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REPORT

Morris stops McDowell for Wisconsin heavy title
By Craig Wick at ringside; FightNews November 23rd, 2015 [1]
Wisconsin state titles in the welterweight and heavyweight divisions were contested Friday night
as “Say G Promotions, LLC” presented an abbreviated, four bout card at Milwaukee’s venerable
Tripoli Shrine Center, located a stone’s throw away from Marquette University. And despite the 
season’s first snowstorm barreling down on “Brew City,” fight fans packed Tripoli’s main hall to
see what was, all things considered, an exciting night of professional boxing.
In the headliner scheduled for eight, Dennis “The Mongoose” Morris (10-2, 9 KOs) Milwaukee,
claimed the Wisconsin State Heavyweight Title with an impressive second round TKO over Milwaukee
veteran, Lyle McDowell (28-15-1, 19 KOs).
Morris, who has fought primarily as a cruiserweight throughout his short career, had issues in
round one dealing with the larger McDowell, who controlled the tempo early on, working from the
outside with his right jab while mixing in occasional straight lefts to the head. One got the
feeling after the opener that Morris would have to begin crowding McDowell or land something
dramatic to take the bigger man’s reach and size advantage away. One minute into round two he did
exactly that, landing a crushing, looping right hand to the head that dropped McDowell on his back.
McDowell beat the count, however with his gait unsteady and his posture listing heavily to starboard
side, the fight was wisely called off at the 1:13 mark.
In the co-feature, Milwaukee’s Antoine Elerson and Benito Tovar of nearby Waukesha, WI, battled to
an unsatisfactory six round draw in their Milwaukee State Welterweight Title matchup.
Tovar assumed the role of the aggressor from the get-go, looking to pin the tall, lanky Elerson
against the ropes where he would unload combinations to the body in an attempt to curtail Elerson’s
movement. Elerson’s side to side proved troublesome for the bobbing and weaving Tovar, who simply was
unable to land anything effective during mid-ring exchanges. Elerson was able to catch Tovar on the
way in on several occasions however, most notably with the right uppercut in round four and another
in round six which immediately closed the left eye of Tovar. The Waukesha fighter never kept pressing,
and had his best moments when landing to the body when Elerson’s back was to the ropes. The issue for
Tovar was that when he attempted to mix in shots upstairs they fell noticeably short, as Elerson was
able to lean back across the ring’s top rope, a rope which appeared to have all the tautness of dental
floss. This was a reoccurring scenario throughout the fight and no doubt discouraging to Tovar and his
backers. At the bell, judges’ scorecards were all over the map, 59-55 Elerson, 58-56 Tovar, and 57-57.
A rematch is a certainty, but next time let’s hope the ring’s set-up staff remember to bring their
socket wrench.
In a four round junior middleweight clash, Jeffery Wright (3-1-1, 3 KOs) Milwaukee, WI and Shawn Payne
(1-2-2, 1 KO) also of Milwaukee, put on a fan-friendly encounter that ended up as a majority draw. The
fight looked like it wouldn’t get out of the opening round after Wright stunned Payne with a big left
hook and seemingly had him in real trouble with a follow-up flurry. Payne, however, was able to escape
the round and amazingly took control in rounds 2-3 on the basis of a stiff jab and right hands over the
top. Round four was extremely close, however Wright appeared to shade it just by being busier,
especially in the final minute as he clearly outworked a strangely tentative Payne, who continued to
stalk but landed nothing of substance. Two judges turned in identical 38-38 cards with the third seeing
it for Payne, 39-37.
Adam Willis (1-0) Milwaukee, WI, was successful in his pro debut but had to work for it against the
hard-luck Omar Barefield, Pomona, CA in four rounds of super middleweight action. The southpaw Willis
got busy early, landing straight lefts to the head of Barefield and also an occasional uppercut when
things got tight. Barefield’s commitment was to the body, a strategy he would never deviate from
throughout the fight. Willis was credited with a knockdown at the end of the round however it appeared
that the Pomona fighter was more off-balance than anything else. Rounds two and three were extremely
close, with both men doing good work on the inside, Willis with the straight left and right hook, and
Barefield continuing the body assault and also catching Willis with an occasional right hand, one of
which clearly got the hometown fighter’s attention in the third. Final round action saw Willis looking
to end matters with the left uppercut however Barefield remained game, trading on even terms throughout.
Willis opened up with 10 seconds left however Barefield had no issues seeing the bell. Two judges saw
it for Willis by 40-35 and 39-36 margins, while the third saw it dead even at 38-38.