Saturday, March 9th - Madison Civic Center - Madison, West Virginia
This was the 7th installment of the King of the Coal Fields series presented by Black Eye Promotions.
Eric Watkins of Morgantown, WV 8 (KO 5) 4 (KO 1) - 1, fought a ten round draw against Jason "Coalfield Cobra" Smith of Logan, West Virginia, 8 (KO 6) -2 (KO 1) - 1. This bout was for the vacant West Virginia light-heavyweight title. One judge scored the fight for Watkins and the other two judges scored the fight even. The West Virginia light-heavyweight title remains vacant.
Matt Garretson, 2 (KO 1) - 0 - 0, of WV won a four round decision over Josh Stepp, 1 (KO 1) - 1-0, WV in a light-heavyweight contest. Garretson scored one knockdown in the fight. Stepp was given a longer count than Gene Tunney.
Austin "Speedy" Marcum, 160, 4 (KO 2) - 2 (KO 1) - 0, of WV won a four round decision over game Shane Gierke, 161, 5 (KO 4) -29 (KO 21) - 2, of Akron, Ohio. Marcum scored a knockdown at 1:20 in the first round with a short right hand as Gierke pressed forward. Gierke arose immediately, and complained that he had only slipped. Gierke hurt Marcum with a left hook in the third round, but Marcum's mouthpiece came out and the bout was stalled for about a minute giving Marcum time to recover. Marcum used his speed and mobility to outscore the slower, but harder punching Gierke who pressed forward the entire bout.
6' 2" Heavyweight Jon Hill, 240, Charleston, WV was knocked down at 1:15 of the first round by Greg Maynard, 249, Williamson, WV, in a slugfest. Hill was in trouble but came on at the end of the round. Maynard did not come out for the second round of the scheduled 4 rounder.
"Dirty" Don Pennington 170, Huntington, WV scored a first round TKO over Steven "Head Hunter" Whitehair, 163, (0-4 (KO4) - 0, of Parkersburg, WV. This was Pennington's pro debut. He scored a standing eight count at 1:56 of the round, followed by two knockdowns. The fight was stopped at 2:59 of the first round after the second knockdown. The referee waved the fight over at the second knockdown without starting a count. The bout was scheduled for 4 rounds.
In the opening pro contest, Zanesville, Ohio heavyweight Justin "Teddy Bear" Novaria, 260, scored a third round TKO over Matt "The Natural" Deskins, 235, Breeden, WV. Novaria scored a knockdown at 1:24 of the third round. The fight was stopped at 2:32 as Deskins was in trouble against the ropes. Deskins staggered back to his corner after the stoppage. The bout was scheduled for 4 rounds.
The card began with three amateur contests.