St. Valentine Boxing/MMA Preview
By Jesse kelley
2.11.09

Pro Boxing and MMA will take place this Friday night in Minneapolis. Two of Minnesota's biggest punchers (Phil Williams and Joey Abell) will round out the card which also includes some of the states slickest boxers (Caleb Truax, Willshaun Boxley, newcomer Jeremy McLaurin) as well as all around tough guy Jon Schmidt. The group has been hitting up twin cities radio shows hyping the fight card which take place at the Epic Nightclub.
On Tuesday morning, Joey Abell, Caleb Truax, Phil Williams along with mma fighters Marcus Marcus LeVessuer and Carey Vanier made their way to radio station B96's studios to sit down and chat with DJ Tone E. Fly...sort of.
Oddly, the very short radio interview focussed around WWE wrestler Chris Jericho. Shortly after discussing Jericho slapping a fan, the interview was halted, leaving the fighters befuddled. Word is the station's big wig's were overwhelmed and taken back by the size and numbers of the fighters (What do they expect with "Minnesota Ice" Abell in the house)!

Today at 2pm Truax and Williams will be going live on the air with KFAN's Dan Cole.
It seems Truax has had opponent changes to deal with once again for this fight. Originally, Truax was scheduled to face Andy Kolle victim Jonathan Reid. Reid didn't give me specifics on what happend with the fight but did say that he would like the opportunity in the future to face Truax or at the least fight again in Minnesota.
"The Native Sensation" JJ Corn was next to be penciled in to box Truax. I was unable to reach Mr. Corn for comment but word is that the outgoing Wisconsin pugilist wanted to wait to rumble with Truax on a bigger stage.
So as of Tuesday night, Truax says he will face well tested veteran Steve Walker (22-19) of Missouri

"This guy is an old veteran" said truax when asked what he knew about Walker. "He has fought some good dudes like Arthur Abraham, Kid Chocolate (Peter Quillin) and David Medina. Just a bunch of good fighters. He may have lost to them, but he has been around. I am hoping to get in some good rounds. Well my coaches are hoping I get in some good rounds, I am hoping to knock his ass out!"

MinnesotaBoxing.com also caught up briefly with Featherweight Jeremy McLaurin. McLaurin will face Sook Siyajuck (1-2-1) of Missouri. On paper, all that could be found on Sook was that he has fought in the mid 140's twice, is 37 years old and all of his fights have been close against decent opponents.

"I hear he is a tough guy" said McLaurin. "I know he has a few losses on his record but I hear he can fight. I am am guessing he will come right at me like the last guy so I plan on countering him. Just work on the things we have been working on in the gym. I train for every fight like it is a championshiop fight. I keep that mentality so it doesn't really matter to me that I don't know a whole lot about my opponent."

McLaurin has been busy since turning pro on Nov. 28th of 2008 but says he plans on taking a month or so off to concentrate on his core and build physical strength. He says does not plan on being on the next Seconds Out show at the Armory in March.

"I want to rest up after this fight so I can keep putting on good fights for my fans. I want to thank everybody who has given me support. I know times are rough right now for some people and my hat goes off to them. I just want to thank eveybody who is out there supporting boxing."

Stay tuned for Willshaun Boxley interview.

The full line-up for Friday nights fights are as follows...

8 Rds Lt Heavyweights
Phil “The Drill” Williams (9-1) -VS- Isaiah Henderson (11-10)

6 Rds Heavyweight
Joey Abell (21-4) -VS- Marcus Rhode (43-36)

6 Rds Super Middleweight
“Golden” Caleb Truax (10-0) -VS- Steve Walker (2219)

MMA 3 Rds
155 lbs
Carey Vanier (14-3) -VS- Derek Abram (9-9)

MMA 3 Rds
155 lbs
Marcus LeVessuer (10-3) -VS-John Marriott (6-1)

6 Rds Super Middleweight
Jon Schmidt (7-1) -VS-William Deets (2-8)

4 Rds Super Bantamweight
Wilshaun Boxley (4-0) -VS- Felix Martinez (0-1)

4 Rds Featherweight
Jeremy McLaurin(2-0) -VS- Sook Siyajuck(1-2-1)

4 Rds Middleweight
Charles Meir(0-1) -VS- Fred Thomas (0-7)

www.soboxing.com