Uppercut Boxing Show 2/13/10

Of course we are all used to the name brand “Friday Night Fights” ESPN made it famous well in Minneapolis on a cobblestone street in old Nord’ East we do “Saturday Night Fights”. (Sorry for the use of that word to my editor but it is my intro phrase)

Golden Gloves Boxing was in full force Saturday night at Uppercut Gym in Minneapolis where Lisa Bauch promoted another good show with a great crowd, great boxing action, nice concessions (pretty reasonable as well) in a great facility. There were several teams from the state including: MN Boxing Club, White Bear Boxing, Anoka Coon Rapids, Uppercut Gym, ST. Cloud Boxers Workout, Rochester, Rice Street Gym, Savage ASMA, Lorenzi’s Boxing Gym in Duluth, and an out-state team from Lansing Michigan.

There were 14 bouts and for the second week in a row some great boxing action! I was talking to a couple of guys before the show that had been at the C.O.D. show earlier in the day and liked it, they heard about the Uppercut show and decided to go see this one too! To the boxing action:

#1. Zach Hamlin (MN Boxing Club) 86lbs. Haakon Deach (Uppercut Gym)
Haakon used uppercuts and combination punching in a good action bout to pull this one out by decision. Zach showed his resiliency though with some good body punches and kept his hands moving throughout.

#2. Conner Linderholm (Anoka Coon Rapids) 88Lbs. Matt Monette (Whitebear)
This was a good bout with both boxers landing very hard clean punches throughout.
Monette scored an 8 count in the second but Linderholm landed a couple of big right
Hands in the third to rock Monette. Monette was rewarded with a well earned decision and is improving quickly as a boxer.

#3.  Mitch Gilb (St. Cloud)  145Lbs. Clyde Willrich (Uppercut)
For an 18 year old Clyde showed some stuff Saturday putting his punches together and using his hand speed to win a fairly decisive decision in this one.

#4. James Champion (Whitebear) 95Lbs. Nate Burkhalter (Rochester)
Burkhalter used solid lateral movement and a good left jab to control the
action in this one and win a decision.

#5.  Billy Kapaun (Rice Street Gym) 165Lbs. Adam DaLaCruise (Uppercut)
Before the bout, I was told Billy had heavy hands and knowing his cousins and family and in-laws I knew he was tough. (Hey, Johnny Johnson is his coach you know he is tough) But what he did not count on was how patient and rangy DaLaCruise is.  Billy came out strong landing with both hands but began to tire in the second round.  DaLaCruise took advantage of that and scored a standing eight count and then followed up with power punches and the bout was stopped with DeLaCruise scoring an impressive win over a big puncher.
#6.  Drew Angell (Lorenzi’s Duluth)  107Lbs. Ariel Shifman (Savage ASMA)
Shifman showed me a lot in this bout.  He is steadily improving as a boxer and to see such a young gun parry punches and score combination counter punches was impressive.  In the “spirit of amateur boxing” I asked Shifman after the bout how he felt about it.  He commented “the guy I boxed was really good.” Shifman by decision in this one.

#7.   Zack Bahr (Anoka Coon-Rapids) 100Lbs. Damon Lachman (Whitebear)
Bahr used his left jab like a master tonight to control Lachman throughout and score some impressive points on Lachman.  But Lachman was not about to go off  quietly into the night, he came back trying to land wide right hands and they did land but Bahr, boxing almost identically like his father at times scored 4 to 5 punch rallies to pull ahead and win a decision.

#8.   Pete Duhl  ( Lorenzi’s Boxing Club) 155Lbs. Jesse Vazquez (Uppercut)
Duhl trimmed down from light heavyweight to middleweight and it is paying
off.  Vazquez told me before the fight that he felt good and his coach was confident but Duhl had other plans scoring a knockdown in the first and the second to stop Vazquez in the second round. RSC 2.

#9.  Jamal Morris (Rochester) 100Lbs. Aakeyse Higdon (Michigan)
Higdon had lightning fast hands and was a southpaw which gave Morris
trouble even though he was game. Higdon by decision.

#10. Tyrone Triplett (Michigan) 160Lbs. Lorenzo Gonzales (Uppercut)
Gonzales is a very busy boxer and he needed to be in this one as Triplett did
not come all the way here to lose.  In an action packed bout Gonzales prevailed, winning a decision utilizing his pressure style and staying busy.

#11.  Sean Herlihy (Savage ASMA) 118Lbs. Isacc Chung (Lorenzi’s Duluth)
Chung is a strong and aggressive boxer and Herlihy landed several meaningful punches with both hands but Chung hit hard and caught Herlihy with some big shots hurting Herlihy and eventually stopping him in the third. RSC3.

#12.  Ruben Robelin (Michigan) 135Lbs. Gizzy Hobbs (Uppercut Gym)
Robelin was a typical Michigan team boxer; busy, experienced, and tough
but Hobbs has a wicked overhand right that dropped Robelin once and rocked him several times over the course of the bout. This was a big decision win for Hobbs with his punching power being the difference.

#13.  Karen Dilihay (Lorenzi’s Duluth) 155Lbs. Sierra Richter (Uppercut)
Early on Richter was getting to Dilihay and then Dilihay came back controlling the middle third of the fight but then again Richter began landing both hands and appeared to hurt Dilahay. Richter wins this one utilizing her combinations to win.

#14.  Robert Brandt (Whitebear) 170Lbs. Brandon Larvadain (Michigan)
This was an excellent bout, these two had been in the ring before and I wouldn’t mind seeing a third time! Brandt came out utilizing his speed and throwing multiple  punch combinations while Larvadain tried to make him miss and counter.  In the in the second round Brandt landed several fast combinations and seemed to keep Larvadain off balance.  Late in the third and during most of the fourth Larvadain seemed to come back landing a couple of big shots down the stretch but it was to little to late.  Brandt won by decision in this one.

Thoughts and Things….. I sat next to a couple of dedicated officials during the show who did a great job! I did not disagree with any decisions, it was very good officiating. Arlie Weisheim who grew up around boxing and has always liked it, has been traveling to shows lately. He used to be with NWA for 31 years and now that he has extra time he judges bouts.  His partner in crime is Pete Bohmbach, he as well spends countless hours donating his time to officiating.  Pete grew up on the West Side of St.Paul but now lives in Mpls.

It was great to see all of the old faces and to see again the courage these kids have. The character building that goes on in Amateur Boxing is so needed today. What a great sport, what a great show and we get to re-convene there in a few weeks  for the Region 1 Tournament which I will not miss.

For videos of this event click here

Tbone
Todd Webb