Minnesota Boxing News: Andy Kolle

KOLLE REMAINS FOCUSSED HEADING INTO FIGHT
October 21st, 2011
By Jesse Kelley

Tomorrow night marks the return of Andy "Kaos" Kolle (23-2, 17 KO's) as the Duluth resident steps in the ring to face James Wayka (16-10) of Wisconsin in the headlining bout at the 4 Bears Casino in ND.

Kolle is coming off a setback loss to Caleb Truax (18-0-1, 10 KO's) on May 27th in Saint Paul and looks at the fight with Wayka as a way to not only get back on track but also to put to work different techniques he and new trainer Jason Hendrickson have been incorporating into camp. A camp which has included 6 hour round trips, 2 days a week for Kolle, Hendrickson, and team apiece. Wayka is a recognizable name around Minnesota who's known for his slickness and pop in the ring when properly prepared for battle. Kolle says he remains focussed on moving forward in his boxing career following the Truax bout and that begins with what he hopes is an explosive performance against Wayka.

The meeting between Kolle and Truax this summer was heated and entertainment wise, lived up to all the hype. But Kolle admits that it wasn't his best performance that night and gives credit to Truax for his part.
It had been over a year since Kolle had defeated Matt Vanda for a second time and the two opponents Kolle had faced afterwards (Darryl Salmon and Francisco Osorio) combined to give Kolle less then a full rounds work six months prior. Kolle says ring rust among other things could have played a part in the fight for him but insisted on not going into details because he didn't want to make excuses or take away from Truax's night.

"Caleb had a good night and I think I had a bad one. He is a big strong kid that fought a good fight. It was an off night for me for a number of reason's. None of his punches really affected me to the point I was seriously hurt though aside from getting hit in the nuts. I just didn't get off as much as I normally would."

Following the bout, controversy arose as Kolle's team filed a complaint with the Minnesota Boxing Commission not only about not receiving payment for the fight, but also for what they believed to be missed low blows by referee Mark Nelson in the bout. Kolle's team, headed by then trainer Chuck Horton and manager Todd Bechtold claimed that there were a number of low blows landed that effected Kolle's performance in the middle to late rounds of the bout. At first Kolle was again hesitant to comment on record about the low blows because he didn't want to come off as making excuses but when asked again because of the relevance of what happened afterwards, Kolle discussed what took place after the bout.

"We watched Caleb's fight with Phil Williams and saw a lot of shots at the bottom of the belt line. Most of the shots were right on the border and good but we did see a lot of shots to the nuts that we thought went uncalled so we brought it up in the dressing room before the fight (with Truax). We were told "That is what a cup is for". Basically, when you see something, you bring it up before hand to make sure the ref is aware of it. I'm not going to say that Mark Nelson purposely didn't call them or whatever, but there was a lot of them that he missed. I know because I was the one that took the punches. It's like getting hit in the stomach when your not ready for it, you know what I mean? It definitely affects you. It takes your breath away. A cup is made to help out but it still hurts. Anybody that has been hit right in the nut cup knows it still hurts in a different way that a body shot does. Body shots affect you too and he (Truax) caught me with some good body shots. But after a couple of seconds you can recover from those. It's not the same story with a shot below the belt. Those stay with you the entire fight. So my team, who was looking out for me after the fight, brought the issues up with the commission."

With the fight in the rear view mirror for now, and a rematch between the two not being discussed, Kolle will be returning to action tomorrow night in a bout that will probably go unseen by most local MN boxing enthusiests as it is over an 8 hour drive to the ring in New Town, ND. The bout with Wayka could be a barn burner or a quick outing depending on the shape of the Wisconsin born Wayka. Kolle knows what Wayka brings when in shape and says he will be ready and prepared for his best. Kolle also discussed the sudden retirement of long time coach Chuck Horton and his work with Minneapolis trainer Jason Hendrickson.

" Of course I want my rematch with Truax. I gave him the shot at my title and I would hope he would do the same for me. But that fight is not in front of me. Chucks retirement came as a little bit of a surprise to me with the timing of everything but looking back I kind of saw it coming for the last year or so. Chuck has been very busy the last year and I could tell that his heart wasn't in it anymore. It was time for a change for him and I respect his decision, but obviously I wish he could of hung around a little longer. With Shark retiring we added Jason Hendrickson to our team and so far its going great. I haven't had a whole lot of time with him being he lives in the cities area, but when we get together we get a lot accomplished. Jason is very hands on in training which I like because he's always there critiqing my mistakes, and working on my strengths. I look forward to the future and learning a different outlook on boxing.
As far as my new opponent James Wayka, he is a good boxer who has been around the game for a while so he will be bringing experience with him into the ring. I have seen a handful of James's fights so I know a little of what he's all about. He puts his combos together well and knows how to fight. I just look forward to getting back in the ring and putting on a good show for all the fans in Newtown ND."

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