Undefeated Jose Leo Moreno overcame a bad cut over his left eye to win a dramatic fourth round TKO over Mohammed Kayongo in the main event at the RiverCentre Ballroom in St. Paul, Minnesota. With the win, Moreno became the new Minnesota Welterweight champion.
Kayongo came out throwing and landing bombs early in the first round. It also looked like Kayongo had a speed advantage early on. Kayongo landed a hard left jab that knocked Moreno off-balance early. Later in the round, he landed a hard left hook. But Moreno didn’t seem discouraged at all by Kayongo’s heavy artillery and pressed forward throwing body and head shots. By the end of the round, Moreno was coming forward and applying the pressure.
The two welterweights exchanged jabs early in the second round. Soon thereafter, Moreno was the one coming forward, applying pressure and throwing multiple combinations. Kayongo landed some nice right hands and actually may have won the round by landing the harder shots. But Moreno’s pressure and body attack already seemed to be taking their toll on Kayongo.
In a back-and-forth third round, Moreno was coming forward and Kayongo was backing up. Both fighters landed hard left hooks early in round. Moreno continued working Kayongo’s body with both hands and it was obvious that Moreno’s relentless pressure and body attack were getting to him. Kayongo didn’t back down though and landed a right hand that opened a bad cut over Moreno’s left eye.
The 30-year-old Moreno must have known that it was a potentially fight-ending cut and became even more aggressive. Within a minute, Moreno landed a hard right hand that rocked Kayongo badly. Kayongo grabbed on to keep himself from going down which caused both fighters to tumble to the canvas. Moreno got up quickly, but Kayongo was hurt and stayed down. Referee Mark Nelson started counting Kayongo out, but he was able to get up at the count of eight. Moreno followed up with more heavy shots to the body and head, but couldn’t finish Kayongo off.
In between rounds, the doctor examined Moreno’s left eye. There was a discussion between the doctor, Nelson and Commissioner Joe Mason. It looked like they were talking about stopping the fight because of the cut, but decided to let the fight continue.
Knowing the fight might be stopped at anytime because of the cut, Moreno came out with an even greater sense of urgency in round four. Moreno came out throwing heavy shots and Kayongo was backing up throwing jabs. Moreno landed another hard right hand that had Kayongo hurt again. Kayongo held on and received a warning for holding. Not much later, Moreno landed another hard right hand and followed it up with body shots. Kayongo, who looked worn out, took a knee and Kayongo’s corner threw in the towel before the referee could finish the count.
Due to the cut, Moreno had to go to the hospital and was unavailable for comment after the fight.
Moreno of St. Paul is now 12-0, 10 KO’s. Kayongo falls to 12-2-1, 9 KO’s.

In a light heavyweight bout, “Sting” Ray Smith won a four-round unanimous decision over Matt “the Chick Magnet” O’Hare.
“Sting” Ray of St. Paul knocked the “Chick Magnet” down in the first round with a combination. Later in the round, “Sting” Ray buckled the “Chick Magnet’s” knees with a vicious right uppercut to the head.
By the end of the fight, both fighters looked tired, but all three judges saw the fight going for “Sting” Ray by the same score of 39-36.
“Sting” Ray, who took the fight on short notice, ups his record to 2-1, 1 KO. The “Chick Magnet,” who hasn’t fought since 1998, drops to 1-1, 1 KO.

Ben “the Educator” Lane got up from an early knockdown and rallied to stop southpaw Jeremy Kurshner in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder.
Lane--- once known as “the Principal”—went down in the first round from a straight left hand to the head.
Lane showed heart though and came out dropping bombs in the second round. Lane landed a straight right hand that put Kurshner down hard. Kurshner, making his pro debut, got up quickly, but couldn’t slow the relentless storm that is Ben Lane. Eventually, Lane was able to corner Kurshner into the ropes and unleashed a two-fisted assault. Referee Mark Nelson stepped between the fighters as Kurshner was falling down. The stoppage came at 2:36 of the second round.
With the win, “The Educator” stayed undefeated at 3-0, 3 KO’s.

Two scheduled fights were canceled. The co-main event pitting Marty “the Wolfman” Linquist against Ted Muller was reportedly canceled at the last-minute.

Please send questions or comments to Ramon Hough at crdhough@gmail.com

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