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ABELL STOPS LYONS AT THE ARMORY
Report by Ray Kilgore
Photo's by Jesse Kelley
July 18th, 2010

Heavyweight Joey Abell (27-4, 26 KOs) had several fighters on his hit list these past several months. Aaron Lyons (11-9, 8 KOs) wasn't one of the targeted men, but once the fight was set, Abell, a popular Minnesota heavyweight, had plenty of motivation to win.

In 2006, Lyons, 29, was the first fighter to defeat Abell, when the two met at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia. At that time, the setback was rough on Abell.

"The loss hit me pretty quickly and it was painful," Abell said before the rematch. "I felt like I disappointed a lot of people that night. It was a major letdown to myself and my loyal fans."

On Saturday night at the St. Paul Armory, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Lyons learned a lot can happen in four years, as Abell evened the score with a fourth-round TKO over a fighter, in Lyons, who had previously never been stopped.

Abell, 29, appeared in sensational condition at 245 pounds. Lyons, who tipped the scales at 238 pounds, seemed lost from round one.

Abell started the fight using jabs and landing right hands. Somehow Lyons managed to take them, but he spent most of the round covered up and flinching at every feint Abell attempted.

Lyons, a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, missed with wild shots and was on the defensive all evening.

By round two, the 6-foot-4 Abell, from Coon Rapids, MN was in command and Lyons looked like a boxer on borrowed time.

"I didn't let him back me into the ropes," Abell said. "I knew I was a better boxer than him."

Going into the fight, Team Abell said that during their first fight, Lyons got a break from the referee, and judging by Lyons' expression before the start of round three, it seemed he felt the same way.

Lyons' only game plan was to use roughhouse tactics in hopes that Abell might get careless and walk into a knockout shot.

By round three, it was clear that Lyons was either going to get a knockout or take a tremendous beating for all ten rounds, as Abell landed hellacious right hands, uppercuts, and left hooks that brought the packed house to their feet.

Early in round four, the men were fighting in close quarters when Abell threw a right. The blow opened a deep cut over Lyons' left eye. Lyons attempted to tell Referee Mark Nelson that Abell head-butted him, but the cut was ruled from a punch.

The action was temporally stopped while the ring doctor, Sheldon Segal, examined Lyons. The fight was officially over at 52 seconds into the round because of the size of the cut.

Although Abell gave a virtuoso performance in stopping a fighter, in Lyons, who went twelve rounds in his last fight, Abell and his trainer Ron Lyke said there is work that still needs to be done.

"I made some mistakes. My hands came down when they shouldn't have," said Abell. "I didn't capitalize when I should have but I did what I had to do."

Lyke added, "I thought it was one of his better [performances] because he had to go a few rounds…I wish he would have gone to the body more. But he was landing some terrific shots that would have eventually worn him [Lyons] down."

Co-Main Event
Vincente Alfaro Defeats Brad Patraw in Round Two

"Bad" Brad Patraw (6-3, 4 KOs) faced another setback, losing to Vincente Alfaro (4-0, 2 KOs) at 1:42 in round two. Patraw looked confident during his ring walk, but midway into round one, his expression changed. Patraw carried his hands dangerously low from the start as he tried to land several punches with bad intentions. But Alfaro wasn't bothered by any of the blows, as he pushed the action. Patraw started circling, not trying to set up big shots, but keeping Alfaro from applying the pressure. Patraw started to take hard shots by the end of round one.

At the start of round two, Patraw showed signs of life, although his hands remained low. Alfaro landed a good right followed up with hard blows that prompted Referee Gary Miezwa to give Patraw a standing eight.

Patraw was allowed to continue, but he continued to take hard right hands as he was forced to move around the ring, though he tried to let Alfaro know the shots were not impacting him, sticking out his tongue after Alfaro landed a hard right. Patraw took several more hard blows that promped Miezwa to give Patraw another eight count. The fight continued and Alfaro backed Patraw into the neutral corner, continuing to land hard shots. As Patraw tried to move out of the corner, he got hit with a glancing blow and, losing his balance, stumbled on the canvas. Miezwa had seen enough and rightly stopped the action at 1:42 into the round.

Gavin Quinn Defeats Ryan Stock by Unanimous Decision

In his first professional fight, Gavin Quinn (1-0) got the job done, outlasting Ryan Stock (0-3) for most of the fight. The fight started slow as each man jabbed and looked for position. Quinn's blows were mostly arm shots. Throughout the round, Stock was able to land four right hands, and Quinn took them well.

Stock also managed to get in several body shots. Toward the end of the round, the fighters' heads came together and Quinn received a small cut under his left eye.

In round two, Quinn picked up his jab and landed several rights, followed up by more jabs. Fans showed their appreciation by cheering loudly. Stock was able to land an uppercut and a right. Before the bell, both men exchanged good blows.

Quinn started round four with a low blow warning. He then took a right from Stock that got his attention, but Quinn refused to give and both boxers went back to trading blows before the action settled. Quinn continued to work his jab and landed a hard right in the far corner that backed Stock up.

Stock took between five and six unanswered blows in the far corner, and it looked as if he might go down before he was finally able to offer up an offense. Quinn landed another right that rocked Stock. Stock's shots were getting wide and he took several deep breaths.

In the final round, Stock started strong but looked tired again as Quinn occasionally worked his body. Quinn was off balance at times but stuck to his jabs and right hands. The judges scored the fight: 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36, all in favor for Quinn.

Jose Hilario Defeats Matthew Borgan in Round One.

Jose Hilario (3-0, 3 KOs) got his jab started early, followed by a thunderous uppercut that wobbled Borgan while contorting his body in the process. Somehow Borgan stayed on his feet, but it was only a matter of time before Hilario ended the festivities for the night.

Hilario went back to his jab and threw another uppercut that buzzed Borgan, forcing the boxer to turn his back toward Hilario. Hilario then landed a hard body shot that sent Borgan down. Borgan spit out his mouthpiece and crawled on the canvas to retrieve it. Borgan beat the count, but took several more blows before Referee Gary Miezwa had seen enough and stopped the action at :52 seconds into the round.

Travis Perzynski Defeats Bobby Butters in Round One.

Bobby Butters (0-1) started the fight with several good rights that landed well. He looked confident as he landed jabs as well. Butters landed a right that forced Perzynski to hold. But after the clinch, both boxers traded shots and Perzynski landed a good right that buzzed Butters. Perzynski took advantage and jumped on Butters, landing several more hard shots in the far right corner. Butters offered no offense and Referee Mark Nelson had seen enough and stopped the action at 1:21 into the round.

Marty Lindquist Defeats Frankie Quinn in Round One.

Frankie Quinn was the sentimental favorite, and neither man wasted time as they got the action going early, trading shots center ring. Quinn landed a hard right that got fans into it. Lindquist missed with a wide looping right.

Every punch Lindquist threw had knockout on it, although he missed with several of them. Lindquist turned his attention to his jabs and eventually found the home run right that sent Quinn down. Quinn showed grit by making the count, but was on wobbly legs. Lindquist went after him, forcing a visibly hurt Quinn to fall face forward on his knees while trying to tie Lindquist up. Referee Gary Miezwa gave Quinn another standing eight but stopped the fight shortly afterward. The stoppage came at 2:17 into the round.