After some last minute cancellations a five bout card took place last night in Akron, Ohio at Chaparells Community Center. In the main event two unbeaten heavyweights battled to a crowd pleasing draw. Jason Freeman 3(1)-0-1 of Dover, Ohio knocked Andreus "Taylor Made" Taylor down in the first round with a left hook. Taylor looked very shaky after beating the count. After a lengthy assessment by referee Jim Villers the fight was ordered to continue. Freeman however, argued with the referee that the bell had ended the round. Finally, after at least 30 seconds Freeman obeyed the referee and re-engaged in combat. He almost knocked Taylor down again before the bell ended the first round. It's my opinion that had Freeman not argued with the referee and had went after Taylor when ordered he probably would have stopped Taylor in the first round. Perhaps in boxing, like Murphy's Law, no good deed goes unpunished. In the third round Taylor dropped Freeman with a short right uppercut. In the fourth round Taylor opened a cut over Freeman's left eye and won the round. The scores were 38-36 Taylor, 37-37, and 37-37. Sorry, I didn't get the names of the judges.
In the opening Cruiserweight bout Rayshawn Myers of Cleveland scored his first win as a pro with a first round TKO over a short, flabby John "Cowboy" Milan of Cleveland. I thought the referee, Jim Villers, stopped this fight too quick at 27 seconds. There were no knockdowns. Milan, who dropped to 0-3, looked like after two months on a Vegan diet he could make middleweight. The dude was very flabby. Even his breasts hung down. Myers landed one punch that somewhat stunned Milan. Myers then threw 8 to 12 quick punches without a return that prompted the referee to stop it. Myers improves to 1-2.
In the second bout of 155 pounders, Shane Gierke of Streetsboro, Ohio knocked out novice John Meyers at 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the third round. This was not only Meyer's first pro boxing match, it was his first boxing match. He said he had one previous kickboxing match. Nevertheless, Meyers made a good account of himself as Gierke improved to 4(3)-16(10)-1 with the kayo. Meyers was out for about two minutes after being counted out.
Next heavyweight Jason "Big Daddy" Massey, the second fighter for Cleveland manager/corner man William Godhard, scored a four round unanimous decision over Tramane Dawson also of Cleveland. Both fighters were making their pro debut. Massey, who only seemed to be able to throw a punch when his opponent stood completely still, scored a knockdown in the second round. Referee Jim Villers took a point away from Dawson in the fourth round for holding. I didn't think this was justified. Dawson threw more punches in the fight but could not phase his larger opponent.
William Godhard went 3-0 for the night when his second heavyweight Ryan "The Tank" Thompson scored a second round TKO over another novice, James Rankin 0-1(1). Referee George Nichols stopped the fight justifiably at 2 minutes 21 seconds. Thompson improved to 7(5)-6(0).
This was my first time in Akron and I saw some other firsts. Before the show began ring announcer Randy Jarvis called all the fighters on the card to come to the ring. He introduced each one of them and told a little about each fighter. I thought that was a nice touch. I wish televised cards would do more pre-fight interviews with the less famous fighters on their cards. He also introduced light welterweight Lee Kreisher 1(1)-4(3)-0 whose opponent from Indianapolis did not show because their car allegedly caught fire on the way to Akron.
Another first. The beautiful ring card girls did not have ring cards. Instead before each round the two scantily clad ladies would hold up 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers while they walked around the ring. Another first for me. Ring announcer Randy Travis invited anyone in the audience to come up to the ring for a push-up contest. The winner got $20.00. Also, during the intermissions Jarvis would ask boxing trivia questions with the winner earning free beer.