In a highly anticipated fight dubbed "Bad Blood," Minnesota middleweight champion Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante dominated archrival Matt "the Predator" Vanda in front of 8,872 emotional fans at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
Bonsante (29-8-3, 17 KO's) started slowly, but finished with a fury coming up just short of a knockout victory.
Vanda (35-3, 21 KO's) started strong using his edge in hand and foot speed to outbox Bonsante in the 1st round. Vanda, from St. Paul's East Side, seemed to be throwing and landing more punches, while Bonsante looked to jab and avoid Vanda's incoming punches.
In the second round, Bonsante started moving his head more effectively, picked up the pace and imposing his strength on Vanda. Fans for both fighters were taking turns chanting for their fighter. Vanda continued moving well in the round, but he didn't seem to land as much.
In the 3rd and 4th rounds, Bonsante began controlling the distance more and started landing a hard, right uppercut that would eventually break Vanda down. Vanda continued throwing punches, but couldn't seem to get close enough to land cleanly.
Vanda, who's punch output seemed to lessen after the 1st round, came out firing in the fifth. He landed solid right hands to the head and a strong left hook that snapped Bonsante's head back.
It was in the 6th round though that Bonsante took control of the fight. Bonsante hurt Vanda badly with a series of powerful, right uppercuts.
Bonsante controlled the 7th and 8th round with good head movement, more right uppercuts and hard combination punching. He backed Vanda up on several occasions. Vanda showed determination in mounting a 7th round rally, but was getting outlanded and didn't seem to have enough power to keep Bonsante at bay.
Vanda may have sensed he was behind on the judges' cards and came out ferociously to start the ninth round. Unfortunately for him, Bonsante's right uppercut started landing more frequently and with, what seemed like, more power. A Bonsante left hook, followed by a straight right hand and a right uppercut hurt Vanda badly, but he showed a great chin and heart by fighting back.
Going into the final round, Bonsante could have sat on what seemed like a large lead. But it was clear that he wanted to close the show in style. He went after the weary Vanda from the get-go and landed three consecutive devastating right hands that put Vanda down on his hands and knees. During referee Mark Nelson's count, Bonsante yelled with excitement and stomped his foot on the canvass in the neutral corner. Despite being exhausted and hurt badly, Vanda beat the count. He tried to stave off the on-coming Bonsante with punches of his own and by tying up. Vanda continued taking heavy shots, but somehow, someway he made it to the final bell.
Afterwards, the two fighters, who'd exchanged bitter words throughout the fight's promotion, embraced in the middle of the ring. The judges scored the fight 98-92, 98-91 and 98-91.
With the win, Bonsante opened the door for a potential fight against IBA middleweight titleholder John Duddy (18-0, 15 KO's).

St. Paul's Allen "the American Boy" Litzau won an easy six-round unanimous decision over Elvis "El Burrito" Martinez of the Dominican Republic. The 24-year-old Litzau put Perez down in the 2nd round with a huge left hook and staggered Perez on multiple occasions throughout the fight. While it looked doubtful at times, Perez made it to the final bell. Litzau ups his record to 12-2, 6 KO's while Perez falls to 10-20-2, 4 KO's.
The win might set up a match between Litzau and fellow Minnesota featherweight prospect, Wilton Hilario, who fought earlier in the night.
Allen is the brother of featherweight prospect Jason Litzau.



Heavyweight Raphael Butler was going for the knockout over Louis "the Facelifter" Monaco, but ended up settling for a win via 6th round disqualification. Butler, the 2004 National Golden Gloves super heavyweight champion, was winning with ease and hurting Monaco consistently with a two-fisted attack featuring a hard right hand. But Monaco couldn't seem to keep his mouthpiece from falling out. After repeated warnings and losing it for what might have been the 8th time, referee Bobby Brunette disqualified him. It might have been for the best though because Monaco was taking plenty of punishment. To his credit, Monaco showed a solid chin and kept trying. The 23-year-old Butler is now 24-3, 19 KO's. Monaco is now 15-34-4, 7 KO's.

In his Minnesota debut, heavyweight Joey "Minnesota Ice" Abell of Minneapolis impressively showcased his power and punching skills in a 6th round TKO win over the granite-chinned Larry White.
The southpaw Abell, who's coming off a controversial loss, impressed the crowd with jabs, right hooks, uppercuts and straight left hands to White's body and head. White, from Alabama, entertained more than a few fans with his dance moves (to Michael Jackson's Billy Jean) during his ring entrance. But what really had the crowd going was how many devastating punches he took without going down. Even though White was still on his feet and despite his ability to take punches, referee Bobby Brunette felt White had taken enough punishment and justifiably stopped the fight.
The 25-year-old Abell's record now stands at 10-1, 10 KO's. The durable White falls to 3-3, 2 KO's.

In another impressive showing, Wilton "the Pretty Warrior" Hilario kept his perfect record alive with a 3rd round TKO over Juan Polo Perez.
Hilario started out slowly, but started throwing the heavy artillery in the 2nd round. He doubled up on left hooks to Perez's head and body. But it was Hilario's right hand that dropped Perez for the 1st time. The game Perez got up, but quickly paid the price as he was dropped even harder with another right hand to the head followed by a crushing left hook. Hilario wanted to finish Perez, but the round ended seconds later.
In the 3rd round, Perez's legs still looked shaky and Hilario took full advantage. He landed two consecutive flush right hands that put Perez down hard. Referee Mark Nelson had seen enough and stopped the fight without counting. Hilario, now 7-0, 7 KO, took one step closer to a potential fight with rival Allen Litzau.

Welterweight Raul "The Matador" Gracia had six potential opponents fall through in the weeks prior to Friday's fight card. But because Gracia had trained so hard and wanted to fight at the Target Center, he agreed to fight a naturally bigger fighter in middleweight Bobby Kliewer. As it turned out, Gracia paid a large price for his decision. In a fight Gracia might have been winning, Kliewer scored a dramatic last second, 4th round knockout over Gracia.
Gracia started well and scored a 1st round knockdown with a straight left to the body. Early on, Kliewer couldn't land much of anything, while Gracia showed strong defense and landed occasional punches. As the rounds passed though, it was clear that Gracia was having trouble getting inside on his taller and rangier opponent. By the 3rd round, Kliewer started landing a hard right uppercut/hook as Gracia tried to get inside. With only a few seconds left in the 4th and final round, Kliewer landed a huge right hand. As Gracia was falling to the canvass, it looked like Kliewer may have added an extra shove, which made the knockdown even more violent and worse.
Gracia tried getting up, but couldn't beat the count.
Kliewer improves to 2-1-1, 2 KO's. Gracia drops to 6-1, 2 KO's.



In a bloody slugfest, the always entertaining KO Kenny Kost won a five-round split decision over Mike Word of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kost landed the cleaner punches and probably could have made things easier for himself by outboxing the rugged Word. But as is his custom, Kost decided to slug it out. The fight was very close and Word seemed to stun Kost on a few occasions, while Kost landed bombs of his own. Kost suffered from a severely bloody nose and looked exhausted in the last couple rounds. But he kept throwing accurate punches and pulled out the split decision.
Kost is now 11-2, 6 KO"s. Word is a much better fighter than his 3-5-3, 3 KO's indicates.

In the opener, John Laboda's pro debut was a success as he knocked out Shirone Baltcher in the 1st round. The end came when Laboda landed a hard left hook to the body followed by a double left hook to the head. Baltcher was also making his pro debut.