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08/03/2008 Archived Entry: "McGee, White Knock It Out of the Ballpark in the ‘Steel Yard Brawl!’"
McGee, White Knock It Out of the Ballpark in the ‘Steel Yard Brawl!’
Photos and report by Juan C. Ayllon in the press box
Referee Kurt Spivey looks on as Henry Coyle (left) and Allen Moore tangle in a boxing ring atop home plate
GARY, Ind., August 2, 2008—It was a perfect night to spend at the U.S. Steel’s Steel Yard ballpark – only they weren’t watching baseball.
With the roar of traffic clattering along the elevated Indiana Toll Road just a baseball’s throw beyond centerfield wall, a crowd of 1,100 cheered a series of boxing matches held in a small red, white and blue boxing ring at home plate. For headlining boxers Mary McGee and Jermain White, this was only fitting; McGee had once lived in a car for several months and White’s father had poured cement in helping construct the stadium.
Ring announcer Joe York (center) gets things going, while One in a Million Boxing publicist Ray Flores (upper left) oversees the proceedings
Moments before McGee’s fight begins, ring announcer Joe York draws rousing cheers when he announces, “It’s time to get nasty!” Later, he confides, “That crowd was FRIGGIN' LOUD!”
Hailing from Gary, McGee (134.6 lbs., 14-0, 8 KO’s) is the hometown favorite defending her NABC Lightweight belt against Tonya Gallegos (5-7, 2 KO’s)—who, word has it, looked in fantastic shape in the gym prior to tonight.
The two of them take to milling right off, with Gallegos pressing the action and McGee sharp shooting with straighter punches up the middle. McGee appears to stun Gallegos momentarily with sharp punches to the head. Unimpressed, Gallegos resumes her two fisted assault.
Suddenly, a straight right to the chin drops Gallegos hard. After she rises, McGee drives her to the ropes and tees off on her with both fists. Referee Kurt Spivey intervenes and issues a standing eight count. Just as they’re about to resume, the bell rings.
McGee circles and boxes at the beginning of round two. Settling down, she covers as Gallegos bangs away. In close, McGee bounces an uppercut off her chin. They trade back and forth. McGee jars Gallegos badly with a two fisted tirade and rives her back to the ropes. Gallegos receives a standing eight count. McGee pounces and drives her to the mat with a two-fisted attack capped by another big right. Gallegos goes down hard. Rising, she gets a standing eight count. It’s over. Referee Kurt Spivey waves it off at 1:53 into round two. To the crowd’s delight, McGee has won by technical knockout.
McGee talks with Chris Guzman of the Bolo Punch Boxing Hour after the fights
“I felt good because I trained hard and I was in with a girl that was fighting. She had too much to train for the fight,” McGee says afterwards. “I felt she was trying to head butt me purposely…I can’t prove it, but I believe it. I got the victory, so that’s all that matters to me right now.”
Asked what’s next, McGee said, “I plan on doing something nationally, getting me some WBC titles and just continuing to get stronger and up my training more, ‘cause the fights are getting harder.”
McGee looks to her future
In the co-main event, Merrillville, Indiana’s Jermain White (142.5 lbs., 16-3, 8 KO’s) and Grand Rapid, Michigan’s Reggie Nash (140.2 lbs., 9-19-1, 2 KO’s) go to work right away, with Nash headhunting and White banging away at the body. Nash snaps White’s head back with a right after White waved him in. White backs Nash to the ropes and proceeds to batter over and under with both fists. Spinning out, Nash turns the tables momentarily as White covers and takes a break.
As in the first round, White batters the elongated torso of the taller Nash body and throws hard looping lefts and rights at his head with the full weight of his body behind them. Suddenly, a left hook to the rib cage drops Nash hard. The crowd roars.
A follow-up flurry and a right to the ribs drops Nash again! Nash receives a standing eight count. Absorbing a battering, a weary Nash drops from a push down. Rising, Nash receives another eight count. Charging, White nails Nash with a right to the head. Referee Eric Fetzer grabs White in a bear hug and pushes him away, catching an errant late punch to the back of his head from Nash for his efforts. No matter, it’s over at 1:52 into the second round. White has won by technical knockout.
Jermain White is back in form
A jubilant White says afterwards, “I felt good. I had a great training camp (sparring with) Zab Judah, Edwin Valero, Kid Diamond. You know, I was in training camp with Zab Judah since May and we sparred maybe 200 rounds! I was his chief sparring partner. I knew sparring with a guy like that, that I don’t care how talented a guys’ going to be, they’re going to be took out! I learned a lot of things in the camp; I learned a lot of things that helped me mentally and I knew it was going to be over once I got going. And I didn’t get a chance to get going today, so—hah! It was just that I was fortunate. Thank God for it!”
“What’s next is trying to build up some more wins. What I’m focused on is get five straight knockouts. That’s number two there,” he says, smiling. “You know, when I get five straight knockouts, that’s going to put me on the list of top prospects.
“You know, those fluky losses that I had with taking fights on short notice, like [Julio Caesar] Chavez Jr. and Anthony Peterson and Derrick Campos—you know what I’m saying? Those fights, I took on short notice without training the way I wanted to, without the real focus, being sick and having problems: With Peterson I had three pinched nerves in my back, [and] I had to go to rehab for 14 weeks.”
White concludes, “This time, without them things in the way, I’ll have no problem. You’re getting the full 100 percent Jermain White that’s going to bring some show because he’s going to put his punches together and make everybody happy when they see me!”
Undercard bouts
Oohs and ahs were aplenty, as female boxers Kerri Hill (Little Rock, AR, 126.9 lbs., 1-10 and 1 KO) and Evette Collazo (Chicago, IL, 129.1 lbs., 3-0, 2 KO’s) wasted no time initiating a firefight that went the four round distance. Hill threw the wider, more ponderous blows, while Collazo threw straighter and more compact punches that landed with greater precision and effect throughout.
Shorter by a good three or four inches, her frizzy black hair tied in a bun, Collazo landed a right to the chin moments after the bell initiated round two, a round in which she continued to widen the margin of success between her and the durable Hill.
In the fourth, a hard left hook to the jaw rocked Hill as she came in. The crowd roared. A pinpoint left and right to the chin drew a large gasp from the crowd moments before the final gong.
Judges scored the bout 40-36 unanimously for Collazo.
Talk to some boxing experts and they’ll agree that good footwork makes all the difference in the ring. However, Indianapolis’ Ralf “R-Rated” Franklin (145 lbs., 0-3) took this tenet to extreme in losing against Hobart, Indiana’s Edward Ochoa (150.4 lbs., 4-0, 4 KO’s).
Boos resounded moments into their bout as Franklin apparently injured his ankle as his feet got tangled up as he retreated from an Ochoa right. Rising, he limped around. Referee Eric Fetzer waved the bout 11 seconds into the first round, resulting in a TKO win for Ochoa.
Outside the dressing rooms afterwards, Indiana Boxing commissioner Jake Hall said that they suspended Franklin indefinitely for taking his match with an undisclosed knee injury.
It didn’t take Hammond, Indiana’s Michael Parker (216.3 lbs., 5-0, 4 KO’s) long to rattle Clinton, Missouri’s Eric Crittendon (221.3 lbs., 2-5, 2 KO’s), battering him about the ring with smashing lefts and rights and earning a standing eight count by referee Kurt Spivey. The battering resumed. After absorbing repeated uppercuts rights lefts that drew oohs and ahs from the crowd, Crittendon received two more standing eight counts, the last one resulting in a stoppage at 2:50 into the first round.
His back to the ropes, Ireland’s by way of Chicago’s Henry Coyle (157.4 lbs., 7-1, 7 KO’s) had just been tagged with a looping right by a truculent Allen Moore (Indianapolis, 157.2 lbs., 1-3, 1 KO) and like that, it was over: Coyle flashed his own right to the chin. Moore crashed hard on his back. The crowd let go an appreciative “Ohhhh!” Rising several moments later, it was no use. Referee Kurt Spivey took a good look and waved it off at 1:29 into the first round.
Indianapolis’ Derrick “Ring King” Hill (139.5 lbs, pro debut) and Michigan City, Indiana’s Markus Thompkins (141.3 lbs., 2-0) put on an entertaining scrap while it lasted, but suffered a premature and unsatisfactory ending as an unintentional clash of heads ended matters.
After a fairly even give and take first round, Thompkins battered and rocked Hill with hard rights and combinations.
Hill started off the third aggressively, but suffered a nasty cut above the left eye. After having it examined, referee Eric Fetzer waved the bout off at 56 seconds into the third round. The bout was ruled a no decision due to an accidental head butt.
Josh Crouch (160.9 lbs., pro debut) jump started his professional boxing career in solid fashion, stopping Alonso Perdomo (158.2 lbs., 0-1) in a pitched a competitive affair.
Crouch rocked Perdomo in the first round and finalized matters in the fourth with looping blows. Buckling Perdomo’s knees with a left and right, Crouch dropped him for good with a looping right hand to the jaw. The referee waved off the bout at 2:59 into round four.
To the delight of the crowd, following the fights, fireworks lit up the sky over the Steel Yard. And the roar of cars and trucks droned into the night.
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To see Tom Barnes' close up photos of the fight -- which are available for purchase, go to the link below:
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Ring announcer Joe York (right) hams it up with popular Chicago middleweight boxer, Michael "The Midnight Stalker" Walker, who looks forward to getting back in the ring soon
Promoter: Octavius James’ One in a Million Boxing
Special thanks to Boxing Commissioner Jake Hall for all his help!
My view from the press box
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM TOM BARNES, COURTESY OF ONE IN A MILLION BOXING, MAY FOLLOW...
