‘Oktoberfist!’ REPORT:
KLITSCHKO SURVIVES WILLIAMSON, ESCAPES WITH TECHNICAL DECISION!
LACY, OUMA WIN WORLD TITLES!

Ringside reports by Chris Bronte , Trinidad Guzman and Herman Patton
Photography by Chris Cozzone

KLITSCHKO: SAVED BY A CUT
by Trinidad Guzman

After what seemed like an eternity away from the sport of boxing, Caesar’s Palace of Las Vegas finally burst back onto the scene Saturday night hosting a heavyweight showdown between Wladimir Klitschko, 43-3, (39) against DaVarryl Williamson, 20-3, (17)

The only real excitement came in the fourth round of the bout when Wladimir Klitschko was put on the seat of his pants courtesy of a Williamson right hand. The rest of the contest lacked sustained action and ended on a sour note when Wladimir Klitschko was on the receiving end of an accidental headbutt at the end of the fifth round that opened up a gash along his right eyebrow towards the bridge of his nose.

The cut suffered by Klitschko ultimately would cause the ringside physician to call a halt to the contest and force the outcome of the bout to be determined by the ringside judges.

Although he had been dropped in round four, two of the three ringside judges felt that Klitschko had done enough in the fight to come away with a close technical split decision win by scores of 49-46,49-46 47-48

Both fighters started the opening round very cautiously; Williamson fought most of the round looking to counter Klitschko as he walked forward. The problem with Williamson's strategy was that Klitschko was not exactly a windmill of activity.

The 6'7 giant would walk his much smaller foe down, but both fighters looked fearful of letting their hands go. When the two boxers did decide to punch, Williamson got the better of the action by landing a nice counter shot that snapped back the head of Klitschko.

In the second frame of the bout Williamson become very defensive and stiff looking as he moved around the ring; looking to avoid any possible altercation with Klitschko. Even though Klitschko was able to land a few solid punches in the round he refused to fully commit to an all out assault that might end the fight.

Williamson continued to be much too defensive-minded in the third round and only on rare occasions would throw out a single jab to the body of Klitschko. The lack of offensive production in the fight was not completely one-sided because Klitschko played the part of the aggressor but offered little in terms of punches landed.

In the fourth round of the fight Williamson finally let a decent right hand go and connected flush on the chin of Klitschko dropping him to the canvas for a brief count. Klitschko quickly popped up and indicated he wanted to continue but he was off balance and on unsteady legs. Williamson briefly attempted to land another series of shots that might send his opponent down for a second time in the round but when the much larger Klitschko held on for dear life it quickly stopped Williamson's momentum in its tracks. After that, Klitschko then took the fight to Williamson for the rest of the round to such an extent that all three judges scored it a 10-9 round despite the knockdown.

Going into the fifth round of the fight Klitschko had been dropped by a single right hand and was now cut over his left eye from the punishment that he had taken in the previous round. He continued to press forward after Williamson but was not particularly effective in his attack.

As the bell sounded to end the round the two fighters were throwing a combination at one another and clashed heads causing a gash over the right eye of Klitschko. After a brief look by the ringside physician, it was determined that Klitschko would be unable to continue and that the bout would go to the scorecards.

After all was said and done Klitschko came away with an unpopular technical split decision win 49-46, 49-46, 47-48.

LACY STOPS VANDERPOOL FOR WORLD TITLE!
By Chris Bronte

In a fantastic super middleweight bout for the vacant IBF title , Floirda’s Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy scored an exciting 8th round TKO over Canada’s Syd “ The Jewel” Vanderpool. 

The first round was the quintessential “feeling out” round as both men sized each other up. However, ironically it was Vanderpool who scored with two nice left hooks to end the round and probably shaved it in his favor. 

The second round saw the southpaw Vanderpool using a lot of movement to confound the muscled Lacy who was looking to land one punch at a time. The round ended on an exciting note as both combatants engaged in a hook fest, but it was Vanderpool who was the more accurate of the two.

By the third round Lacy was beginning a little frustrated with the way the fight was panning out. He just couldn’t pin down his man and wehen he did he would always come out on the short end of the exchanges and was getting worked to the body aswell, by the slickster Vanderpool. Again as the clappers sounded to signal the end of the round both when winged away making for a very exciting fight indeed.

Again in the fourth Vanderpool would not be pinned down , despite the constant stalking of Lacy. The round again seemed to go the way of Vanderpool as he ended it by landing a beautiful right hook, although Lacy showed a good chin in taking it.

In the fifth Lacy began to come on a bit and began landing with more frequency, but Vanderpool still continued to prove illusive and kept on landing to the body when ever Lacy closed the distance.

The complexion of the fight was beginning to change in sixth round as Vanderpool was visibly slowing down and not moving as well. Finally it seemed as though the constant pressure of Lacy was beginning to pay dividends.  Sure enough towards the round’s end Lacy cracked Vanderpool with a corking left uppercut , swiveling his head around. Somehow Vanderpool kept his feet although he was clearly in a world of hurt. Fortunately there was not much time left in the round and managed to bob and weave way out of trouble and even began to put some shots together himself.

The seventh was by far the most exciting of the fight as both men went toe-to – toe and landed a fair share of heavy leather . Surprisingly Vanderpool came out the better of the two as he was still just a little bit more accurate.

As the eighth began it was evident that both men were a little spent, as they both decided to in fight. This would spell disaster for Vanderpool as Lacy began to connect with some nice short uppercuts.  Finally they began to take effect and Vanderpool was in serious trouble reeling around the ring clearly out on his feet. Lacy sensing the end could be near, poured on the pressure and had continued success with the uppercut rendering Vanderpool defenseless. At this point referee Robert Byrd had no choice but to leap in a save the brave Vanderpool from taking further punishment. The time was called at 1:37.

With this win Lacy becomes the first of the 2000 USA Olympic to capture a major belt and improves his unblemished record to 17-0 14 ko’s. Vanderpool falls to 35-3 , 17 ko’s.

OUMA WINS MIDDLEWEIGHT CROWN!
By Trinidad Guzman

In other action, Kassim Ouma, 20-1-1, (13) and Verno Phillips, 38-9-1, (20) battled it out for twelve dull rounds with Ouma coming away with an uninspiring twelve round unanimous decision win by scores of 114-113, 114-113, 117-110 capturing the IBF middleweight championship of the world.

Ouma opened the first round of the bout looking very flat. His punches had very little steam on them and he was not as active with his punch output as he has been in the past. Phillips appeared to be sweeping the early rounds with his herky-jerky movement and leaping in and out with solid body shots and right hands that never seemed to miss their mark.

Ouma was certainly not lighting up the place with his activity but Phillips had his own share of problems as he appeared to run out of steam as early as the fourth round of the fight. The pity-pat punches that Ouma was landing on Phillips seemed to take the steam out of him as he visibly struggled in each and every round to keep his legs underneath him.

As the rounds progressed Phillips continued to have success landing with the harder cleaner power shots but his off balance, distressed look could not have given the ringside judges impression that he was in control of the bout.

Ouma finally started to pick things up in the middle rounds and really began to step up the aggressive pressure on Phillips. He began to put a little more power into his shots, working the midsection of Phillips on many occasions.

In the championship rounds, Phillips did all he could just stay on his feet. The body attack from Ouma had broken him down and he was stumbling and flopping all over the ring. Ouma had his best round in the eleventh when he battered and bruised Phillips for the entire three minutes busting him up so badly that all three judges scored the round 10-8 for Ouma even though there was no official knockdown in the round.

Phillips was able to make it through the final frame of the fight by moving and holding Ouma whenever he had the opportunity. Although he finished the fight on his feet in the end he would lose his title via unanimous decision.

OFF-TV RESULTS

OJEDO TKO’S TORRES
by Herman Patton

In welterweight action, Jose Antonio Ojedo scored an impressive TKO victory over Steward-trained Wilmer Torres.

After a slow opening round, which could have gone either way, Ojedo began to have his way with his rangy opponent. Using a rushing attack to bull his way inside of Torres’ long jab, Ojedo repeatedly stung his opponent with left and right hooks.

From this point on, it was all Ojedo as he successfully dictated the pace of the fight using his squat physique to get on the inside and then unleashing a two fisted attack on Torres who just couldn’t get anything going.

By Round Four, the situation was getting increasingly sticky for Torres whose head was getting snapped back with increasing regularity, and looking like he might be on the verge of being stopped. However, he manfully stuck with it despite the beating he was taking. 

In the 5th, Torres rallied briefly but it was still not enough for him to clinch the round. By now, he was in desperate need of a KO. However, it was Ojedo who came out the stronger of the two looking to finish.  Keeping up the pressure for the entire round, Ojedo landed shot after shot off the head of Torres who was looking increasingly weary. After taking a number of head jarring shots while against the ropes, referee Toby Gibson had no choice but to step in a save the defenseless Torres—the time was 2:50. 

With this win Ojedo moves to 10-3-1, 7 KOs, while Torres slips to 11-2,5 KOs.

THE HITMAN’S KID EARNS 4TH WIN
By Trinidad Guzman

Son of the legendary Tommy “the Hitman” Hearns, Ronald Hearns earned his fourth pro win (2 by KO) over opponent Darren Foss with a four-round unanimous decision.

In the opening round, Hearns established his jab, showing good movement and making it hard for his opponent to land solid shots.

In Round Two, Hearns executed four-punch combos while landing good body shots throughout. In the same round, Foss caught Hearns with a few looping left hooks, but Hearn appeared unbothered.

In the third round, Hearns’ left hook kept finding its home on the right jaw of Foss, sending his mouthpiece to the canvas.

In the final round, Hearns hurt Foss with a straight right, but the opponent kept on fighting. Later on, though, Foss was sent to the canvas by a straight right, but he was able to beat the count of referee Richard Steele.

All three judges at ringside scored the bout the same with a score reading 40-35 for the UD win.

CASAL KOs McBride
by Herman Patton

Nick Casal improved his record to 4 (4 KOs) by defeating opponent David McBride in a scheduled four-round welterweight bout.

Nick Casal showed accuracy with two right uppercuts in the first round, but the shot that mattered was a straight right that sent McBride to the canvas. McBride was able to weather the storm and make it out of the first round, but 55 seconds into the 2nd, was dropped for the count by a left hook.

FRAZIER KNOCKS OUT DOKIWARI
By Trinidad Guzman

In a stunning upset Stacy Frazier, 13-3, (12) knocked out highly favored Duncan Dokiwari, 22-3, (19) with one single looping right hand.

The opening round featured Dokiwari moving forward and Frazier looking to counter with wide thunderous shots. Frazier attempted his wide shots on a few occasion missing badly. Then all of a sudden, he landed one of those untamed bombs high on the temple of Dokiwari sending him stumble backwards, falling to the canvas for a count of eight.

Dokiwari was able to slowly make it to his feet but when referee Toby Gibson asked him to walk to him he was only able to briefly move forward in mummy like fashion.

Seeing that Dokiwari was effectively out on his feet Toby Gibson had no choice but to wave off the contest at 2:55 of the very first round.

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