After more than a year without a commission, boxing made its triumphant return to Minnesota Friday night. Many of Minnesota's best fighters showcased their talents in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
In the main event, former Season I Contender contestant Anthony "the Bullet" Bonsante won the Minnesota Middleweight title with a 8th round TKO over Saint Paul's Troy Lowry.
The blood started flowing early as Lowry bloodied Bonsante's nose with a hard right hand in the 1st round. Soon thereafter, Bonsante opened a small cut under Lowry's left eye.
Both fighters were pretty active in the first few rounds, but not many punches were landing with much effect. In round three, Bonsante started finding a home for a hard right uppercut to Lowry's head. By the fourth round, Bonsante was landing more consistently, while Lowry continued having trouble connecting effectively.
Near the end of round six, Bonsante landed a strong right uppercut that seemed to hurt Lowry. Bonsante tried following up but the bell rang before he could do more damage. In what could've had a major effect on the fight, Bonsante twisted his ankle as referee Mark Nelson pulled the fighter's apart at the end of the round. Bonsante limped back to his corner and was clearly in pain. He limped early in the 7th round, but seemed to be ok after a minute or so and started digging in with the right hand again.
Bonsante's right uppercut was his biggest weapon throughout the fight and he landed his best one late in the 8th round. As the two fighters were in close, Bonsante unleashed an electrifying right uppercut. Lowry tried staying on his feet, but ended up on the canvas. The always-tough Lowry beat the count, but was clearly hurt badly. Before Bonsante could follow up, the round ended. Between rounds though, referee Mark Nelson waved the fight off.
The 36-year-old Bonsante improves to 28-8-3, 17 KO's, while the 36-year-old falls to 27-7, 16 KO's.
After the fight, Bonsante and Matt "the Predator" Vanda met in the ring to announce their planned fight in January 2007.

Matt "the Predator" Vanda dominated Dillon Carew in winning a 10-round unanimous decision. Both fighters had their moments, but Vanda was more active, landed the harder shots and seemed to hurt Carew on several occasions.
Vanda did his best work when he trapped Carew on the ropes and unleashed fast combinations to Carew's head and body. Carew, who took the fight on a few days' notice, showed heart and landed good punches of his own. But he couldn't keep Vanda off of him.
Vanda put Carew down in the 7th, but it was ruled a slip. Vanda wouldn't be denied in the 9th round though as he landed a powerful left hook to Carew's head. Carew was hurt and tried holding on, but ended up down on the canvas. Carew lost his mouthpiece along the way and was given time to recover.
In the 10th round, Vanda tried finishing the game Carew but couldn't land the defining shot. One judge scored the fight 100-89, while the other two had it 99-90. The 28-year-old Vanda is now 35-2, 21 KO's. Carew, the former Guyanese national champion drops to 20-16-3, 12 KO's.

Former welterweight title challenger Hugo Pineda showed he can still fight with a devastating 5th round knockout of Zach "Jungle Boy" Walters. Many people didn't give the 35-year-old Pineda much of a chance because he'd only fought three times in seven years and there were doubts if he would bring his power up from welterweight to light heavyweight. But Pineda showed plenty of power in the victory. He took advantage of his experience, southpaw stance and counterpunching ability.
The 25-year-old Walters never seemed comfortable with Pineda's southpaw stance as he consistently reached with his right hand. Pineda must have noticed and effectively countered with hard left hands to the body and head throughout the fight.
In the fifth round, Walters tried putting his punches together which gave Pineda the opening he needed. Pineda threw a lead left hand and quickly followed up with a crushing right hook to Walters' jaw. Walters went down face first and was in a lot of trouble. Being the true warrior that he is, Walters rose to his feet. But referee Mark Nelson could see that Walters was in no shape to continue.
After the fight, Pineda said he was a little surprised at his win. "I was out of boxing for awhile. But I felt sure of my experience, not so much of my conditioning, but I was successful. He is a young fighter and that favored me quite a bit."
Pineda has been in with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Kostya Tszyu. Pineda also said he's hoping to make a big impact in his comeback. "We will see what happens because I have the experience and I have a good record. I believe that big things are coming and I hope so."
Pineda's record now stands at 39-3-1, 28 KO's. Walters' record now stands at 15-2, 11 KO's. Walters' two defeats were both against southpaws.

Featherweight Allen "the American Boy" Litzau won a unanimous six-round decision over grizzled veteran Juan Pollo Perez. The bout was somewhat competitive early on, but Litzau used his superior speed to land combinations and control the action. Perez had his moments too as he landed some decent right hands.
In the 4th round, Litzau started feinting and it seemed to set his offensive attack more effectively. Perez was also left off-balance. Litzau was now landing combinations effectively, while Perez couldn't seem to find a home for his right hand anymore.
Litzau improves to 11-2, 6 KO's, while Perez falls to 46-44-4, 23 KO's.

Featherweight Wilton "the Pretty Warrior" Hilario kept his perfect record intact with an impressive 1st round TKO over Elvis "El Burrito" Martinez. Hilaro used a jab early on, but started digging left hooks to the body. Hilario trapped Martinez on the ropes and landed an extremely hard left hook to the body and followed up with left hooks to the head and body. Martinez went down hard. He beat the count, but was still suffering the effects of the left hook to the body and the bout was stopped.
Hilario is now 5-0, 5 KO's while "El Burrito" is now 10-19-2, 4 KO's.

Andy "Kaos" Kolle stopped Bobby Cleaver in the 2nd round of their middleweight fight with a barrage of punches to the body and head. But the win came at a price as Kolle suffered a bad cut over his left eye. It looked like the cut was caused by a headbutt.
Cleaver started the fight pretty well, but Kolle dominated for the most part.
Kolle upped his record to 11-1, 9 KO's.

John Schmidt of Minneapolis won his pro debut with TKO over Ray Walker of Saint Paul. Schmidt applied the pressure and landed right hands throughout. Walker never stopped trying, but clearly didn't have the stamina to last very long. He never went down, but was out of gas before the start of the 3rd round. The bout was stopped between rounds.

In the opening bout, hard-hitting light heavyweight Phil Williams didn't waste any time in knocking out Jake Hecht in the 1st round. Williams put Hecht down three times, once with a left jab, another time with a right hook and the final knockdown was the product of a straight left hand. Williams, of Minneapolis, improves to 2-0, 2 KO's. Hecht showed heart and determination but he drops to 0-2.