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NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS RESULTS!
By Jesse Kelley

The Brunette boxing gym in Saint Paul hosted another packed amateur boxing show on Saturday night. The night featured a triple main event of three highly anticapated bouts.

Kicking off the night was Gabe Lindburg of Saint Cloud and Robin Larson of Twin Ports in the 110 pound division. Both Lindburgand Larson entertained the crowd by throwing two-fisted combinations from start to finish. Larson fought from the secondround on with a bloody nose. Lindburg won by decision. (no picture)

In a rematch of super heavyweights, Larry Barela of Brunette's won by decision over Marc Sienkiewicz of Twin Ports. Both fighters pressed forward not wanting to give an inch. Barela was putting his combinations together well and landing the right hand with success. Sienkiewicz was able to sneak in some good shots of is own. Both fighters looked spent at the end of three good rounds of action.

Matt Nikodyn (Saint Cloud) and Kenny Evans went toe to toe for three fast paced rounds. Nikodyn boxed early but started throwing bombs as Evans became the boxer midway through. Nikodyn won this battle of 175 pounders by decision.

In what was probably the most heated bout of the evening, Sean Johnson (Rice Street) won a decision over Chris Bruce (Brunettes). Johnson's aggression had him in control of his wirey opponent in the first. Bruce had seen enough by round two and started coming forward matching Johnson punch for punch. The two welterweights would keep the same aggressive pace until the final bell.

In the final prelim bout, Saint Cloud's Andrew Lindburg and Brunette's Brad Heroff battled at 115 pounds. Lindburg seemed a little hesitant to open up in the begginning. Heroff, a speedy little fighter with pop, constantly bobbed and weaved his way inside where he threw nice combinations. Lindburg was never discouraged but had a hard time figuring out his opponent. Heroff won by decision.

TRIPLE MAIN EVENT:
In a rematch of skilled featherweights, Duluth's Craig Butler evened the score with Brad Patrow of the Rice Street gym.
Both fighters came out jabbing and circling. Patrow made the Twin Ports southpaw miss early by ducking and moving. With hands at his sides, Patrow pot-shotted Butler along the ropes. Butler stayed composed though and started finding a home for the straight 1-2 to the head of Patrow. The success lit a fire under Butler who raced toward Patrow along the ropes where he fired shots to the head as the bell sounded to end the round.
Butler countered and moved early in round two. His head movement had Patrow winging wild shots at times. From midpoint on it was a fast paced chess match with both fighters studying each other looking for an opening. It was Patrow's flashy, hands low style versus Butler's quick countering southpaw style.
A barrage of left and rights thrown by Butler to start the fourth round may have sealed what was a close fight for him. It got the crowd roaring and may have had the judges thinking.
There were no knockdowns in the fight and neither fighter ever seemed to be dazed but Patrow was awarded one knockdown midway through the third after Butler seemed to slip to the canvas. Butler shook his head and waved his arms in protest of the call.
The judges awarded the decision to Butler who caps off a big month with victories over Jose Hilario and now Brad Patrow.

Cerresso Fort (Rice Street) and Caleb Truax (ACR) met at 175 pounds in another highly sought after bout.
Fort had a lot of success in the two opening rounds using his speed and combinations to the head and body. Truax pressed forward looking to land hard shots to the head in round one.
Truax found a home for the left hook to the body early in the second but Fort seemed to sence Truax's confidence and rushed Truax with flashy body and head combinations that sent his opponent back to the ropes. A hard left momentarily buckled Truax's knees.
Truax came out in the third looking like a much more confident fighter than in the first two previous rounds. Fort was still very successful with his combinations. Truax was countering with his hard straight right midway through the third that he is known for having whenever Fort came in to throw. Truax landed the harder shots, Fort the better combinations. It was a tough round to call.
Truax dominated the final round with heavy left and rights to the head of Fort, staggering him on two occassions but it wasn't enough to sway the judges. Fort was declared the winner of a bout declared "The fight of the night" at the end of the night.

You could feel the energy in the air as Sam Morales's (Rice Street) and Tony Lee's (Brunette's) names were announced for the final bout of the evening. Both fighters had their moments but on this night Lee was primed. Sam Morales pressed forward but seemed a little hesitant to let his punches fly. Tony Lee was fast and accurate with his combinations.
Although Lee's best weapon of the fight was the lead left, it was a hard right that sent Morales stumbling in the second mementarily. Lee followed up with the most entertaining combination in boxing in my opinion, the old "shoe shinner" moments later out of the clinch. Morales was not detered and marched foreward landing punches to the head but they were mostly one at a time.
The final round went along the same lines as the rest of the bout; Lee circled and landing hard combinations while Morales always pressed forward landing mostly single shots.
Lee got the decision and title "best boxer" and Morales was declared "fightingest fighter"