In the main event, Saint Paul's Jason Litzau stayed unbeaten and kept his knockout streak alive with a spectacular 3rd round KO over the rugged Armando Cordoba of Panama. In a fight he dedicated to his daughter, Litzau showed why he may be Minnesota's best prospect.

The featherweight Litzau controlled rounds one and two with his jab and drove Cordoba into the ropes on more than one occasion. Cordoba seemed to be looking to counter with both hands. In the second round, Cordoba started tying up more and tried landing a headbutt during one of the clinches.

Litzau came out more aggressively for the third round. He landed two very fast left hooks early in the round, while Cordoba continued looking to counter. Litzau landed a hard right hand to the temple that badly hurt Cordoba. Litzau went for the finish by trapping Cordoba in the corner and attacking with both hands. Litzau ended matters with a devastating left hook to Cordoba's chin. After nearly falling through the ropes, Cordoba tried getting up, but referee Denny Nelson counted him out at 2:24 of the 3rd round.

"This is my best performance and there's going to be more to come," Litzau said after the fight.

Litzau's trainer, Bob Van Syckle, says his fighter has a great future ahead of him. "Its obvious, to anyone who knows boxing, he's a world champion. I'm talking 126 pounds, then we'll go to 130," he said. "To me, he's the equivalent of Oscar de la Hoya: talent-wise, charisma-wise, looks and dedication."

Van Syckle also said a fight in January is in the works. The 21-year-old Litzau improves to 12-0, 12 KO's. Cordoba falls to 20-16-1, 15 KO's.

In a junior middleweight fight, Matt "the Predator" Vanda got back on the winning track with a eight-round split decision over Patrick Thompson of Nebraska. Vanda, who was coming off his first loss, seemed to land the cleaner punches throughout the fight and showed an improved defense.

"I'm a better fighter for getting that loss. I learned a lot from that loss," said Vanda. "I don't want to get knocked out again, so we worked on a lot of things."

Both fighters started the fight jabbing and feeling each other out. Thompson was busier in the first round, throwing punches to the body and head. Vanda opened the second round strong and landed two good left hooks to the head, while Thompson continued going to the body. Both fighters taunted each other as the round came to a close.

In round three, Vanda landed the cleaner punches including a hard right hand during an exchange. He also backed Thompson into the ropes and landed a combination. Thompson kept going to the body. By the 4th round, Thompson's nose was bleeding, but he continued investing punches to Vanda's body. Vanda excited the crowd with left hooks and combinations. Thompson was more aggressive in round five and seemed to outwork Vanda. Thompson landed two good right hands to Vanda's head and continued his body attack.

Rounds six and seven were probably Vanda's best rounds. Vanda was very aggressive and attacked with left hooks and right hands. He also showed off his improved defense by slipping and rolling away from Thompson's punches. Round seven ended with an exciting exchange between the two fighters. In the eighth and final round, both fighters must have known the fight was close and came out aggressively. Thompson continued pressing to the body and started following up to the head more. Vanda threw left hooks and right hands to the head.

Judge Denny Nelson (77-76) and judge Don Shoemaker (77-75) scored the fight for Vanda, while Vern Sweeney (77-75) saw the fight for Thompson.

"We're back in action," Vanda said. "We never left, but we're back in the win column." Vanda ups his record to 32-1, 21 KO's. Thompson drops to 8-3-1, 4 KO's.

In a very entertaining fight in which both fighters were knocked down, KO Kenny Kost won a six-round majority decision over Nate "the Weasel" Martin. In the fourth round, the "Weasel" landed a powerful right hand counter to the head that put Kost down. Kost got up quickly and came out firing bombs of his own, but was almost knocked down again with another hard right hand from Martin. Kost evened the knockdown score in round five with a hard right hand to Martin's head. Two judges scored the fight for Kost, while the third judge had it even. Kost of White Bear Lake remains undefeated at 8-0, 5 KO's. Martin, an Iowa native, is now 7-4, 2 KO's.

In another entertaining fight Jose Leo Moreno of St. Paul won every round on all three judges' scorecards over the tough Monyette Flowers of Tennessee. If the undefeated Moreno ever loses a fight, it won't be because of his conditioning. The Lionhearted kept going forward and never stopped punching in a fight that could have set a Compubox record for most punches thrown in a five-rounder. Flowers showed grit and skill, but couldn't match the non-stop punch output from Moreno. Moreno improves to 10-0, 8 KO's, while Flowers falls to 3-8, 1 KO.

Super middlweight Ray Smith evened his record with a third round TKO over Louis Gangi. Both fighters engaged in a number of wild exchanges, but it was Smith's conditioning that may have carried him to his first victory. In his pro debut, Gangi gave it his all but looked exhausted as early as round two. Referee Denny Nelson stopped the fight in the third round. Smith of St. Paul improves to 1-1, 1 KO's. Gangi is now 0-1.

In a welterweight fight, Scott Ball of Rochester improved to 2-0, 2 KO's with a second round TKO over "Sugar" Ray Meyers. Ball started working the body early in the first round and continued on into the second round. As is his custom, Meyers started fast throwing wild haymakers, but seemed tired by round two. Meyers never went down, but referee Mark Nelson halted the bout after Meyers stopped punching. Meyers record drops to 1-4, 1 KO.