Bobby Kliewer -vs- Michael Oliveira on September 11

Word comes from Bobby Kliewer that he is scheduled to fight in Pompano Beach, Florida next weekend.

Kliewer’s opponent will be undefeated super middleweight Michael Oliveira (7-0 with 6 kayos), who fights under the moniker “Chairman of the Board.”

Friday night’s event is promoted by Danny Hawk and Carlos Oliveira of Rumblestar Promotions.

Upcoming Boxing Event: August 14 at The Myth in Maplewood

Matt Vanda (right) mixes it up with John Duddy

What to watch for: Matt Vanda tests the super middleweight waters with moderately tough and moderately dangerous but always fit Teddy Muller of Moline, IL.  Muller has faced some very stiff competition over the years, and has an entertaining style.  Sort of like a less successful version of Vanda.  Ceresso Fort looks to notch another win against fellow St Paulite Ray Walker.  Brad Patraw takes on an experienced opponent in a quest to increase his win total and gain more experience.  Bobby Kliewer, who tells mnboxingleague.com that he’s in great shape for a change, will engage John Turner in a fight he should win.  Jose Hilario, brother of popular local pro Wilton Hilario, finally turns pro against dangerous Hector Orozco, who stole RJ Laase’s “0″ in Duluth last spring.  Cousins and “brothers” Antwan Robertson and Derek Winston will box in an exhibition as Winston continues to mull turning pro under the tutelage of John Hoffman.

• Matt Vanda (40-9 with 22 kayos) -vs- Ted Muller (19-15 with 9 kayos), super middleweights, scheduled for 8 rounds
• Ceresso Fort (6-0 with 6 kayos) -vs- Ray Walker (1-6 with no kayos), middleweights, scheduled for 6 rounds
• Brad Patraw (5-0 with 3 kayos) -vs- Javier Segura (4-16 with 4 kayos), super bantamweights, scheduled for 6 rounds
• Robert Kliewer (9-8 with 4 kayos) -vs- John Turner (3-11 with no kayos), super middleweights, scheduled for 6 rounds
• Jose Hilario (pro debut) -vs- Hector Orozco (1-2 with no kayos), junior welterweights, scheduled for 4 rounds
• Exhibition: Antwan Robertson (4-1 with 3 kayos) -vs- Derek Winston (0-0), scheduled for 4 rounds

Boxing Results: April 18 at Target Center, Minneapolis

Results are below are deemed reliable but are subject to revision.  Wish I could have been there.

Matt Vanda (now 40-9 with 22 kayos) defeats Tocker Pudwill (now 40-7 with 14 kayos) by MD after eight rounds, middleweights, scheduled for 8 rounds

Allen Litzau (13-4 with 7 kayos) is defeated by Wilton Hilario (11-0-1 with 9 kayos) by TKO in the fifth round of ten scheduled

Ceresso Fort (6-0 with 6 kayos) defeats Bobby Kliewer (9-8 with 4 kayos) by TKO in the fourth round of six scheduled

Jason Litzau (24-2 with 20 kayos) defeats Phillip Payne (16-23-1 with 8 kayos) by TKO in the fifth round of eight scheduled

Jon Laboda (5-0 with 4 kayos) defeats Patrick Cape (5-5 with 3 kayos) by TKO after two rounds of four scheduled

Don Tierney (1-0 with no kayos) defeats Zach Schumach (unknown), by UD after four rounds

Derek Winston (0-0) -vs- Alex Stringer (0-3-1) is canceled for reasons unknown.

Phil Williams (10-1 with 9 kayos) -vs- Chance Western (1-1 with no kayos) is canceled because Williams, a light heavyweight, declined to fight Western, a super middleweight.

Caleb Truax and Phil Williams Comment on “Undefeated” Results

The Fistic Mystic is fortunate to have had opportunities to visit with both of the co-headliners of the August 29 Undefeated event at Grand Casino Hinckley.  Their comments are excerpted below:

Caleb Truax (defeated Bobby Kliewer by 3rd-round KO)

You know how Kliewer fights: he’s all awkward and throws a lot of wild punches – he started off, first round I didn’t get off to the start I wanted; I waited too much instead of going right after him, and he might have – the first round was pretty even and if anything, he probably won it.  Second round I started to get his timing down, and third round I caught him with a left hook and splattered him all over the canvas (laughs).  I nailed him and he went down and he was out cold.  He came in and threw a wild shot and I kind of stepped back and hit him with a right hand to the chest and then a left hook to the chin.

What’s next?  I think Tony [Grygelko] might have a show in October and I think I might be going out to California again at the end of September, not sure about that.

Phil Williams (lost to Marcus Oliveira by 7th-round KO)

I feel good today, I wasn’t feeling so good yesterday.  I was just working the phone to see how soon I can get back into the ring.

I learned a good lesson.  I’ve been getting away with a lot of stuff lately, working mostly just enough to stay in shape.  This was my first eight-rounder, and I just got worn down throwing a lot of punches and got hit.  I’m really glad I took the fight, and hopefully I can get a rematch in the next four or five fights.  It was a real good experience, man, and I wouldn’t trade it for nothing.  I’ll be back and I’ll be a much better fighter for it.  The only [worry] is that [Oliveira] might not want to give a rematch to a guy who knocked him down twice…but we did talk about a rematch afterwards.

Even when I win I critique myself, and I always knew I was getting away with some bad stuff, like holding my hands out of position and stuff like that.

The first round I was jabbing him and walking him down, then his coach gave him some good advice, then he started jabbing me and walking me down, backing me up.  The first round went my way but after that he was pressuring me and I was waiting to counter him – and waiting too much.  He was able to jab me from a distance and me thinking I was a hard-head, I was going to outlast him.  The thing that got to me was getting worn down, I couldn’t breathe.  The way he was coming I was forced to throw a lot of punches to see if I could catch him with a counter.  I dropped him twice that way, but he got back up.  And I didn’t have the energy to finish him off, so I went back to what I had been doing; walking backwards and trying to counter.  He did something smart.  I was talking to him, telling him he couldn’t hurt me, trying to goad him into opening up on me because I’m a stronger puncher than he was and I was looking for an opportunity to counter him, but he was smart.  He was playing like Winky Wright, and what I should have done was went to the body.  I think I landed one good body blow, and that’s something I’m going to work on now.

It was tough for me, fighting a pressure guy who’s been in longer fights before, and it was my first eight-rounder.  I’m glad I got this lesson out of the way now and not in my eighteenth or twentieth fight, or in my first TV fight.  I don’t have a perfect record to protect anymore, so I won’t feel like I have to win by a one-punch knockout; I’m free to fight an ugly fight in order to win.  I already can’t wait to get back in the gym and work on the flaws that have been exposed, because next time out I’m gonna pack the house again, but the crowd is going to see a new, more polished Phil Williams.

Boxing Results: August 29 at Grand Casino Hinckley

What to watch for: Phil Williams risks his undefeated record against another unbeaten fighter for the first time, Caleb Truax and Bobby Kliewer duke it out to see who’s moving on up and who’s staying in the shadows, Harley Kilfian hopes for a better result against Emerson Chasing Bear than Van Goodman got back in June (a draw), Kirstie Davis and Jessica Bednark try to smear each other’s lipstick, Cheyenne Ziegler tries to pin loss number one on Sam Morales, and Jon Schmidt tries to build on the momentum he gained with an exciting win against Tim Taggart in June.

• Phil “The Drill” Williams (now 8-1 with 8 kayos) loses to Marcus Oliveria (now 14-0-1 with 10 kayos) by knockout in round 7 of 8
• “Golden” Caleb Truax (8-0 with 5 kayos) defeats Bobby Kliewer (9-5 with 4 kayos) by knockout in round 2 of 6
• Harley Kilfian (5-2 with 4 kayos) loses to Emerson Chasing Bear (4-0-1 with 3 kayos) by decision after 6 rounds
• Jon “The Iron Man” Schmidt (6-1 with 5 kayos) defeats Silas Ortley (3-5 with 2 kayos) by knockout in round 3 of 4
• Kirstie Davis (4-1 with 3 kayos) defeats Jessica Bednark (0-1) by decision after 4 rounds
• Cheyenne Ziegler (2-3 with 2 kayos) loses to Sam Morales (3-0 with 1 kayos) by decision after 4 rounds

Upcoming Boxing Event: June 13 at Mack Daddy’s in Somerset, WI

The following fight card is preliminary, as reported by John Johnson of the Rice Street Gym on May 23.  As always, matchups are subject to change.

• Jon Laboda (2-0 with 2 kayos) -vs- Rick Klein (1-0 with no kayos), middleweights, rounds unknown
• Robert Kliewer (8-4 with 4 kayos) -vs- Carey Vanier (0-1), middleweights, rounds unknown
• Jon Turner (3-11 with no kayos) -vs- Harley Kilfian (4-1 with 3 kayos), cruiserweights, rounds unknown
• Sam Morales (1-0 no kayos) -vs- Rafael Magdaleno (1-6 with no kayos), welterweights, rounds unknown
• Brad Patraw (3-0 with 2 kayos) -vs- TBA, super bantamweights, rounds unknown

Minnesota Boxing Scene: Upcoming Events (February 17)

It’s been a busy winter for the Minnesota boxing scene, and more exciting stuff is in the works through this spring.  Check out what’s on the agenda so far:

• Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters of Duluth (21-2 with 16 kayos) will have his first title fight on February 23, facing veteran Carl Daniels (50-11 with 32 kayos) for the minor WBC African Union title for which he is eligible because he was born to missionary parents in Madagascar.  The fight is expected to be televised locally, and the undercard wil feature Minnesotans Phil “The Drill” Williams, Gary Eyer, and RJ Laase.  More details will follow.
• St Paul’s Jason Litzau (23-1 with 19 kayos) fights featherweight champ Robert Guerrero (21-1 with 14 kayos) on February 29 in Lemoore, CA.  At stake is Guerrero’s IBF championship belt.  The fight promises to be entertaining, and will be seen on Showtime’s Shobox program.
• Matt “The Predator” Vanda of Saint Paul (37-5 with 21 kayos) will fight Sebastian “Double Trouble” Demers (23-1 with 9 kayos) in Montreal on March 8.  No belts are on the line in this one, but a win would do much to recharge Vanda’s flagging career – Vanda’s record is a pedestrian 3-3 in his last six bouts.
• Mohammed “The Dark Destroyer” Kayongo of St Paul (by way of Kampala, Uganda) is reportedly looking to return to the ring in April following a yearlong absence.   Minnesotaboxing.com reports that Kayongo (13-2 with 2 kayos) is looking at a return on April 5 in Kansas, and a search of boxrec.com shows that there is indeed a card with several unfilled slots, scheduled for that date in Mayetta, KS.
• The event of the year in Minnesota may be the April 26 card at Graham Arena in Rochester which currently lists seven bouts, and which already features Raphael Butler of Rochester, Bobby Kliewer of St Paul, Van Goodman of Minneapolis, Dave Peterson of Osseo, Wilshaun Boxley of Minneapolis, Joey Abell of Champlin, and Corey Rodriguez of St Anthony, all of whom you have read about on this page.  Only one fighter (Van Goodman) has an opponent named; all the rest are TBA.  It’s good to see so many of the promising young names of Minnesota professional boxing on the same card.  Here’s hoping that more events like this one are seen locally in the coming months, because it could only help our scene.

Minnesota Boxing Tidbits for January 31

• Anthony Bonsante’s bout against Robert Kamya has been scratched February 1 card at Grand casino Hinckley due to a heel injury suffered in training.
• Joey Abell’s name has been added to that February 1 fight card, although no opponent has been named.
• Minnesotaboxing.com reports that Matt Vanda has signed a deal to face French Canadian Sebastian Demers (23-1, 9 kayos) on March 8 in Montreal.  Word on the street is that Demers’ planned strategy is to pull Vanda’s sweater up over his head and hit him with about a dozen consecutive straight rights.
• Bobby Kliewer of Saint Paul defeated Frankie Johnson by first-round knockout in Somerset WI on Friday, January 25.  This victory pushes Kliewer to 6-4 with four wins by kayo.