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03/07/2009 Archived Entry: " Forbes Storms Through Davis at Spirit Mountain"
Forbes Storms Through Davis at Spirit Mountain
Friday Night, March 6 in Grande Ronde, OR
By Katherine Dunn
Jason Davis, figured that former world jr. Lightweight champ Steve “”2 Pound” Forbes would come at him early. Davis hoped to hold him off with a jab. Forbes allowed Davis and his fans to cling to that that fantasy for exactly one round. Then Forbes came out and roughed Davis up with faster, smarter combinations that blew Davis’ jab and his defense completely away. With Davis on the Ropes, Forbes landed an uppercut to the chin and launched a sustained barrage that dropped Davis to the deck. Though he tried to rise, Davis was still drooping badly as Ref Louis Jackvony hit the ten count. A KO win for Forbes at 2:45 of the second round.
Davis, of Vancouver, WA, weighed 144 ½ lbs and now has a record of 11-3-1, 3 KOs. Forbes, a native of Portland, OR now living in Michigan, weighed in at 148 ½ lbs, and his record stands at 34-7, 10 KOs.
Forbes may have decided he’d already given up enough to his less experienced opponent. Failing to make the 145 lb contract weight that morning, Forbes forfeited a thousand dollars from his purse to Davis. As the “name” fighter in the match, Forbes was contracted to get $7,500 but his local opponent had negotiated for a full $10,000 to take his chances against Forbes. Davis goes home with $11,000 compared to Forbes’ $6,500, but Forbes keeps his pride and his long term contract with The Contender reality show where he was a top finalist before his 2008 distance loss to Oscar De La Hoya.
In an unclear side matter, the Vancouver Columbian newspaper reports that Jason Davis’ pregnant fiancé, Jessica Stout—who had been particularly vocal in the audience —was assaulted at the end of the bout by Steve Forbes’ sister. No further details were available.
This fight headlined the first in what will be a series of boxing events promoted by the Roy Jones Jr company, Square Ring, at the big, lush Spirit Mountain tribal casino and resort in Grande Ronde, Oregon. An enthusiastic sold out crowd of 1700 enjoyed six bouts on this card. Roy Jones Jr. himself took the ring to welcome the audience and to plump for attention to his own fight on March 21 against Omar Sheika. The next Spirit Mountain boxing card is scheduled for June.
On The Undercard:
4 rnds, Jr. lightweights---Jose Gomez, 130 ½ lbs, now 2-2, of Kent, Washington won a split decision over Noberto Pantellon, 130 ½ lbs, now 2-2, 1 KO, of Salem, Oregon.
Pantellon had a sharp, long armed jab, but tended to throw one punch and then pause to consider. Gomez kept his elbows tucked and went for inside work. Both guys missed entirely when things got busy. Judge Perla Rodriguez called it 40-36 for Pantellon, while judges Jim Howard and Andy Dinger both saw it 39-37 for Gomez.
4 rnds, Light Heavyweights---Kevin “Rusty” Hand, , 169 lbs, now 3-0, 3 KOs of Albany, OR won by TKO at 2:57 of the second round over Sam Haynes, 168 ¾ lbs, now 5-4, 4 KOs, of Portland, OR.
Haynes, at 5’9” aimed to get inside and wail on the body of his taller opponent. This worked for the first two minutes, until the awkward, 6’1 “ Hand finished blocking shots with his elbows and started throwing some. Given his reach advantage, you’d expect Hand to rely on a jab, but no, he wanted to get in close and blast away. Once he started letting his hands go, Hand caught Haynes on the ropes in a flurry of unanswered leather until Ref Dave Hagen stopped it at 2:57 of the second round.
4 rnds, Featherweights share pro debut---Manuel Ortega, 126 lbs, of Seattle, WA won a split decision over Marco Cardenas, ,, 126 lbs, of Salem, OR.
This debut by two promising fighters was the best match up of the night and a spicey encounter to boot. Both fighters were fit, confident and well schooled. The issue was strategic and they both looked good trying to execute their own plans. Cardenas wanted to work in close and was, arguably, the harder puncher. Ortega had a classy outside line with a snappy jab to control the distance. The first round was so close that I called it a draw. I gave rounds two and three to Cardenas for his occasional explosive combinations. But Ortega controlled the pace and the form as well as the final round and ultimately landed more often. Judge Rodriguez called it 39-37 for Cardenas. Judges Howard and Dinger saw it as 39-37 for Ortega.
6 rnds, Light heavyweights—Roger “Never Can Tell” Cantrell, 172 lbs, now 14-1, 8 KOs, of Tacoma, WA won a unanimous decision over Bobby “Bad News” Brue, 166 ½ lbs, now 5-1, 3 KOs, of Portland, OR.
At 6’1” Cantrell towered over the plucky Brue, and had a substantial reach advantage. But Cantrell had a loose, un-focused approach, a slow and lackadaisical style that did not contribute to efficiency. Brue was all business, wanting to get inside and brawl, making him all the more vulnerable. A seemingly lazy left hand from Cantrell caught Brue on the jaw in the first round, and he stiffened and dropped like a light pole. Brue jumped up fast and survived, managing to get in a few desperate whacks in the course of the next five rounds. Brue never gave up, but Cantrell’s advantages were clear. The judges called it 57-56, 58-55, and 59-55, all for Cantrell.
4 rnds, Super bantamweights—Kieyon Bussey, 123 ½ lbs, now 6-0, 4 KO’s, of Pensacola, FL, won by TKO at 2:35 of the first round over Mario Gonzales, 123 ½ lbs, now 0-2, of Las Vegas,NV.
This fight lasted just long enough to offer a tantalizing glimpse of the talented Mr. Bussey –from promoter Roy Jones Jr’s home town--as he decked Gonzales three times with body shots before ref Dave Hagen called it off at 2:35 of the first.
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
wow, your pretty brutal on the fight with brue and cantrell. I saw the fight and i saw a different side to it. Both these fighters were amazing. Please pay closer attention next time.
Posted by Mason @ 03/12/2009 05:15 PM EST
