Vanda batters Martinez
By Jesse Kelley

WBO #9 rated jr middleweight Matt Vanda (31-0, 21 KOs) made quick work of Ron Martinez (20-11) Friday night at the Aldrich Arena in Saint Paul, MN.

Vanda worked behind a solid jab and was able to rock Martinez with left-right combinations and uppercuts. "The Predator" left Martinez on wobbly legs after landing three hard consecutive left hooks to the head to end the first round. Vanda continued to punish Martinez in the second. A hard left uppercut to the head dropped Martinez to the canvas midway through the round. Martinez rose and tried to fight on, but moments later was sent stumbling across the ring by a right-left-right combination to the head. Referee Mark Nelson was forced to wave the fight off at the three minute mark.

Vanda, who won a controversial split decision over Sam Garr on ESPN2 last January showed much more head movement and angles than in the past as he avoided most of the punches Martinez threw at him. ESPN2 plans to return to the Twin Cities to showcase Vanda as the main event once again on August 24th.

Jason Litzau (9-0, 9 KOs) of Saint Paul also remained unbeaten after stopping Isidro Tejedor (16-19-4, 8 KOs) of Barranquilla, Columbia. After cautiously outboxing the Colombian in the first and most of the second round, Litzau suddenly ended the fight at 2:50 of the second round when he landed a crushing left to the rib cage of Tejedor. Tejedor froze for a second, then fell to the canvas.

Troy Lowry (24-3,14 KOs) of Saint Paul won an uneventful six round split decision over Anthony Ivory (30-71-4, 11 KOs). Scores were 58-56, 58-57 and 58-57 for Ivory.

Allen Litzau (5-1, 2 KOs) completely outworked Jesus Velasquez (0-2) en route to taking a unanimous decision win. Litzau had Velasquez all but out on his feet by the end of the third round but Velasquez somehow remained on his feet and managed to finish the fight. Scores were 40-36 twice and 40-35 for A. Litzau.

Nick Farrow (2-2) of Maplewood, MN won by TKO over Ray Smith of Saint Paul making his pro debut at 2:32 of the third round. Smith looked to be ahead after the first two rounds but Farrow came out strong in the third round. Farrow forced Smith into the corner witha hard left to the body wich doubled Smith over. Farrow jumped all over Smith who was still hurt from the body blow. Another left to the body from Farrow prompted referee Mark Nelson to step in and stop the fight.

Ray Meyers had a successfull pro debut by winning by 1st round TKO over Gerald Shelton (8-49-3) of Saint Paul.