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HEAVYWEIGHT THUNDER RESULTS FROM ROCHESTER, MN
By Jesse Kelley

Boxing returned to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Mn last Friday after a two year absence.
In the main event, Raphael Butler (23-3, 19 ko's) brought thunder to the arena by demolishing Cornelius Ellis (10-11)of North Carolina at 1:35 of the second round. The southpaw Ellis came out swinging and though he may have missed with a huge left uppercut early, it showed that he was there to fight. Butler looked very calm as he stalked Ellis from the start in almost casual fashion. Butler landed a hard left to the body and a straight right to the head that had Ellis squinting momentarily and then waiving Butler in for more. Although composed, Butler was trying to take Ellis head off midway through the first round. His corner could be heard yelling "It is only the first round" urging him to take his time but he Butler looked like he wanted to make it a short night. Almost on cue as the ten second sound was made, Butler landed two straight right hands to the head of Ellis that had him stumbling to the ropes. A left and right uppercut to the head sent Ellis to the canvas to end the round.
Butler came out fast to open the second round. Ellis ducked under a straight right and landed a nice left hook to the head of Butler. Unfazed, Butler continued to press forward. A right uppercut to the chin had Ellis trying to clinch as he stumbled back to the ropes. Butler landed three more big rights that caused Ellis to sag to the ropes where Butler continued to pummel him. After rising, Ellis staggered to his corner where referee Bobby Brunette waived the fight off.

"Bad News" Scott Ball of Rochester, MN and Julio Cesar Lanzas of Colorado staged an exciting 6 round welterweight bout in the nights co-feature. You may remember Lanzas last time he fought in Minnesota in his pro debut against Kenny Kost at the Saint Paul Armory in 2003. Lanzas has not been stopped since that fight and he showed his durability against Ball on this night taking some solid shots to the head and body.
Lanzas had success in the first round lunging in and out with jabs and lead left hooks. Ball opened up in the second and used his height and better combination punching to control the rest of the fight although each round was very competitive. Lanzas always pressed forward throwing shots and did land a few big right hand haymakers as the fight progressed but Ball took them well. Ball won by unanimous decision and moves to 8-2 while Lanzas falls to 5-12.

In the opening bout of the evening, former Tuff Guy heavyweight Yevgeniy Yev Shishporenok battled Dan Infante. Shishporenok took control early as he dropped Infante to his knees with two straight lefts to the head. Infante rose to continue but was soon greeted with another left to the face that had him in trouble.Shishporenok threw a few more shots to the gut and referee Denny Nelson had seen enough and called an end to the fight. It was the pro debut for both of the Minneapolis fighters.

"The Wolfman" Marty Lindquist (12-4) won a four round unanimous decision over John Turner (3-9). Turner clearly wanted to stay away from Lindquist's power as he jabbed and circled early on. Lindquist switched back and forth from orthodox and southpaw stances, trying to confuse Turner. The southpaw stance did not last too long though as Lindquist returned orthodox and cocked the right hand looking for a chance to unload. Lindquist landed the first significant punch of the fight, a hard right to the body about a minute in. Turner was not able to do much damage of his own in the first but he did a good job of avoiding the right hand bombs that Lindquist was looking to land.
Lindquist had his best moment of the fight in the second. After trapping Turner on the ropes, Lindquist landed two right hooks to the head followed by another hard right uppercut that rocked Turner. Another right uppercut glanced off Turner's temple and a left hook dropped him on his seat. Turner rose as referee Bobby Brunette began his count. As the fight resumed, Lindquist rushed across and missed with a finishing right hand just as the bell sounded to end the round.
Lindquist stayed in control for the final two rounds but credit Turner for doing what he had to do to survive and make the fight competitive.

Arizona's Malcolm Tann and Wade Lewis of Alabama fought four action packed rounds. Tann, the taller of the two pressed forward throwing shots while Lewis waited to counter with the looping rights.
Tann landed a nice left hook to the head in the first. Lewis tried to answer but came up short and Tann capitalized by landing a right to the head that got the crowd cheering. Tann snuck in one more big right to the head as the first round closed.
Tann continued to press forward in round two. He also started throwing the jab more frequently. Lewis was still trying to counter as he fought backing up.
Things heated up in round three as both fighters traded big shots in the center of the ring. The action would continue for the remainder of the fight. Tann went on to win a unanimous decision and moves his record to 22-2 while Wade Lewis falls to 14-16.

Slick southpaw Ottu Holifield (7-2) of Illinois surprised Iowa's Nate Martin (8-6) over six rounds in a middleweight bout. Both fighters fought with a lot of energy but Holifield was able to stick to his plan to box and not play into the style of Martin who is known for being a hard-hitting durable fighter.
Nate Martin was looking to land the straight one-two to start things off while Holifield popped the jab and found openings with the straight left.
Martin had success with left and right hands to the body early in the third as Holifield was a little stationary for the first time in the bout. Shortly after Holifield was back to boxing in and out and making Martin miss.
Holifield found a new weapon of choice in round four. He was landing left and right uppercut successfully. Martin, who's eyes were beginning to swell and nose was bleeding, constantly marched forward looking to land a big shot to change the direction the fight was going for him.
Martin's persistence paid off toward the end of the fifth as Holifield may have been some what winded. The Illinois fighter dropped his hands for a second and was caught with a hard straight right by Martin that sent him staggering backwards. Holifield corrected himself before hitting the canvas but both gloves were on the floor for the first knockdown of the fight. With only ten seconds left in the round, Holifield danced his way safely to the bell.
Martin came out throwing heavy punches aimed for the head in the final round. Two sneaky uppercuts from Holifield halted Martin's aggression however. Holifield was on his game to finish the final round and went on to win by unanimous decision.

David Bostice (36-11) of California won a split decision over "Wreckless" Willie Chapman (20-26-3) of Utah. It was a very even fight going into the last round. Bostice pressed forward and threw steady combinations while Chapman unconventionally slipped punches while firing back with winging shots. The difference in the fight for me came in the sixth round when Chapman turned things up. He landed a hard right that landed on the top of Chapman's head sending him to the canvas. Chapman rose smiling back to his corner. He came out swinging after the count to show he was ok but the round belonged to Bostice. Surprisingly, two judges saw Bostice wining easily with scored of 59- 54 and 58-55 while the other saw Chapman winning 58-56.