McCrary / Regan

[allamerican]

The title was not on the line due to a last minute change by either the promoter or the California Commission. Not because they came in over weight. We knew that the bout was not for the title a couple days before the bout.

Saturday June 9, 2007 8:04 AM PST


McCrary Stops Hometown Hero Regan!

By Mario Ortega, Jr.

Donny McCrary (23-5-2, 13 KOs), of St. Joseph, Missouri, scored a quick one round knockout of local attraction Eric Regan (27-4, 18 KOs) on Friday night at the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento, California. Regan, 165, came out trying to find his range against the shorter McCrary, 163, and would clinch when his opponent came inside. Regan would land one well timed, flush right to the face of McCrary later in the round, but the tide would change rather quickly. Shortly after the punch, Regan would let his guard down just enough for “The Savage” to land a right, dropping Regan to the canvas. Shortly after he arose, he was dropped again with a two-punch combination. The referee halted the fight almost immediately, completely silencing the once raucous hometown crowd. McCrary’s brief in-ring celebration was met unfavorably by the Sacramento crowd and he exited the ring before anyone got out of hand.

The quick knockout might also bring about questions of a small controversy going into the main event. The bout had been originally scheduled to be a 12-round contest, with Regan’s IBA Continental title at stake. Word was that the California State Athletic Commission had rejected McCrary as a suitable 12-round opponent, and the bout would have to be contested in ten rounds. Apparently, the IBA was still willing to allow the title to be at stake, but for one reason or another, the title was not at stake on Friday night. California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Armando Garcia attempted to clear the air after the bout, “If you look at our web page, under press releases, I think it was December 27th of 2005, if I remember correctly. We came out with a press release that when we have regional titles that are not world championship fights, and the regional titles involve two proposed athletes, one of them may not have the ability or ring experience to go twelve rounds, we will approve it for ten rounds, then it’s up to the sanctioning body if they still want to decide to call it a world title fight, or a regional world title fight or whatever. In this particular case, I don’t know exactly what happened. We approved the fight as a ten round fight, with the recent performances of McCrary…but yesterday at the rules meeting we read rules as if it was a regional title fight, so I don’t know what happened.” While McCray seemed slightly agitated he was not approved for a twelve round title fight, he did not let it bring him down, “Where’s my belt? I don’t give a shit about the belt. They tried to say I never had a twelve round fight, which I did, it only went four. They said I only one ten rounder, which was with Yuri Foreman, my very first ten rounder. But that’s ok, I don’t really care about the belt, I came here to prove a point”.

The upset victory should put McCrary in the mix, the only question is what division. After the bout, McCrary mentioned dropping all the way down to 147. On his opponent, Eric Regan, “Hurt me? No, hell no. He picked up a little bit, which got my adrenaline to rush and that’s all I needed. Told you I like going in other people’s backyards”. When asked if he would fight Regan again if offered, he referred to his promoter Jason Redmond of All-American Promotions. Redmond said if the money was right, that McCrary would fight anyone. For Regan, the loss has to raise questions about his future in boxing. Regan, a local ticket seller for the last several years in the Sacramento area, had lost a competitive bout to Sergio Mora last year, and was once rated in Ring Magazine at number ten. There has been talk in the area about “The Hitman” returning to kickboxing, where he once ruled with an undefeated record.

In the co-main event, WBO NABO Light Heavyweight Champion, and winner of “The Next Great Champ” reality series, Otis Griffin (18-1-2, 7 KOs), 175, scored a one-sided third round knockdown of Brock Stodden (18-15-1, 9 KOs), 176 ½, of Bremerton, Washington. Stodden, a southpaw, was wild and off balance for much of the bout, but could take a punch. A series of unanswered punches on the ropes in the third was enough for the referee to call the bout in Griffin’s favor. The knockout served as a tune-up for an undercard slot on the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright card on July 21st in Las Vegas. Among the rumored opponents are former champion Julio Gonzalez and undefeated Tavoris Cloud. It was reported on Friday in the Sacramento Bee that Griffin may skip the Las Vegas card to fight Danny Green in Australia on July 24th.

In other undercard action, Oakland, California’s Ray Craig, 163, (5-1, 2 KOs), scored a third round knockout of Thongor Armatsena, announced as 3-0 and from Thailand. Armatsena, who also fights as a kickboxer, was awkward and wild at times, but did not throw enough punches to keep Craig off of him. By the second round, Craig was landing cleanly in combination. In third Craig ended matters with an overhand right just seconds into the round. The second bout of the evening featured two pro debutants. Mike Alexander, 161 ¾, of Pittsburg, California, looked impressive winning a four round decision over Tony Juarez, 164, of Union City, California. The taller Alexander kept himself at range, while the southpaw Juarez had trouble landing with much regularity. All the judges, Mike English, Kenny Bayless and Marshall Walker scored it 40-36 for Alexander. spam.com also scored a shutout for the Pittsburg native. In the opening bout of the evening, Mario Hernandez of Chico, California won his pro debut with a first round knockout of Jonas Geb (0-2), of Oakland, California. Hernandez, the first pro charge for trainer Jose Rodriguez of Chico Boxing For Fitness, rocked Geb late in the first and the referee stepped in prematurely without a knockdown. However it was all made a moot point Hernandez landed a vicious shot to the body that sent Geb to his knees. Even though he got to his feet before the count of ten, referee Jon Schorle stopped the bout anyway.

The night’s fights were promoted by Nasser Niavaroni’s Uppercut Promotions, who put on an action packed show. Niavaroni serves as trainer and manager to Eric Regan and a host of other up and coming fighters out of Niavaroni’s Kickboxing Gym in Roseville, California.

[Blue]

How about a link to the source?

[emile]

I deleted my comment about the weight, which came from the Sac Bee, as it is not essential info.

[allamerican]

http://spam.com/boxing/News/2007/06 ... 060907.php