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04/28/2008 Archived Entry: "Northwest Prospects Score Wins at Quinault Beach Resort and Casino"
Northwest Prospects Score Wins at Quinault Beach Resort and Casino
Report and photos by Ricardo Ibarra
Molly McConnell (left) bounces a hard left off the head of Tammie Johnson
OCEAN SHORES, Wash.--Puyallup, Washington's Eric “Night Train” Boose (14-2-1 8KOs 237 lbs.) continued his climb back up the boxing ranks with a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Galen Brown (29-7-1 19KOs 23 1lbs) at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino on Thursday, April 24th. The bout headlined a seven fight Pro-Am show presented by Patrick Ortiz’ Ringside Ticket Inc.
Usually an aggressive starter, Boose began the bout at a slow and methodical pace, snapping his jab and patiently waiting for an opening. The opening came at the end of the first round as an overhand right found its mark on the chin of Brown. Unfortunately for Boose that punch was the beginning of a very awkward and frustrating fight for him.
Boose (at left) lands a left to the jaw
After tasting his opponent’s power, Brown seemed to adopt a survival game plan rather than attempting to put up any kind of a fight. For the next five rounds he circled around the ring, occasionally choosing to engage, but mostly trying to stay away from his opponent’s punches. Boose pressed the fight and managed to corner his opponent on a few occasions, firing off hard hooks to the head and body. But, for the most part Boose controlled the bout patiently stalking behind his jab. The judges’ scored the bout 59-55, 60-54, 59-55.
Boose preses on the attack
Boose, once considered one of the top prospects out of the Pacific Northwest, added his second win since losing in a highly controversial third round stoppage to Jonathan Williams last October. In that bout, Boose was dropped early in the second round and while on the canvass received a late left hook flush on the jaw. Although he was given time to recover, he remained on shaky legs until Williams finished him off in the third round. Since that fight Boose has been calling out Williams in hopes of securing a rematch. Hopefully he moved one step closer to that bout with his most recent win.
McConnell (left) and Johnson trade furiously in a corner
In what was by far the fight of the night, Portland, Oregon’s Molly McConnell (8-1 4KOs 141 lbs.) won the Washington State women’s welterweight title with a hard fought six round majority decision over tough Tammie Johnson (3-1 135 lbs.) of Lynwood, Washington. Johnson began the bout aggressively pressing the fight, cornering McConnell and forcing her to stand and trade. The two swapped heavy leather on the ropes for the majority of the first round with Johnson landing at a higher rate. The pace seemed to favor Johnson, who usually throws a lot of punches in a fight, but the stronger McConnell was landing the harder shots.
Early on McConnell had problems adjusting to the fast tempo in the bout. But, in the second round she began to slow the pace, controlling the distance with a crisp jab and bringing the fight out to the center of the ring. As Johnson continued to press forward, McConnell began to time her with a straight right. A big right seemed to stun Johnson at the end of the second round. In the third the tables turned and it was Johnson trying to maintain her distance while McConnell pressed the fight. Johnson showed some new dimensions to her abilities as she began to land solid counters as McConnell came in. McConnell closed out a fairly even round with two solid right hands flush on the chin.
McConnell (left) drills the body while taking one over the top to the head from Johnson
The momentum shifted in the fourth round with McConnell taking over. After a straight right buckled Johnson, McConnell began to tee-off with a barrage of unanswered punches. Johnson showed a lot of heart and a pretty solid chin as she refused to go down, even after taking some hellacious punches. The round would come to a close with Johnson back on the attack, trading with her opponent. For the remainder of the fight the packed crowd cheered loudly in appreciation as these two fighters engaged in two solid rounds of wild, back and forth action. But, while Johnson threw a lot of punches, McConnell managed to land the cleaner, harder shots on the inside taking the majority decision by scores of 59-55, 58-56, 57-57.
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Darby (in blue) retaliates
Riverside, California’s Dashon Johnson (1-1-1 146 lbs.) evened the score against Vancouver, British Columbia’s Darren Darby (3-7-2 1KO 142 lbs.) with a four round majority decision. Last month Darby surprised Johnson, and many at ringside, when he battered the youngster around the ring for four rounds, taking a unanimous decision. This time out Johnson used a solid jab and good lateral movement to keep Darby at bay for most of the bout. Darby closed the distance in the last round, working well to the body and landing some solid rights to the head, but, by that time Johnson had built up a solid lead on the scorecards. The final tallies read 38-38, 39-37, 39-37.
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Cruz (left) lands a right
Local favorite Sky Bell (0-1 122 lbs,) had the full support of the local crowd in Ocean Shores, WA. Unfortunately for her, she just couldn’t get around the longer, quicker punches of her opponent Brittany Cruz (1-0 1NC 120 lbs.). Cruz, of Denver, Colorado, easily kept Bell at range and off balance for most of the fight. Her long, rangy jab and superior foot work were the keys to her victory. Bell never stopped trying and found some success with counter left-rights, but she never mounted enough of an attack to win a round on the judges’ scorecards. The final scores read 40-36, all for Cruz.
The evening began with three, 2 round exhibition bouts featuring local amateur fighters. Three time national champion and eight time state champion Garret Simon showed some promise. Both he and his opponent Jimmy Williams displayed some sound fundamentals in their two round exhibition match. Also in exhibitions: Alex Smith took on Jesse Jackal, and Zach Groven took on Tyler Fefbenbek.
