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Walters Gets Off Canvas in First, Stops Muller in Third!
By Jesse Kelley

 

"JungleBoy" Zach Walters survived a first round scare Saturday night in Superior, Wisconsin, and went on to knock out Illinois' Teddy Muller in the third round. Walters was put down once and given a standing eight count in the opening round but turned the tides in the third round, dropping Muller twice in an exciting light heavyweight battle.
Muller landed two overhand rights early on in the first round that put Walters on shaky legs. Muller followed up with a left and right to the head that clearly hurt Walters again moments later. It wasn't clear if Walters was about to go down but Muller shoved Walters, who was off balance, sending him to the canvas. Walters immediately rose to his feet where he was greeted with a standing eight count by the referee. Walters wasted no time recuperating as he rushed Muller out of the corner with a lunging overhand right that missed its target as soon as the count was over. Walters was buzzed but his legs looked steady at this point.
However, Muller kept the pressure on and found a home for the overhand right to the head again. Two more left hooks to the head sent Walters Riverdancing across the ring to the opposite corner. Muller was all over Walters, looking to upset the hometown kid in front of his rowdy fans. Two hard overhand rights to the head of Walters along the ropes prompted another standing eight count. Walters' face seemed alert but his legs wore a different look. Again, Muller rushed his opponent, throwing hard haymakers. Surprisingly, Walters seemed to regain his composure within seconds and used the jab and elusive head movement to make it through an exciting first round.
Both men came out trading jabs in the third. Muller was still having success with the over hand right to the head but Walters was looking more and more poised by the midway point of the round. Walters rocked Muller with three stiff jabs and connected with a hurtful right hand to the body that stunned Muller. A right hook to the head sent Muller tumbling to the canvas. Muller stumbled to his corner with his backed turned to the referee who had begun his count. Muller nodded, saying he could continue at around the count of six. The referee brought Muller to the neutral corner and asked the ring doctor to examine what must have been a cut. Moments later, after a wild exchange from both fighters, Walters landed a hard left hook to the jaw of Muller that sent him crashing into the ropes and down again. The referee again asked a weary Muller if he could continue where it appeared Muller shook his head no. The fight was stopped at 2:40 of the third round, now to the dismay of a protesting Muller. With the win, Walters moves to (14-1, 11ko's) while Muller drops to (17-7-2, 7 ko's).

In other action, flashy Minnesota super featherweight Wilton Hilario (3-0) stopped fellow Dominican Republic native Ramon Guevara (6-8) of Grand Rapids, MI. in the third round. The fight featured good toe to toe action early, neither man backed down and both fighters egged the other to bring more whenever a solid punch was landed. By the third round, Hilario's body shots were showing their effects. Guevara continuously fell to the ground seconds after getting hit to the body. Most were ruled as slips in the confussion by the referee. The end came at 2:39 of the third round. The crowd bood Guevara for continuously falling and for giving up prematurely.

Purnell Gates of Granville, MI dropped Kenneth Mcbride of Kentwood, MI three times enroute to a third round ko at 2:32. A hard right hand to the body sent Mcbride down to the canvas rolling in agony to end the bout. Mcbride was holding his groin but it was clearly a good shot to the body.

Justin Eilers of Davenport, IA won a four round unanimous decision over Van Goodman of Minneapolis, MN. Eilers had Goodman hurt seconds before the final bell but ran out of time to finish him off.

Rafael Hernandez of Grand Rapids, MI knocked out Marcus Randle-Reed also of Grand Rapids, MI. Reed was down 4 times in the bout, the final coming from a right hand to the body.

Ray Walker of Saint Paul won a four round unanimous decision over Dave O'Hare of Newberry, MI. Walker was the busier fighter but lacked power to do any real damage. O'Hare landed the harder shots but they proved to be to infrequent.

Philip Williams of Minneaplis should be someone for Minnesota fans to keep an eye out for. Williams disposed of Jason Medina of Moline, IL in the first round.