmes Defeats Dowdy by DQ!"

Walker Stops Elder, Findley Flattens Martin, & Holmes Defeats Dowdy by DQ!

Photos and story by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside

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Walker (left) beats Elder into submission as referee Kurt Spivey looks on


MERRILLVILLE, Ind.—Undefeated Chicago middleweight prospect Michael “Midnight Stalker” Walker (162.75 lbs., 17-0-1, 11 KO’s) gave no quarter and lit up the Radisson Star Plaza crowd in putting the wood to Indianapolis slugger Jerome “Bullet” Elder (164 lbs., 9-15, 9 KO’s), stopping him emphatically in the first round.

Both came out swinging hard. The taller of the two by at least six inches, Elder swung wicked looping blows, many of which Walker ducked under. Walker pounded body and head and quickly pinned Elder to the ropes, where he punished him. Referee Spivey broke them from a clinch and—moments later—Walker stunned him with a flush left hook to the face and dropped him moments later with a searing right to the chin.

Elder rose and, to his credit, fought back hard as Walker continued the onslaught.

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Just as it seemed that Elder might make it out of round one, another left hook dropped Elder in a corner. Badly hurt, Elder rose at the count of nine, but it was no use. Spivey waved him off at 3:00 into the first round.

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A jubilant Walker said of his pre-fight taunting of Elder with a slashing motion to his throat, “It’s my time. I let him know I was here to fight! It was excitement for the fight."

Continuing, Walker said, “I came out relaxed, really warmed, focused. My last fight, I over-exerted myself. This fight I was more relaxed and I finally caught him with a couple of hooks and a right hand.

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Walker receives help removing his gloves after the fight from his corner

“He came to fight, but you got to take the fight out of him,” said Walker. “I trained hard for this fight and I’ve got to get back to the gym and train hard.”

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Michael Walker poses with his son at ringside

Looking ahead, he added, “It’s just starting to pay off and we’re looking to get bigger and better fights. We want to get 10 rounds and eventually get a title around my waist and bring it back to the Midwest—to Team Walker, One in a Million. Chicago needs another champion. We have David Diaz and they need another one—me!

“I haven’t had a first round knockout in a while. I always feel I can get one. I need to get more relaxed work—relax and let it come. I think I’m on a three or four fight knockout spree.”

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Findley (right) drops Martin hard as referee Spivey looks on in shock

Gary, Indiana's hulking super middleweight Derrick “Superman” Findley (162 1/2 lbs., 9-2, 5 KO’s) overcame some early adversity to stop Sioux City, Iowa's Nathan Martin (q63 3/4 lbs., 9-15, 9 KO’s) in two rounds.

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Derrick Findley (right) and Nathan Martin prepare to engage

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Martin was out-boxing Findley in the first when suddenly Findley caught him with a left hook to the chin. Staggering, Martin lurched to the ropes and managed to survive a two-fisted onslaught at rounds end.

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The end came fast in the second. Digging a left to Martin’s left lower abdomen, he followed with a searing right to the chin. Martin collapsed to the matt. Rising after several seconds, Martin saw the end come quickly, as Findley dug a left hook to the same place. Clearly pained, Martin fell to all fours. Referee Kurt Spivey waved off the bout at 2:13 of the second round.

Afterwards, Martin said to Findley, “I only had 10 days notice, but I have no one to blame but myself for sitting around and having to lose all that weight. That was a good shot you hit me to the body with!”

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Holmes, left, stands over Dowdy in the first following a knockdown

DeMotte, Indiana’s popular super middleweight Jimmy 'The Fighting School Teacher" Holmes (163 ½ lbs., 16-1-2, 9 KO’s) wasted no time versus Memphis, Tennessee’s Tyrone Dowdy (165 lbs., 2-13, 1 KO), rocking Dowdy repeatedly with straight rights and dropping him with a left to the head in the first round. Follow up rights failed to finish the job.

In the second, referee Kurt Spivey deducted two points for holding by Dowdy and gave both warnings, as he struggled to maintain order in a sloppy fight. Dowdy rocked Holmes briefly toward the end of the round with a sneaky overhand right.

The sloppiness continued through the third, as Dowdy continued holding. In between clinches, Holmes rocked him repeatedly with straight rights. Frustrated in clinches, Holmes occasionally hit Dowdy behind the head, which drew a warning from Spivey.

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This pattern of clutching continued into the fourth and, after several warnings, at 2:36 of the fourth, Spivey called a halt to the bout, disqualifying Dowdy. Holmes won by way of disqualification.

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“He kept grabbing me,” said Holmes. “I tried pulling away from him, but he’d pull me in. What can you do?”

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Jimmy Holmes visits with his daughter after his victory

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Thomas (left) has Ochoa in trouble in a corner

Every dog has its day in the sun. And, for designated Davenport, Iowa opponent Fred Thomas (143 ½ lbs., 0-7), that day almost came tonight, as he nearly stopped a surging Ed Ochoa of Hobart, Indiana (145 ½ lbs., 2-0, 2 KO’s) in the first round of their dramatic war.

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Ochoa (left) on the attack

Up until that moment, Ochoa was administering a one-sided battering when—like his stable mate, Perez—he got badly rocked. Backing him into a corner, Thomas was pummeling him senseless. Then, almost inexplicably, referee Kurt Spivey jumped in and administered a standing eight count, gaining him precious moments of recovery.

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Referee Spivey (far left) about to intervene as Thomas pounds Ochoa on the ropes

Sufficiently revived, Ochoa rode out the storm in the remaining moments of round one.

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Thomas (left) attacks with a fury

Sporting a bruised face and a swollen eye, a reinvigorated Thomas started out the second hot, swinging for the fences. At one point, Thomas picked up Ochoa and threw him into a corner, drawing a stern warning from referee Spivey. Ochoa boxed well, mixing his punches, for the remainder of the round.

As the third round got under way, Thomas was unceremoniously dumped into the ropes by a hard right to the chin and, later drilled on the ropes and hit with a left hook to the head as he slumped to the mat for good measure. Rising, Thomas cleared his head and survived.

Resuming hostilities, Thomas and Ochoa traded furiously in the fourth. First, Thomas pinned Ochoa in a corner behind furious blows. Then, it was Ochoa hemming Ochoa against the ropes and pounding flesh with a vengeance. Thomas was momentarily spun around from the fury of the onslaught, his head peeking through the ropes. Resuming, he was dropped once from a right to the head, received an eight count, and reengaged.

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Ochoa knocks Thomas out!

Eschewing defense, they swapped blows at rings center. Suddenly, Ochoa knocked Thomas flat on his back with a crushing right to the jaw. Spivey’s waving it off was a mere formality, as Thomas was gone. The end came at 2:01 into the fourth round.

Asked about the finishing blow, Thomas said, “If I saw it, I would have ducked. I think it was a right.”

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Thomas (left) and Ochoa talk after their thrilling bout

Ochoa concurred. “He was throwing a right hand, and I threw mine a little quicker,” said Ochoa of the knockout.

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Colazzo (right) follows through on a right at Colbert

She had to sign off on papers okaying the weight disparity, but she did just fine, as rising female Chicago featherweight prospect Evette Colazzo (124 ¾ lbs., 2-0, 2 KO’s) out-pointed lumbering Chicago welterweight Kim Colbert (143 ¾ lbs., 2-13, 2 KO’s) over four rounds.

It was ring science versus brute strength and bulk, as the petite Colazzo out-boxed the larger Colbert throughout, jabbing, hooking and crossing with relative impunity, then ducking under Colbert’s ponderous swings and darting away. Colbert stuck out her tongue, mocked and occasionally swung for a sucker punch. However, they don't give points for that.

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Colazzo has her hand raised in victory by referee Spivey

And so, judges scored the bout 30-36 all for Colazzo.

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Another "One in a Million" prospect on the rise? Who knows? However, if his heredity has anything to do with it, he has a bright future, as Michael "The Midnight Stalker" Walker's son mugs for the camera after the festivities

Octavius James and his One in a Million Boxing promoted this entertaining evening of boxing.

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Michael Walker poses with his son's mother and friends at ringside

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