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ST PAUL BRAWL: FRIDAY NIGHT PREVIEW
By Jesse Kelley
April 22nd, 2010
"Golden" Caleb Truax (14-0, 9 KO's) of Osseo, MN will put his undefeated record on the line this Friday night at the Saint Paul Armory against Phil "The Drill" Williams (12-3, 11 KO's) of Minneapolis, MN.
Pride and local bragging rights will be on the line as
the two share a history that goes back to their days in the amateurs.
Although competitive rivals, Truax and Williams both admit to getting
along outside of the ring. That was proven last month when neither fighter
could hold a straight face as they stood nose to nose at a press conference
for photo's. With that said, the stakes are high for both fighters and
there will be no smiles when they meet in the ring.
" I have nothing bad to say about Caleb but he shouldn't
have taken this fight" said Williams when the fight was announced
two months ago. "You are going to see the best of "The Drill.
This is the perfect fight to get back on track and show everybody the
real Phil Williams."
Truax will be looking at Friday night as an opportunity to even the
score with Williams and keep his record unblemished. 
"Phil beat me in the Golden Gloves tournament when we were amateurs.
He was the two time defending champion and I only had four fights. I
actually had to make one of them up just to have enough fights to enter
the tournament. That fight was close too, now I have a chance to get
my revenge."
Williams finds himself in a do or die situation and admits
that he is at a crossroads in his career. At 32, Williams has lost his
last two and promises that streak will not continue.
" I need this fight, and I think it's a good fight for Minnesota.
I just like to fight. I like competition and right now he is undefeated.
We fought in the amateurs and I won that fight, but that was the amateurs.
I know he wants revenge and is training hard. But he better keep training
hard because I am coming."
Williams continued, "I feel like I won the (Matt) Vanda fight.
Go back and watch the tape. I should have thrown more but I controlled
the entire fight with my jab. But it is what it is. I don't want to
make any excuses for my last fight (Donovan George), I lost. But I lost
a lot of weight in a few weeks and had no energy going into that fight.
Something was not right. For this fight, I have been on weight for months
and been able to easily maintain it. You are going to see The Drill
at 100%. I am bringing my big shots to this fight. I refuse to lose
anymore."
Truax was impressive in his last bout, winning a 10 round
unanimous decision over Kerry Hope (12-2). But Truax and his team realize
that Williams may be the most dangerous puncher he has faced so far.
"I know Phil can punch. All but one of his wins are by knockout
so he can punch. I am going to box, just do what I do. I have prepared
all I can for this fight and am ready for Phil Williams."
Joey "Minnesota Ice" Abell (25-4, 24
KOs) of Coon Rapids, MN also returns in a featured bout. Abell will
face Josh 
"The
Griz" Gutcher (18-11, 13 KOs) of Albia, IA.
"I know I can't look past anybody. He (Gutcher) is an experience
guy and I can't over look that. Losing from here on out is not an option
so that makes this fight just as important as my next."
If things go as planned for Abell against Gutcher, The MN heavyweight
has a rematch scheduled with Al Cole on May 29th in Kampala, Uganda.
After 6, two minute rounds and a nasty cut, Abell lost a split decision
to Cole in the first meeting.
" I don't want to make any excuses for that one. But there was
blood everywhere. I think the judges may have been looking at all the
blood and figured I got my ass kicked. I thought I did enough but it
is what it is. It is a loss on my record and I am taking this fight
(with Gutcher) and then Cole to avenge it in dominant fashion. I trained
for three minute rounds the first time with Cole and he was smart and
took advantage of the two minute rounds. I probably only felt 2% of
the punches he was throwing but he was busy and it paid off."
Dynamite fisted super featherweight Ismail "The
Sharp Shooter" Muwendo (4-0, 3 KOs) Minneapolis, Minnesota
takes
on
blood and guts boxer David Laque (2-3-1, 2 KOs) Bloomington,
Minnesota. The 21 year old Muwendo gained praise from Jason Litzau after
sparring sessions a few months ago and looks to take that experience
into the ring for the first time since July of last year. Muwendo says
he is excited to be back in action.
LaQue is a new comer to boxing having only a handful of amateur bouts
although he did well in those bouts. Most recently, LaQue has been learning
on the job with a draw in Chicago against hometowner Bobby Jaskierny
and a win over Daniel Schlienz just weeks ago on April 9th.
" I knew Jaskierny was going to come hard at me. It was his hometown.
He is a tough fighter and came to knock me out. I just stayed with the
basics, my power punches, and the skills that I have learned, especially
in the final round. The crowd was really getting in to the fight and
I hear the crowd when I fight. The more they screamed, the more I punched.
I learned a lot in that fight."
LaQue continued..." Danny Schlienz is a warrior. I knew he would
be a challenge. He fought his heart out and got up from a knockdown
which shows what kind of fighter he is. I could tell he wasn't steady
after the knockdown though so I stayed composed. I landed a left hook
and a right and he went down again. It just happened so fast. But I
took a lot from that fight because he was such an experienced fighter."
That fight was only two weeks ago and LaQue will be dropping 10 pounds
from that time as he meets Muwendo at a catch weight of 133 pounds.
MN
bantamweight champion Antwan "Lil Superman" Robertson
(6-1, 4 KO's) of Minneapolis and James Owen (3-0,2 KOs) Milwaukee,
Wisconsin will meet in an interesting four rounder.
" I am excited to be back in action" said Robertson. "
I could have gotten an easy fight but I am selling tickets for this
one to all my friends and family and I want to give them their money's
worth by taking on an undefeated fighter. I am ready to continue to
step up at this point in my career and I can't wait to fight in front
of the Twin Cities fans."
Charles
Meier (3-1, 2 KOs) Coon Rapids, Minnesota faces mma fighter/boxer
Dan Copp (1-3, 0 KOs) Mankato, Minnesota in a super middleweight
clash.
Meier said he originally wanted a chance to avenge his only loss which
was a split decision in his pro debut to Marvin Rodriquez (2-2). Most
recently Meier thought he would be facing 20 year old action fighter
Josh Rodriquez (2-4). But J. Rodriquez was unable to make the trip,
so the steadily improving boxer Copp stepped in on short notice.
"I was hoping to be fighting Josh because of his reputation as
an exciting fighter but Dan Copp always shows up to fight so I know
I will have to be ready for that" said Meier.
Kicking off the evening will be an exhibition match between Derek
Winston (2-0, 0 KOs) of Minneapolis, Minnesota
and Jake Backus (0-1) Arden Hills, Minnesota.
Line-up
10 rounds for the vacant Minnesota State Super Middleweight Title.
Caleb Truax (14-0, 9 KOs) Osseo, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=387857&cat=boxer
Vs.
Phil Williams (12-3, 11 KOs) Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=355629&cat=boxer
8rds
Joey Abell (25-4, 24 KOs) Coon Rapids, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=327656&cat=boxer
Vs.
Josh Gutcher (18-11, 13 KOs) Albia, IA
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=31200&cat=boxer
6rds
Ismail Muwendo (4-0, 3 KOs) Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=482652&cat=boxer
Vs.
David Laque (2-3-1, 2 KOs) Bloomington, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=497070&cat=boxer
4rds
Antwon Robertson (6-1, 4 KOs) Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=422742&cat=boxer
Vs.
James Owen (3-0, 2 KOs) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=519803&cat=boxer
4rds
Charles Meier (3-1, 2 KOs) Coon Rapids, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=483022&cat=boxer
Vs.
Dan Copp (1-3, 0 KOs) Mankato, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=500134&cat=boxer
Exhibition
4rds
Derek Winston (2-0, 0 KOs) Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=514963&cat=boxer
Vs.
Jake Backus (0-1) Arden Hills, Minnesota
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=511625&cat=boxer
MMA Portion of the show
Travis Reddinger (10-2) St Paul, Minnesota
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fighterDetail&pid=3890E9B92
1FEA1C1
Vs.
Elias Jones (0-2) Britton, South Dakota
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fighterDetail&pid=4C7CB3379
1642B30
Zach Juusola (2-0) Minneapolis, Minnesota
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fighterDetail&pid=7BD3278AE
F49179C
Vs.
Shaine Emmons (Pro Debut)
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fighterDetail&pid=E96C468C5
2362996
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