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HOLT EDGES CORN IN BARNBURNER
Photos and Report By Jesse Kelley
June 7th, 2009

More Photos Coming Soon...

Chris "The Incredible" Holt (16-9) edged JJ "The Native Sensation" Corn (47-22) on the scorecards Saturday night at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN. The two veteran Midwesterners slugged it out for eight exciting rounds. Both men told MinnesotaBoxing.com in a pre-fight interview that it would most likely be a shootout and the fight lived up to those predictions.

Round 1
Holt took the lead out of the gate as he lunged in at Corn with winging lead left and right hooks. Corn handled the pressure well though and started walking Holt down behind a stiff jab. A minute in, Corn staggard Holt along the ropes with a right uppercut that momentarily buzzed the Detroit Lakes brawler. Undetered, Holt fired back a number of busy punches in which Corn respoded with two well placed head shots that sent Holt backwards again. This type of action proved to be a carbon copy of the rounds to come. Holt throwing caution to the wind hard looping punches while Corn landed slightly fewer but more meaningful punches.

Round 2
Corn used his jab early and often in round two to keep Holt at bay. Holt continued to bull rush Corn into the ropes and fire away shots at Corn. Although Corn landed the cleaner shots, Holts aggression and hard punches of his own seemed to win him the round.

Round 3
Round three was all action, I can promise you that! But we had video techincal difficulties and lost this round so I cannot look back!

Round 4
Holt circled and boxed more early in round 4. A left hook to the jaw by Corn staggered Holt along the ropes about a minute in. Corn looked to be the slightly bigger man as he stalked after Holt for the remainder of the round. Although breathing hard, Corn outlanded Holt.

Round 5
Holt again boxing early on and jabbing a lot to the body. Corn still waiting to counter Holt as he rushes in. The action turns into an all out brawl though by the midway point of the round. Both men trade hard head shots as the crowd screams for more. Both fighters clash heads once again and they touch gloves. Corn again staggers Holt with a left to the head but Holt fires back with four punches as he stumbles! Corn looks tired now but keeps coming forward.

Round 6
Holt landed his best combination to this point in the bout, a left-right to the head seconds into round 4. Corn did a hip shimmy dance to say he wasn't bothered by the punches. The fast pace started to slow for just a bit until the the two traded hard jabs that lit a fire under both men. Corn continued to dance as Holt landed hard head and body punches near the end of an exciting round.
Round 4: 38-38 Holt

Round 7
The seesaw battle continued into round five as Corn again relyed on his jab. Holt tried to shoot in with wide punches but was greeted with stiff jabs from Corn or tied up most of the round. Holt had a gash above his brow but it was unclear how it was opened up. Another close round that could have gone either way.

Round 8
A clash of heads opened up a small cut over the eye of Corn in round six. In a round that could have gone either way, I gave the slight edge to Corn because of the more accurate punching. Particularly another staggaring overhand right to Holts head as the round ended. It really depends on what type of judge you are to determine the winner in this one. In the end, two of the three judges favored the almost hyper active style of Holt. Holt was constantly moving in and out, circling and bull rushing Corn with hard looping shots. One judge favored Corn on the other hand who patiently played the role of counter puncher and absorbed more punches with his guard. When things got heated, which was often, Corn landed hard shots that momentarily buzzed Holt throughout the fight. Scores read 77-75 twice for Holt, and 78-75 for Corn.
After the bout, Corn sat in the middle of the ring in disbelief after hearing that two of the three judges scored against him.
"I had him hurt in almost every round" Said Corn. "He landed some good punches but he never hurt me. Even in the rounds I didn't almost knock him down, I still outboxed him."
As Corn shook his head, Holt jumped up onto the ropes and flexed for his rowdy supporters in the crowd. " It was a great fight" Said Holt. " He landed some hard shots but I never quit punching and landed some big punches of my own."

Jesse Barbot (6-4) got revenge over Patrick Cape (5-6) by winning a six round unanimous decision in a supporting bout. Barbot, who was cought while brawling in the pairs first meeting last year, did a lot more boxing this time out. Neither fighter was hurt as the rematch was more of a chess match. Cape did well by timing in a few countering punches to the head but Barbot let his hands go more as he outlanded a more frusterated Cape as the bout came to a close. Scores read 58-56 twice and 59-55 for Barbot.

Bloomington Minnesota's David "The Pocket Rocket" Laque (138 pds) was too much for Mahnomen's John Gordon (128 pds) in both fighters pro debut. Laque, a southpaw, used aggresive non stop punching in stopping Gordon in the opening round. Gordon was never seriously hurt but couldn't overcome the weight and speed of Laque to put together any offense. Referee Bobby Brunette stopped the bout at 1:05 of the first round.

Nic Whiting (1-11-1) stopped Mike Dempsey (0-1) at 2:14 of the first round. Dempsey looked to be the more physically imposing fighter as he stalked after Whiting in the early going. Although on his heels, Whiting began to find a home for his jab.
After landing a hard right to the body, Whiting came out of his shell and began to attack Dempsey. A hard overhand right to the head dropped Dempsey a moment later where the bout was stopped after the ref had a talk with the hurt fighter.

Zach Schumack (0-2-1) fought to a four round majority draw with Leroy Wadena (0-0-1) in the opener. The bout saw good action as both fighters traded thoughout. Schumack seemed to have the edge as Wadena ran out of gas by the second round but judges scored the fight 39-37 (announcer, who wasn't Greg Lowe, didn't mention who that score was in favor of.) 38-38, 38-38.