JOHNSON, TRUAX VICTORIOUS IN SAINT PAUL
September 25, 2012

Photos and Report by Jesse Kelley

Antonio Johnson moved his record to (9-1-1, 4 KO's) with a shutout victory over Marcus Thompkins (5-8-1, 2 KO's) in the Saturday, September 22nd fight night main event in Saint Paul, MN.
Johnson beat his opponent to the punch all night but Thompkins' toughness and ability to take a shot brought the fight to the scorecards where Johnson was up comfortably 80-71 in all three judges eyes.
Johnson, of Saint Paul, fought with a scowl and was all business throughout the bout. Thompkins stayed mostly defensive aside from a few stray and crafty counter punches. For the most part though Johnson mixed in hard combinations to the head and body in each round while avoiding most of the blows thrown his way.

"Golden" Caleb Truax (19-1-1, 10 KO's) knocked out Mickey Scarborough (6-5, 6 KO's) at 1:57 of the first round in the co-featured bout of the evening. Truax scored two knockdowns in the fight. The second knockdown left Scarborough flat on his back which prompted referee Mark Nelson to waive off the fight. Scarborough found out early that he could not match skills with Truax so he tried his best to trade power shots. Truax nearly knocked Scarborough down seconds into the fight with a snapping jab. Truax then continued to land jab after jab before putting Scarborough down for the first time with a left-right combination to the head. Moments later came the finishing shot that gave Truax his 19th victory.

Jake Backus (3-2) won all six rounds unanimously over Antwan Robertson (8-7-1, 5 KO's) in a super flyweight bout. Scores read 60-54 x3. It was an entertaining bout that Backus controlled by simply being the busier and sharper boxer on this night. Backus was all energy as he worked his punches to the head and body of Robertson. Robertson fought spirited himself at times but his rally's were not enough to slow Backus down.

Brad Heroff (1-0) won his pro debut over Jon Barker (0-1) in a featherweight contest. Scores read 40-36 x3. Heroff had prepared for a different opponent but was left to face the slightly bigger (yet shorter) mixed martial artist Barker on short notice. Despite the change, it was a good effort by both men which made for good action. Heroff fought a composed and disciplined fight and swept all four rounds.

Donny Tierney (5-5, 1 KO) out-punched Bruce Johnson over four rounds of action. Tierney out boxed Johnson from the start but was unable to stop him although the accumulation of shots landed by Tierney seemed to be getting him close to a stoppage win before running out of time. Johnson, who fought exclusively MMA before this bout, did not have many answers to Tierney's boxing but showed a solid beard as he glared and mocked the clean shots that were landed by Tierney even as he faded more and more in the later rounds. Scores were unanimous at 40-36 x3 in favor of Tierney.