The Art of Matchmaking: Hitz Style…CBN Recaps Fight Night at The Horseshoe – May 25th, 2012

Matchups, matchups, matchups…

Lots of things have to come together when planning a live night of entertainment.   You have to have the right environment and an accommodating venue.  You must book an intriguing lineup of talent and possess a level of dedication to do whatever it takes to please a crowd.   Then there are the myriad nuances of keeping a show going that most of us may never even realize; hiring the right support and technical staff and being able to adjust on the fly… just to name a couple.  I’m positive I’m leaving a good number of things out, but you can catch my idea here.

For a night of good boxing, all those things listed above are important.  No doubt.  But for avid fans like me, the most important aspect of a compelling occurrence of pugilism involves the ability to matchup talent versus talent.  Skill versus skill…  Bouts that test a boxer’s will…that make them dig deep.  Bouts that inspire spectators into believing that both athletes gave it their all.  And of course, the occasional KO or two…or six.

Celebrities in attendance: Montell Griffin, Donny Moore, Donovan George, David Diaz, Mike “Fly” Garcia, Henry Coyle pose with Bobby.  Photo by Joeyhill.com

When I interviewed Bobby Hitz a few days before the last Fight Night at The Horseshoe (event date: February 18^th, 2012), he iterated over and over how important he felt great matchups were, when it came to providing fans with a memorable experience.

“I can show you some guys who have an upside down record who can fight their asses off… so I don’t get all caught up in records, I get more caught up in match-ups…”

His intentions cannot be summed up any clearer than that.  And this philosophy of his… I’d have to agree with its effectiveness.  In fact, I’d like to say he’s on a roll when it comes to his intent of featuring some of the greatest matchups in the Midwest boxing scene.   Hitz’ latest installment of his Fight Night at The Horseshoe series on May 25^th, 2012 proved to be yet another step in the right direction when it comes to fulfilling Bobby’s mission to bring the best boxing to the area.

But wait a minute…six KOs out of eight scheduled bouts ending in knockouts?  How does this translate into a night of great matchups?  You’ll have to read the summaries below.  For now, I’ll say that almost every bout had some evenly matched prospects…and some of them could have gone either way.  There was a lot of back and forth action…even in the charitable exhibition fight that was the penultimate bout of the evening*.

Nick Ramirez (Pro Debut) 144.5lbs vs. Larenzo Wilson (1-1-1) 146.5lbs – Welterweights – 4 RDS:  39-37 Ramirez, 38-38 (2x), MAJORITY DRAW

The first fight of the night began amidst some personal anticipation, as Salima (my girlfriend) and my parents were all in attendance.  See, I had been talking up the last event here so much, that the “Ps” challenged me with a collective “we need to see this”.  So what the heck…I knew there would be no chance of disappointment; we invited them up.  I also knew that they would be immediately impressed with The Venue, and the setup for Hitz Boxing; I mean, how can you go wrong?  Plush seats, big screen in the background…dimmed lighting for the ultimate in ambiance…it’s almost like classical theater, but with REAL blood and sweat…and REAL victory and tragedy.  But you never know.  While I learned that Bobby Hitz did his own match-making for this event, and therefore was confident we’d be in for a good night, the truth is that you never know what’s going to happen.  Hence, my anticipation.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

This first bout was pretty damn even.  I’d admit that I scored it a win (by one round) for Ramirez, but I cannot cry foul…as there were a couple close rounds.  Ramirez seemed like the more polished fighter to me.  He seemed a little more patient, a little more pensive when planning his shots.  But while that may show signs of an intelligent fighter, it also may exemplify his inexperience…as it is my belief that you should (try to) do all of your thinking in the gym so that on fight night, you’re instinctive.  It makes you quicker…more effective.  No, I am not saying that fighters shouldn’t think in the ring.  This isn’t Top Gun: “If you think, you’re dead…” but too much pondering in the ring can lead to missed opportunities and slow responses.  Anyway…

If you were listening to Nick Ramirez’ corner, you’d think this fight was a shut-out.  They had him winning this fight by a landslide judging by the shouts they spewed in my ear.  Perhaps they should have yelled to their fighter that he should not leave this in the hands of the judges, as regardless of the good exchanges I witnessed, it was a pretty even fight.  More polished or not, he never ran away with it as he could have.

Meegal Harper (5-0, 5 KOs) 156.5lbs vs. Guy Packer (4-36, 1 KO) 160lbs – Middleweights – 4 RDS: 2:47 of Round 3, Meegal win by TKO

Last time I saw Guy Packer in the ring, he was trying to decapitate “The Accountant”, Paul Littleton, over at UIC.  No, that’s not Paul’s real nickname, but I’m running with it until he has an official one.  Well, Guy wasn’t successful in that fight…but he did prove to have a few good bursts of competitiveness.  No difference on this night.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

Right off the bat, Packer tried moving Harper back with combos.  Early on, he was pretty successful in doing so.  At the very least, he gave Harper a few things to think about (if there were any doubts he’d be in a real fight).  But Meegal was more accurate in his spurts of aggression, and stole the first round with combos and (more) effective aggressiveness.  In the second round, Meegal Harper attacked right from the bell.  Perhaps he sensed that any ideas of an easy night would be detrimental to his health, as he started to tee off on the more experienced Packer.  There was some sloppy fighting, a little wrestling and a few rabbit punches from Harper.  In the third, inside body shots from Harper lead things off.  Body…body…head, as they say; he wanted Packer out of there.  But anytime Packer turned away, Harper would load up to shoot a cross to the back of his head.  Not good…it was almost as if he could not help himself.  At one point, he received a warning, but throughout the round it he kept loading up anytime Packer turned his back.  It reminded me of Andrew Golota’s tendency to want to scramble eggs.  While Harper managed to restrain himself for the rest of the fight he landed a few good combos to encourage Packer to take a knee with about a minute to go in the round.  When the action resumed, Packer offered a last-ditch effort to land some hard shots of his own, but they proved futile as Harper was more accurate and landed a few more cleaner shots which caused a second knee on Packer’s part.  And that was the end of that.

Donatas Bondorovas (14-3-1, 3 KOs) 160lbs vs. Ramon Valenzuela Jr (7-0, 1 KO) 159lbs – Middleweights – 6 RDS: 2:38 of Round 2, Donatas win by KO

Wow.  That’s how I‘ll start this one: a simple, “wow”.  I could probably leave it at that, but that wouldn’t be fair to those who have not seen this fight.  Donatas was by far the more experienced fighter here, but Ramon was supposed to be (not that I doubt this one bit) the more talented of the two.  In this game, I don’t have to convince you of my mantra: “All game plans go out the window once you get punched in the mouth”.  HA!  It’s been a long time since I’ve reiterated that!  But I don’t do this at the expense of the classy Valenzuela family…I merely mean to point out that a single punch can change the outcome of our beloved sport…and this was a pure example of this.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

Donatas was the aggressor right from the opening bell.  He kept lunging jabs into Ramon’s face, following up with hooks and leads.  Ramon tried establishing a jab of his own, but Donatas seemed a little crisper, a little more accurate.  To my surprise, Ramon tried landing haymakers…looping shots that mostly missed.  There were some good trades in the center, with Ramon landing a nice hook to the body…but Donatas countered immediately to the head.  I admit, with Ramon turning up the heat a bit, it was a hard round to score for me, but I gave it to Donatas for the harder shots he landed.  And that ended up being the main factor of the next round.

In the second, Donatas pressured forward.  He lunged in with shots trying to bully the much younger fighter (by 11 years), while Ramon started picking his shots, landing some good combos to the body on his own right.  But then…Donatas landed a hard left-right straight to the head that floored 21 year old Ramon…and boy did he land hard.  He got up a lot quicker than I thought he should have, but he was dazed.  I’m not sure he should have even been allowed to continue, but the ref saw fit to give him a chance to survive the round, perhaps given that there was less than a minute left in it.  Alas, it was Ramon’s spirit, no doubt, that kept him going once he got up…but right into annihilation.  Donatas continued where he left off and sent Ramon down for good.

David Martin (5-0, 4 KOs) 224lbs vs. Tim Washington (0-1) 275lbs – Heavyweights – 4 RDS:  45 seconds of Round 4, David Martin win by KO

When I heard the ring announcer give the particulars for this fight, I immediately thought of Ivan Drago vs. Rocky Balboa.  275lbs vs. 224lbs…wow, this should be interesting.  But when I saw them enter the ring, I was wondering if David Martin was carrying his biblical weapon of choice: a rock and a slingshot, because Tim Washington was just pure GOLIATH.

Martin was, quite simply, dwarfed by Washington, but was the aggressor early; keeping the behemoth on the ropes with combos and looping hooks and body shots.  He did a really good job of keeping him pinned there, throwing each punch with damaging intent.  But Goliath, uh… Washington wasn’t just sitting there to absorb punches; he fired back occasionally and landed a few counters of his own.  After round two, I noted how Martin was continuing his pace while throwing heavy, heavy shots.  I wondered how many rounds he could fight like that; throwing each punch with rib-cracking power…but then I remembered that this was a four round fight, and he’s probably doing what he feels he needs to in order to nullify Washington’s size advantage.  Martin wasn’t just fierce; he was accurate.  Toward the end of that round, Washington got into his own groove for a moment, pressuring Martin landing some decent combos when Martin stopped punching.  But Martin snapped out of his day-dream and went back to his fight plan…he had his opponent back on the ropes.  Washington tried keeping his aggressor off with a jab, some hard ones landing evident by the blood starting to flow from Martin’s nose, but Martin came right back and stunned Washington with combos to end the round.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

The third round continued in pretty much the same manner, but both fighters were landing bombs.  Martin was successful in pinning Washington onto the ropes, landing hard head shots through Tim’s defense.  I will admit, for a big guy, Washington seemed to move pretty well…not as quick as the 50lb-lighter Martin, of course, but he wasn’t just a stick (tree trunk) in the mud, so-to-speak.  But by the fourth round, things seemed evident; Washington’s right eye was swollen…and he started looking dejected.  Martin had him on the ropes, again, and began pummeling him… A bit too many started landing cleanly, and as he started to go down, referee Kurt Spivey saw fit to mercifully step in and stop it, much to the dismay of the crowd, and me.  I saw this, because I really didn’t think Washington was absolutely finished…I would have given him a standing eight count for his efforts…but I cannot pretend to see what the referee thought he saw, and I cannot say he was wrong in ending the match.  Protect the fighters first; worry about the entertainment of others last.

Elijah McCall (8-1-1, 7 KOs) 221lbs vs. Stan Allen (5-3, 3 KOs) 238lbs – Heavyweights – 6 RDS: 2:26 of Round 6, McCall win by KO

By merely looking at Stan Allen and Elijah McCall standing in the ring together, I could understand why a few nearby observers were murmuring “quick knockout.”  The physical appearance of these two heavyweights was quiet different.  McCall was heavily-muscled and easily under 6% body fat.  Allen might have been just as built, but his bf% was probably north of 20 (maybe more) so it was hard to tell.  But I’ve learned not to count out the fighters with a “little” around the middle; there are plenty out there that can dance circles around the skinny folk and have the cardio to back it up.  After watching this fight (which I actually felt was the best matchup of the night) I’m sure some of those murmuring spectators around me will think twice before ruling someone out based on appearance.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

The first two rounds belonged to McCall, who was working off his jab, nicely.  Double, sometimes triple-lunging jabs were offered, in an attempt to keep Allen at bay.  It was apparent early that McCall was the faster of the two, but Allen wasn’t exactly of snail acceleration.  He ate some of McCall’s jabs and tried to counter with hard hooks and overhand punches.  McCall had Allen on the ropes at one point, landing some good, quick combos to the body…and seemed to be headed toward two good opening rounds, when Allen, who was taking McCall’s shots pretty well, had McCall on the ropes landing some combos of his own.  Maybe not enough to steal that second round, but it’s arguable.

For the next two and ¾ rounds, Allen seemed to take over.  He seemed to have found something to work with…forward pressure, a jab of his own, and follow-up power punches.  McCall was still very much in the fight, at times landing hooks while moving backwards picking his counters well.  There were a few times when he had Allen’s back to the ropes again, landing body shots on him when he could, but for some reason he kept looking over at his corner.  I could probably understand why…I mean, they were continuously shouting instructions to him every 3.2 milliseconds.  But comically, as soon as I was pondering this one of his corner men yelled; “don’t look at me, watch what you are doing”.  As I laughed at this, Allen landed some hard combos in the middle of the ring, stunning his seemingly confused opponent.

The next two rounds saw a confident Allen pinning McCall on the ropes with hard head shots.  He looked to be the fresher of the two, and was landing bombs whenever he could.  He knocked McCall’s mouthpiece out mid fourth round, and again moments later.  I think it’s possible that a tooth may have followed that second mouthpiece…something went flying and bounced on the canvas…but I could not tell.  Hard looping shots wobbled McCall, and Allen started cruising.  McCall was looking tired, surprised and on defense…but he reminded Allen at the end of round five that he was still there, as he landed a nicely-timed (or lucky?) right hand as Allen came lunging.  In the sixth, McCall came out looking a little fresher.  It’s amazing how hitting another guy really hard in the face gives you energy, but I know it works.  Allen continued lunging in with hard punches, on his way to a third won round, when McCall came forward with a jab-cross combo that sent Allen backwards.  McCall seemed to have found some pop back in his punches…and with about 46 seconds to go he landed a hellacious right cross that FLOORED Allen.  I mean, eyes rolled back and all, ass first, head later…he fell hard.  Even with being hit so damn hard, he got up rather quickly, but his knees were gelatinous and referee Tony Gray had no choice but to save the big guy for another fight night.  It was a shame for Allen, who was on his way to a draw (possibly a win)…but yet here’s another reminder how one-punch can change this whole game.  I must admit I was disappointed in McCall’s post fight self-appraisal.  Even as announcer Ray Flores congratulated McCall with the KO after being possibly behind on the scorecards, McCall shrugged it off saying that at no time was he hurt, and that he didn’t think he was behind.  He said it was part of his game plan the whole time, and he knew he had Allen.  Now, no one around me bought the BS, judging from the laughs I heard.

I’ve written stories before about how much I admire humility in a fighter…and I would have rather heard McCall say something like: “Yeah, Allen was doing pretty well, but I stuck in there pushing forward and landed the punch that ended the fight”.  Even THAT would have been considered humble and more respectable…but alas, I do not write post-fight speeches for boxers and truthfully, with all the adrenaline and excitement pumping through the victor’s veins, sometimes boxers say a whole bunch of [stuff].  Some even call out Larry Merchant to fight them…so I cannot judge.

Fres Oquendo (33-7, 21 KOs) 219.5lbs vs. Joey Abell 240lbs (28-5, 17 KOs) heavyweights – 10 RDS:  1:53 of Round 9, Fres Oquendo win by TKO

Eleven years ago, Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne was being touted as the next possible Mike Tyson replacement.  He was undefeated, had knocked out almost all of his 19 opponents at the time, and was supposed to steamroll past this new guy, an equally undefeated (at 19-0) Fres Oquendo from Puerto Rico.  I had been watching Etienne for a few fights at that time; I had seen him outpoint the recently retired Lamon Brewster and Lawrence Clay Bey, and knockout Cliff Couser for the NABF heavyweight title.  I had no idea who this Oquendo was…  That was before he began out-boxing and eventually knocking down Etienne several times (I want to say, more than four or five times?)…and eventually knocking him out in the eighth round.  Etienne’s first loss.

Now, I’ll admit…being of Puerto Rican descent myself, I liked the idea of a heavyweight boxer from the homeland…but I was originally not too optimistic about it, being that the only one I had seen up until that time was John “The Hugging Man” Ruiz.  Or was it “The Quiet Man”?  Either way, Ruiz was a hard puncher for sure, but damn…was he BORING to watch.  Well, I was pleased to see that Oquendo was quite different.  He was a boxer, a mover…refreshing to see for a heavyweight.  I liked what I saw in the Etienne fight, and decided to keep my eye on him.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

Since that fight, “Fast” Fres has gone 14-7 with some big named guys; Evander Holyfield, James Toney, Jean Marc Mormeck, and Oliver McCall to name a few.  He’s had some bad breaks; some close decisions gone wrong and a few robberies.  He may even be one of those avoided fighters because facing him, win or lose, might just make you look bad.  He moves a lot, leads with a rangy jab and really understands the game.  At 39 years old, one might wonder why he’s still fighting; with a respectable record now at 35-7 (22 KOs)…what does he have left to prove?  Well on Friday night, against a very tough and eager Joey Abell, a man eight years his junior, Fres contributed to a growing trend of fighters that are still effective in their “later years”.  Balk if you will about the level of competition…I’d like to see anybody who doubts the credibility of this win, to jump into the ring against Abell: a 31 year old southpaw who was cut out of a granite slab, and towered over Fast Fres.

On to the fight…

Based on the weigh-in photos, I already knew there was a pretty good size difference between Oquendo and Abell.  Not like the “David and Goliath” event a few fights earlier, but 20 lbs is like what…four weight classes?  Understandably, it’s not viewed that way once you weigh in north of 200lbs.  But I’m getting off track.  Once the bell rang, the size issue did not mean much at all.

Fres was the early aggressor, he looked much quicker and lead off with sharp jabs and hooks.  Joey was eating a lot of them, but was taking them well and doing a good job of staying in the pocket to land a few jabs of his own.  Seemed like some good back and forth action, both fighters getting a feel for the other and timing each other and BAM(!)… Joey landed a few hooks that sent Fres flying a few feet.  They really didn’t seem to be hurting Fres much (easy for me to say), but the sheer size of Abell’s arms – which appeared to equal to the size Oquendo’s legs – just had that power and weight behind them.  After the first round ended, it was clear that this was going to be speed and skill vs. power and chin.  Fres was landing some really clean shots, and Joey was taking them well.  When Joey would land his own jab or hook, his power was apparent, but he really didn’t seem to have that snap that Fres did.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

Toward the middle of the second round, Fres already seemed to have timed Joey’s jabs.  It was a rather quick adjustment in my eyes…and once this happened, Fres started landing harder and harder shots, and with more frequency.  As the rounds continued, he seemed to have found a groove…landing combos, pressuring Joey backwards, but here and there Abell would land a hook, or straight left (he’s a southpaw) that would send Fres across the ring.  Again, not being noticeably hurt…more like being nudged by a slow moving rhino.  My high school physics class came into mind:  F = m x a.

At one point in the third round, Fres threw a left-right combo that stunned Abell on the ropes.  Fres sensed an opportunity, and went on the attack; after a few nicely landed head shots, referee Kurt Spivey stopped the action and gave Abell a standing eight-count, which I did not necessarily agree with.  I mean, if the ropes are the only thing holding you up from falling after a barrage of punches – yes, a knockdown should be counted.  But if the ropes are holding you up because you have a 220lb Oquendo laying into you…then you’re not exactly falling, are you?  Not to mention, Joey got caught between one of them…and was trying to get out.  But the point is moot, and I’m no ref… (Maybe for the better).

Obviously thinking Abell was hurt, Oquendo attacked immediately in the next round.  Abell, still looked like he was in this game.  His nose was bloodied a bit and his right eye was giving birth to a little rodent, but he was still firing back and the punches he was taking he was taking pretty well.  The next few rounds were pretty much the same: Fres leading off with a beautiful lunging jab, and Joey having occasional success with some hard shots of his own.  A wardrobe malfunction in the sixth a la falling trunks added some light-hearted humor to the match, as the crowd behind me roared with delight.  I swear…these guys crack me up.  “Do it again!” Some people shouted…  Ah, beer.

Rounds seven and eight continued with good action.  Both fighters seemed to have some pretty good cardio, neither looked tired and their work rate didn’t seem to wane.  Kudos to Oquendo’s conditioning…at 39, and at the rate he was working each round, I wouldn’t have expected him to be this active.  But I cannot count out Abell, some hard exchanges in the final rounds reminded spectators that he wasn’t just here to take a token loss for the good of Fres’ career.  Some haymakers by Abell in the final round had decapitating intent but Fres was such a good mover.  Although he did get caught on the ropes himself at one point, Fres escaped and attacked Joey with a brief flurry which had Abell tied up in the ropes again and…there went ref Spivey…not to give a standing eight-count, but to stop the fight!

I’m not sure anyone in the audience could justifiably “gift” Abell with a single won round, as Fres was just out-boxing and out-classing him for every single round.  But Abell was definitely still game and still active in the fight.  He took quite a few punches, but never really looked like he was in serious trouble, and never stopped offering his own offense.  To me, he earned a right to finish this one out.  As we saw earlier in the McCall-Allen fight, anything can happen regardless of who is winning on the scorecards.  I’m not suggesting he could have won this, but why take away his opportunity to try?  Understanding that safety always [should] come first, I just didn’t see Abell in true danger.  That said; I have to consider this one an early stoppage.  Probably not the way Joey wanted to go out; he retired immediately after the bout with a respectable 28-6, (27 KOs) professional record.

Again, this is not to take away from Fres Oquendo’s performance.  He boxed beautifully, made adjustments, took some hard shots from his opponent well, and kept pressure on the entire fight.  It was a very entertaining fight to watch, even though the scoring was so one-sided (in Oquendo’s favor).  I had an opportunity to meet up with Fres after the fight and congratulated him with his win.  The guy definitely deserved it…and I was very happy for him.  He was very humble in victory, and was gracious in spending a few moments to talk with my parents and girlfriend who attended the event with me.

Phill Triantafillo (2-0, 1 KO) 237lbs vs. Emerson Chasing Bear (4-3-2, 3 KOs) 226lbs – Heavyweights – 4 RDS:  39-37 (3X), Emerson Chasing Bear win by Unanimous Decision

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

I know, I know…if you want to assure a victory for your ring record, don’t rely on the discretion of ringside judges.  Simple advice that seems to be straightforward, but what if you’re in the ring with someone who doesn’t really want to be there?  That was my initial impression of the fighter standing in front of Big Phill Triantafillo.  Throughout the four round fight I saw Phill as the aggressor, leading off with jabs, following up with lunges, trying to set up combos.  Emerson Chasing Bear, on the other hand, wasn’t really “chasing” anything at first.  In fact, he started off looking like somewhat of a sparring partner; not really firing back much, content to try and counter sporadically.  As the fight wore on, Emerson did offer a few bits of offense, a couple left-right combos here and there…but they weren’t quick or snappy (meaningful) by any means.  Some wrestling in the third – some rough-housing – warrants a warning from the referee, but other than that Phill maintained his aggressive approach to what I thought would be his third professional victory.  I guess in round four Emerson seemed to wake up a bit and counter some of Phill’s shots nicely…I’ll give him that, and maybe even that round I suppose…but in my book that would have been a 39-37 win for Phill.  The judges saw it the exact opposite way.  Tough break for Big Phill, who will no doubt be looking for a rematch here.  Whether or not that happens, he shouldn’t feel too dejected.  Sometimes a fight like this, a loss like this is not such a bad thing early in a career.  It invigorates motivation, reassesses determination and it can remove the anticipation of a loss.

Mike Jimenez (6-0, 3 KOs) 168.5lbs vs. Adrian Hermann (3-3-1, 1 KO) 176lbs – Super Middleweight – 6 RDS:  2:15 of Round 3, Jimenez win by TKO

I’m beginning to think that Mike Jimenez just loves every minute in the ring.  The last time out, against the ultra-tough Bruce Rumbolz, I felt as if he purposely let Bruce back into the fight at times, just so that he could get a few more opportunities to pound him.  In that fight, there were several occasions when Mike would unload a barrage of combos, and then stop for a bit, which would allow the ultra-tough Bruce to mount a somewhat successful offense of his own.  Then, before Bruce gained too much confidence, Mike would unleash his might once again, and put Bruce in his place.  I wondered back then, if this was a way for Mike to play with his opponent or if he just wanted to make sure he went all six rounds.  After all, knocking people out in the first round doesn’t necessarily provide you with the experience needed to move up to better competition…and some guys in this sport (believe it or not) actually have fun in the ring.  And when you look at Mike “Hollywood” Jimenez , the way he charges into the ring…bouncing around before introductions are made as if the canvas were a trampoline, the way he fights each round, the way he flips after each victory, he definitely appears to be having fun.  And that’s what makes him so much fun to watch.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

This time around, Mike seemed to be involved in a battle of nicknames, as his opponent, Adrian Hermann also called himself “Hollywood”.  No doubt, this was the reason Mike decided to attend this fight as “The Real Hollywood” a move that may have instigated some fury in Hermann who came out after the first bell with a full arsenal of hooks and crosses, smothering Jimenez onto the ropes with multiple punches and infighting.  Mike would respond with a few nice counters on the inside, despite the flying leather from Hermann.  It appeared that Mike wanted to make this more of a boxing match at first, as then slowed the action a bit by leading off with a jab to set up the right hand….but that was momentary.  Hermann came back and tried pressing forward again, pushing Mike back onto the ropes landing a few nice hard shots.  Some really hard ones, I might add.  I started thinking that this guy was actually giving Mike some trouble here; maybe a full-out attack from Hermann was not expected…maybe team Jimenez didn’t think Hermann had the stones to go up against Mike like that.  Maybe it was the looooong ride for Jimenez to get to the Horseshoe on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (I saw him while checking in before the event, and he had mentioned his “pleasure” with the traffic).  Either way it was an interesting first round for Hermann, a round which he may have even stole.  Though I will say, I immediately typed into my notes at the time; “I wonder how long he can keep this up?”

In the second round, Adrian Hermann continued his bully tactics, pushing forward while throwing and lunging in, but Jimenez began his quick counter shots and these were landing flush.  Blood started dripping from Hermann’s nose immediately and he started slowing noticeably.  Mike started landing his shots more frequently…and this continued into the third round, which saw Mike starting off with the jab again.  But Hermann wasn’t deterred; he was actually relentless and submitted yet another attempt at glory by pressing forward, flurrying against Mike on the ropes, landing some pretty hard shots…it was probably his best flurry yet, but out of nowhere Jimenez released a collection of beautiful counter shots that landed clean and hard, and Adrian was forced to take a knee.  Action continued after a little Jimenez-style celebration dance, and another flurry of hard, accurate punches sent Adrian down again on his knee.  As if the virtual replay button had just been pressed, action continued again and Mike unleashed another barrage of hard combos that sent Adrian down on his knee, once again.  Before any counting could commence by referee Kurt Spivey, Hermann’s corner threw in the towel.

Photos by: JoeyHill.com

Against any other cat, perhaps not as youthful as Jimenez, Hermann might actually have success at 168lbs.  He was certainly energetic enough and provided some really good offense.  But May 25^th, 2012 was not his night…as Mike Jimenez was having too much fun.

*A spirited effort between Glenn Muller of Muller Acura Merrillville versus Mike Cestone, (seen to the right with headgear) the brother of the late fighter and dear friend of Hitz Boxing, Kevin Cestone.  The proceeds of that match went on to support The Boys and Girls Club of Northwest Indiana.

Oh!!  Don’t let me forget….A big thanks goes out to Renee, Bobby Hitz, and John James McKeogh for treating my family so well, on a wonderful night of boxing.  THANK YOU!

-BAM