Boxing Dreams: Minnesota’s Fantasy Matchups (Part 2)

It’s a known fact: bloggers are empty-headed know-it-alls.  It’s the empty-headedness that gives us such liberty to say anything.

Now consider these possibilities:

Jason Litzau -vs- Tyrone Harris – Litzau’s prospects are actually a little tough to sort out.  Harris is a nice match on paper, though – he has a good record and his worldwide standing is pretty close to Litzau’s.  But Harris is a couple inches shorter than Litzau and has less power, he’s been kayoed twice in his five losses, and he’s almost local (Michigan).  Litzau needs a good step-up fight, and this could be it.  Fly in the ointment: Harris is already penciled in against South Korea’s Ji Hoon Kim for February 12th.  Hopefully the promoter has Litzau’s number handy in case Kim falls out.

Andy Kolle -vs- Ronald Hearns – Two years ago I wanted Kolle to fight Gee Cullmer of Philadelphia, and that would still be a nice one to pad his record, but Cullmer hasn’t progressed as Kolle has.  Then I was agitating for a Kolle match with Harry Joe Yorgey, but Yorgey was demolished by Alfredo Angulo in early November, and there’s speculation out of Philly that the 32-year old Yorgey may choose to retire.  This leaves Hearns.  Hearns is 23-1 but doesn’t have nearly the resume that Kolle does, and didn’t look good in a loss to Yorgey earlier this year.  Bonuses #1 and #2: Hearns is an orthodox fighter and has a suspect chin.

Phil Williams -vs- Matt Vanda II – This one has already generated some talk, so why not?  Williams has told everyone who would listen that he could have gone another ten rounds in the first fight, and that if he had it to do over he would have unloaded on Vanda in the early rounds instead of waiting till late.  Vanda isn’t known for backing down from a challenge, but he may feel that there’s little reason to do it again.  Just the same, fight fans would like to see it, and that’s usually reason enough!

Willshaun Boxley -vs- Allen Litzau – Two confident fighters who must be disappointed with their recent results and who have already established the beginnings of a rivalry.  It’s ready-made!  This one seriously must be on some promoter’s to-do list, and I think  know whose!

Gary Eyer -vs- Jeremy McLaurin – Eyer (7-0-1 with 5 kayos) put himself on the statewide map by winning his thrilling battle with Levi Cortes on December 4th.  At the same time, he showed that he can get down to lightweight territory, weighing in at 133.5 for the Cortes fight.  McLaurin (5-0 with 4 kayos) just cut his ties with Seconds Out Promotions and seems to be looking for challenging fights to move him up the ladder.  This fight has the potential to be a real crowd-pleaser, and the two fighters’ undefeated records would look nice on a fight card.  Alternate plan: McLaurin -vs- Levi Cortes.

Javontae Starks -vs- Patrick Cape – The conventional wisdom says that this isn’t as much a matchup as it is a measuring stick.  Starks was understudy to Demetrius Andrade on the USA Boxing team.  Andrade made his professional debut against Cape a little over a year ago, winning by TKO in round 2.  It would be interesting to see how Starks performs against Cape, wouldn’t it?

The Fistic Mystic says: Before we ride off into the sunset, let’s review my proposals from last time (March 31, 2008) and see what actually transpired:

Anthony Bonsante -vs- John Duddy II - didn’t happen, and never will, because Bonsante is retired, and hopefully that’s a permanent state of affairs.  Duddy is less of a prize than he was back then anyway, since Billy Lyell deflowered him.  (Billy Lyell!)

Boxley -vs- Wilton Hilario – boy, this one is a long way off now.  Boxley is still a tough and talented fighter, but he’s lost three in a row.  Hilario is back on track and riding high, following his UD win against then 18-3 Leon Bobo in November.

Raphael Butler -vs- Eddie Chambers - this one happened, and frankly it wasn’t pretty.   Chambers, not a heavy-handed slugger by any stretch, TKO’d Butler in the sixth.  Chambers has gone on to win four subsequent bouts and is scheduled to face the younger Klitschko (Wlad) on my birthday (March 20th) in Germany.  Butler, by contrast, has gone 3-3 with a no-decision since, though he is on the record saying that two of the losses (a split decision and a majority decision to Homero Fonseca of Houston, in Houston) were gamey.

Jason Litzau -vs- Cristobal Cruz - this one hasn’t happen, and likely never will.  Cruz is the IBF world champ at 126#, and Litzau appears to have found a home at 130#.

Matt Vanda -vs- Sebastian Demers - This is another one that happened, and went poorly for the Minnesota guy.  Few Minnesotans saw it, but it was reported to have been an entertaining battle.  Vanda lost a landslide decision (shut out on all three cards) and has gone 5-3 since, but has continued to spring surprises on boxing fans (a close loss to Julio Cesar Chavez in 2008, a close win against Tocker Pudwill in 2009, the surprising win against Phil Williams at 165# in 2009) while Demers has gone 6-1 since.

Zach Walters -vs- Hugo Pineda II - Here’s another that will never happen.  This looked like a good revenge fight a year and a half ago, but that was before Walters lost three out of four starting with Shawn Hammack in August 2008.  Walters retired following his latest loss, and it’s for the better.  It’s good for a Minnesota kid to get out while the getting is good.

Want to talk it over?  Go to the Minnesota Boxing Forum for for discussion!

Is Williams Ruined? Is Hilario Ready for Litzau? What Next for Fort? All This and More!

• More than one person remarked to me tonight that Phil Williams’ career is irredeemably stained by his loss to Matt Vanda.  It’s true that it doesn’t look great on paper, but it was a split decision, Williams was never in danger of being stopped, and Vanda has a very impressive record.  Williams looked good but not great against an opponent who some very definite advantages over him.  No, Williams isn’t ruined, but he needs to get back on track with some wins.  One possibility is a rematch with  Vanda, though I wouldn’t advise it.  Another possibility is a match with an opponent the caliber of Lamar Harris, who also appeared on this card.  Just something to chew on.
• Is Wilton Hilario ready for Jason Litzau?  Despite his dominating performance against 18-3-2 Leon Bobo, Hilario confidant Luis Reyes doesn’t want that fight for his good friend.  “What’s in it for Wilton?  He needs to get up to eighteen or nineteen wins before he thinks about someone like Litzau again.”  Apparently Reyes’ reasoning is that Hilario needs to get more experience and build up his resume before taking the kind of step up that a win against Jason Litzau would force him into.
• Ceresso Fort’s bout with Lamar Harris seems to be the consensus pick for fight of the night, but it revealed some serious flaws in Fort’s game.  His punches were loose, loopy, and sometimes wild.  His footwork was unpolished and that nearly got him in serious trouble once or twice.  And Fort blew off his head of steam in the first round when he seemed to have Harris in trouble, only to get in deep later on when Harris recovered and threw hundreds of power shots at him in the late rounds.  Fort is a promising young guy with a head like an anvil and fists like bricks.  Minnesota boxing fans, we have a diamond in the rough here.  Let’s not demand too much of him just yet – he needs to take some advice from legendary Twins manager Tom Kelly: “You’re never too good to work on your fundamentals.”
• Javontae Starks – as if we didn’t already know – is the real deal.  Starks took a round to get used to the pro game, then went to town on game but overmatched opponent Dan Copp.  Starks’ body-shot knockout of Copp was a thing of beauty, and after the way it was set up, it came with a sense of inevitability.  Starks is fast, strong, and well-coordinated.  He isn’t ready for the big time yet, but his win tonight gave me some serious warm fuzzies.  Too bad for Dan Copp he can’t say the same!
• Congratulations to Zach Schumach on his first career win.  I won’t say “the first of many,” but it was well deserved.  He showed better speed and more aggression than opponent Don Tierney.
• I thought that Sam Morales had a win sewn up tonight, but the judges didn’t agree with me.  Okay, they’re judges and I’m not.  But I don’t understand how Morales’ effective aggression and crisp punching goes unrewarded.  I also thought it was pretty obvious that Morales had Taggart hurt twice, and Taggart was unable to return the favor until the last ten seconds of the fight.
• Let’s all give some credit to Grand Casino Hinckley and Midwest Sports Council for an entertaining and commercially successful show.  I’d also like to show some love to Fox Sports Net for televising this event.  Now I’m going to go home and watch it.  Hopefully it looks as good on the small screen as it did from ringside.

Jason Litzau -vs- Johnnie Edwards Round-by-Round

Jason Litzau (now 26-2 with 21 kayos) defeats Johnnie Edwards (now 15-5 with 8 kayos) by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.

Round 1

The round begins with 30 seconds of nothing…Litzau is failing to pop his jab and is diving inside unnecessarily.  The best shot of this round is a hook to the body by Edwards, as Litzau lands only one serious punch in three minutes.

Round 2

Edwards scores first with a wide left hook, but Litzau answers with a strong left to the chest that moves Edwards backwards.  Litzau is inside, outside, going everywhere and measuring but not pulling the trigger.  Toward the end of the round Edwards switches to southpaw, never a welcome sight fo Litzau.  This is another round in which nothing much happened – if I were scoring I’d have this Edwards up two round to none.

Round 3

Litzau corners Edwards right off the bat and starts dropping bombs, but Edwards escapes before long.  Litzau stuns Edwards with a left, backs off uncertainly, then pursues Edwards into the ropes and attacks.  Edwards goes down backwards through the ropes and lands on his behind, but the ref lets him get up and go without a count – no official knockdown.  Litzau flurries again as the round closes, but Edwards survives the onslaught.

Round 4

Litzau finally begins showing the jab, following the left jab with some hard rights.  Litzau continues to pick up the pace, scoring with left-rights and one nice left-right-left.  Edwardsmakes an adjustment, anticipates when Litzau will follow the jab with a power shot, and ducks under the hook.  Litzau is now bleeding from a cut high on his left eyelid, just beheat the eyebrow, but heedless of the blood Litzau continues to rumble.

Round 5

Edwards rushes out to attack Litzau but is stymied by a triple jab from Litzau.  Edwards then tries to start chopping wood but the two end up tangled, and Litzau tumbles backwards – no knockdown.  Now we have a clash of heads and Edwards goes down, but it’s Litzau who comes up bleeding from his left eye and nose.  Litzau finds a rhythm and goes 1-2 to the body, hurting Edwards.  The round ends with some infighting and a clinch.

Round 6

Litzau comes out looking to score and is opportunistic, scoring off the body and head of Edwards whenever they’re presented.  Edwards gets on his bike, using his legs and zipping around Litzau.  The two charge into each other, and in the clash of bodies Edwards collapses to the mat again.  Litzau is measuring, measuring, but not catching Edwards with anything flush.  Edwards is so intent on not getting hurt that he’s running, bobbing, ducking, and generating no offense whatsoever.

Round 7

Edwards, still attempting to avoid getting hit, ducks so low that his chin nearly scrapes the mat.  Exhausted, Edwards goes down again – and the referee mistakenly instructs Litzau to stop pushing.  Litzau’s cut is opened again, and though the blood is flowing freely he seems completely unfazed.  At 1:35 Litzau hurts Edwards with a three-punch combination.  Edwards is now flinching from all contact.  Litzau is getting tired or lazy – or he’s trying to bait Edwards – as his left hand is down by his waist.  Litzau scores again with a left to the body of Edwards.  Edwards, ever more tired, goes down again before the bell, but again it’s ruled a slip or a push.  But Edwards can’t keep his feet.

Round 8

The two men come inside, their bodies clash again, and they clinch.  In the clinch both men are pounding each other’s bodies.  Litzau is warned for hitting the back of Edwards’ head, but it’s the only target that Edwards presents now; he’s constantly running or ducking.  Litzau circles to his right, traversing almost the entire ring, while Edwards merely stands in place and pivots to face him.  Now they rejoin the battle, and the word is ‘inside.’  Litzau clearly knows that Edward won’t hurt him, and begins trying to trade with Edwards.  He’s happy to take a punch to land a punch, knowing that his shots are much more effective.  Edwards runs when he can and trades when he has to, but he knows that going toe-to-toe is a losing strategy for him.

Round 9

Edwards comes out charging, then puts his shoulder into Litzau’s abdomen and there he stays.  We have more infighting, and some roughhouse tactics from Edwards as he throws punches from all angles to hit any part of Litzau he can get to.  Edwards continues to make this fight ugly, as he has been doing for several rounds.  The referee breaks the two, but Litzau is so eager to rejoin that he’s charging back at Edwards as soon as the referee permits him to.  Edwards grabs Litzau’s left arm and refuses to let go, and round 9 comes to a welcome end.

Round 10

Litzau comes out swinging for the fences, and the crowd of Marines seems to appreciate the effort.  Edwards is grabbing, ducking, and holding.  Edwards tries bulling Litzau arond the ring, but in doing so prevents himself from generating any offense at all.  Litzau gets free and pursues Edwards, but Edwards runs and Litzau can’t find his range and so loads up on the right without ever throwing it.  Litzau scores with a hurtful left to the body of Edwards at :39.  Litzau is stalking Edwards, trying to manufacture a big finish, he comes forward and walks into a hook.  The no further offense to speak of in the tenth and final round, and the fight comes to a merciful close.

Summary

It may have taken him the first two rounds to figure it out, but Jason Litzau had all the advantages tonight.  Once Litzau came to life in the third, Edwards fought like a man who knows well that he’s less athletically gifted and talented than his rival – clutching, grabbing, ducking, running – emptying his bag of tricks to no avail.  Litzau certainly wanted to look good tonight, but he had an opponent whose strategy was to fight ugly, and some of that ugly got splashed on Litzau.  Hopefully this does nothing to dim Litzau’s career prospects, as we all know that Roy Jones Jr and the rest of the boxing world were watching him tonight.

The Fistic Mystic says: Sometimes even the most exciting fighters have to make a compromise; give up some showmanship in favor of effectiveness.  It was good to see Jason make through an entire fight without taunting or showboating – only focused on doing whatever it takes to beat his opponent.

Summary

 

Jason Litzau -vs- Johnnie Edwards on ESPN2 Tonight

Jason Litzau (right) hammers Verquan Kimbrough

St Paul’s Jason Litzau meets Johnnie Edwards in a televised bout tonight – the featured bout on a special off-season Wednesday night presentation of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.

Litzau, owner of a 25-2 record, has bounced between weight classes for the last couple of years.  His weights for his last five fights have been 126, 128.75, 125, 131.5, and 135.  This fight is to be contested at the lightweight limit of 130#.

Tonight’s event against Edwards, a Marine Corps champ prior to turning pro, will be broadcast live from Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.  No doubt that Edwards (15-4 with 8 kayos), who campaigns under the moniker “The Lumberjack,” will be the crowd favorite.

There are no other professional boxing events taking place anywhere in the world today, so Litzau and manager Bob Van Syckle surely know that the eyes of every significant fighter, manager, or organizational entity anywhere near the lightweight class will be on Litzau tonight.  This is The American Boy’s big opportunity to follow up his dazzling performance against Verquan Kimbrough in August with another good-looking win – this time with everybody watching.  If Litzau wins this evening, and looks good doing it, a reward is almost sure to follow.

The Fistic Mystic says: Don’t miss Jason Litzau on ESPN2 at 7pm tonight.  Seriously, tie a ring around your finger.  Don’t forget.

Minnesota Boxing Scene: In Overdrive

These are heady days for the Minnesota fight scene.  Join me as I survey the the Minnesota boxing fan’s calendar…

• November 4 at Camp Lejuene, NC Jason Litzau faces Johnnie “The LumberJack” Edwards (15-4 with 8 kayos) at 130# in a bout to be televised on ESPN2.  Following his seemingly effortless demolition of Verquan Kimbrough (then 21-1-2)  in August, a win here would appear to set Litzau up nicely for something bigger in the near future.
• Willshaun Boxley takes on another big challenge November 6 when he meets Salvador Sanchez (16-3 with 8 kayos) in a six-rounder in Las Vegas.  Boxley has shown a ton of ambition in the past year, jumping up from the usual early-career patsies to face men with records of 12-7 (Boxley won by unanimous decision), 10-1 (Boxley lost by majority decision), and 10-1 (Boxley lost by unanimous decision).  Sanchez is a pretty good young fighter, but he may have bitten off more than he knows with Boxley.
• November 13th at Grand Casino Hinckley we find a stacked card – by Minnesota standards anyway – presented by promoter Midwest Sports Council.  Phil Williams and Matt Vanda headline, supported by Wilton Hilario -vs- Leon Bobo, unbeaten prospect Cerresso Fort, Javontae Starks’ pro debut, and more.  Four bouts from this event will be televised on Fox Sports North immediately after the conclusion of the Minnesota Wild hockey game.
• November 20th in St Paul we’ll see Caleb Truax fight the faded former WBC world title holder Carl “The Squirrel” Daniels (50-18 with 32 kayos) for some IBA Intercontinental hardware.  Daniels has lost seven straight and fourteen out of fifteen, but this fight will force him to train harder than he’s done in a long time – Daniels hasn’t fought below 170# in nearly two years.  A supporting bout gives this event a higher profile: young Welshman James Todd (2-1-1) meets Mohammed Kayongo (14-2 with 10 kayos) for an IBA welterweight title.  Todd’s supporters are talking about making the trip to St Paul to lend their support, and we all know that British boxing fans travel well.  (There has also been a rumor floating that Todd’s countryman Kerry Hope will face Robert Kamya on this card, but I haven’t confirmed that one with promoter Tony Grygelko of Seconds Out Promotions.)
• The heavyweight bout that Minnesota has waited too long for headlines a December 4th event at Target Center in Minneapolis.  Joey Abell (25-4 with 24 kayos) meets his pal and fellow Minnesotan Raphael Butler (35-8 with 28 kayos) with the vacant Minnesota heavyweight title on the line.  Zach Walters faces Larry Sharpe, who is the man who beat the man (Bruce Rumbolz) who beat the man (Shawn Hammack) who beat Walters back in August of 2008.  Travis “Freight Train” Walker, Ronnie Peterson, Gary Eyer, and Dave Peterson also support this card.
• No specifics are available at this writing, but Showtime will be in town on December 18 to televise a boxing event at Grand Casino Hinckley.  Expect some locals to get a boost from this show.

Minnesota Pro Boxers Who Really Need a Fight (Part 2)

Consider this article a sequel to the article of the same name from May 2008.

The good news is that there seems to be less of a logjam on the local scene than there was back then – despite a few hiccups, 2009 has been a pretty good year for boxing in Minnesota.  But it’s also true that there are still some Minnesota boxers who are frittering their prime away, or participating in fights that don’t advance their careers in an appreciable way.  The cause may be overcaution, chronic indecision, the dread of losing a glamorous record, or the simple lack of a workable career strategy.

In alphabetical order:

• Antonio Johnson (7-1-1 with 3 kayos) Who is managing the career of the St Paul Kid?  Johnson has never been a particularly active fighter, but he did manage to fight three times in 2005 and three more times in 2006.  Since then he has only fought once each year in 2007, 2008, and 2009 – and his last two fights have been a draw to a 10-0 prospect and a loss to a 9-1 fighter in that opponent’s hometown.  As a result, the very talented and ambitious Johnson is now an inactive fighter who hasn’t won a boxing match in two and a half years.
• Andy Kolle (19-2 with 14 kayos) is on this list because his activity rate so radically departs from what he desires.  Back in December of 2007 Kolle told me that ideally he would like to fight five or six times a year.  Since that interview, 22 months ago, Kolle has fought four times.  To his credit, Kolle has won three of the four against very credible opposition.  To his detriment, there doesn’t seem to be a cogent plan to advance his career.
• Kenny Kost (14-4 with 6 kayos) Kost, who turned pro in 2003, fought six times in 2004, winning all six.  Since then, however, Kost has never fought more than three times in a year, so he has never been a particularly prolific prizefighter.  Yet eighteen months of inactivity is out of character even for him.  Kost hasn’t been seen in a professional boxing match since dropping an eight-round decision to Hector Camacho in April 2008.  Kost is one of those guys with other things to do – he makes his money in construction, so spring, summer, and fall are out for him.  So if he never appears in a prize fighting ring again, it might be more our loss than his.
• Zach Walters (24-4 with 19 kayos)  Like Andy Kolle, Zach Walters trains under and is managed by Chuck Horton of Horton’s Gym, in Duluth.  Walters’ record was 23-2 and he was just beginning to make a blip on the worldwide radar in the summer of 2008 when he lost to 18-6 Shawn Hammack in a stunner.  Walters and Horton next took a fight against former world titlist Byron Mitchell in an effort to regain credibility and rake in some cash, but that turned into a fiasco when Walters suffered a bad cut on his tongue and Horton threw in the towel on the advice of the ringside doctor.  After three fights in ‘08, Walters has had just two in ‘09, only one of them a win, and that against 11-12 journeyman James Morrow.  Horton had done a great job of building Walters up prior to the Hammack loss, but now Walters finds himself in the unenviable position of not having won a fight against an opponent with a winning record since June of 2008, and unless something happens soon, he’ll end 2009 not having fought in six months.
• Derek Winston (0-0)  Here’s a guy who keeps trying to go pro, and circumstances conspire against him.  Each time he’s been scheduled to fight in the past, either the fight or the entire event has been canceled.  The one time fight fans did get to see him in the ring (at the Myth nightclub in August, when Winston and cousin Antwan Robertson fought a four-round exhibition sans headgear) Winston looked very impressive.  Good news!  Winston is scheduled to face Tomi Archambeault at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen on Friday, October 23.

The other end of the spectrum…

• Say what you want to about Tony Grygelko of Seconds Out Promotions, but he knows who brings home his bacon, and he’s done a dandy job of keeping that man (13-0 middleweight Caleb Traux) busy.  When he steps out of the ring after his November 20th fight with Carl Daniels, Truax will have had six fights in the last twelve months.  His teammate Jeremy McLaurin, another up-and-comer, is also scheduled to box in that event and will also have had six fights in twelve months.
• Ceresso Fort (7-0 with 7 kayos), a ward of Midwest Sports Council (MSC) is scheduled to have his fifth fight in twelve months on November 13th at Grand Casino Hinckley, with more events soon to come.
• Until his current spate of activity began last April, Jason Litzau (25-2 with 21 kayos) hadn’t fought in 14 months and had a spot on this list locked up.  But Litzau made his return to the ring in April with a 5th-round TKO of Phillip Payne, demolished Verquan Kimbrough in 3 rounds in August, and now has an ESPN2-televised bout with Johnnie Edwards scheduled for the 4th of November.

The Fistic Mystic says:  I’m a realist – I know that there’s often something bubbling away below the surface; events are developing that I don’t know about…someone (maybe more than one someone) will be justifiably irritated to see their name unfairly listed in this article.  The best outcome would be for me to someday consider writing this article and then realize that there’s no one who fits the bill; that everyone is as busy as they want to be!

Comments and Analysis: Jason Litzau -vs- Verquan Kimbrough

Quotable:

“Jason’s just starting to grow into a mature fighter now.  He was confident going in and I was confident that he would do what he did…he did what he’s supposed to do.  He’s still working on his defense – he’s doing it beautifully in the gym.  The best weight class for him right now is probably 130#, but if the right offer comes along, you never know what might happen.”  Bob Van Syckle, Jason Litzau’s manager

“It was a learning experience.  It was the first time I was in the ring with a fighter that much taller (five inches) and I fought the wrong type of fight…The fight was a step up in opponents for me. He was one of the elite athletes in this weight class, and I fought the wrong fight.”  Verquan Kimbrough, Litzau’s unfortunate victim

“Jason got him out of there before I finished my first drink. That made me happy. I was glad to see him use his God-given skills to rejuvenate his career and I was happy to play the small part that I did putting this fight together!” Cory Rapacz, local matchmaker

Analysis:

Jason Litzau was…impressive in his one-sided annihilation of Verquan Kimbrough. Litzau came out throwing long hard right hands from the opening bell. He obviously was enjoying his five inch height advantage. He was looking to end things early, and was oblivious to Kimbrough’s power or lack thereof…” East Side Boxing

“Litzau was like a tall bean pole at featherweight and the added nine pounds seems to have made the tall 5’10” Litzau much stronger than he was in the past…Litzau’s punches seemed to be much harder and his ability to take shots seemed to have improved as well. What helped Litzau even more was that he had a five inch height advantage over the 5’5” Kimbrough, which allowed Litzau to bomb Kimbrough from the relative safety of the outside – not that Litzau was shy about getting hit, mind you…He didn’t really seem to care whether he was hit or not.”  Jim Dower, reporting for Boxingnews24.com

“…Litzau has moved up to lightweight and the 26-year-old from St. Paul, Minn., looks a lot stronger. He sure looked that way against Kimbrough, whom he thoroughly dominated in a one-sided beating. In the second round, Litzau cut Kimbrough by his right eye and knocked him down twice. Litzau continued to punish Kimbrough, 26, of Pittsburgh, in the third round. Kimbrough, whose legs were very shaky, barely made it out of the third and his corner appropriately stopped the bout. Litzau still takes too many punches, but Kimbrough has so little power, he didn’t have to pay for it. If Litzau can tighten that defense a little more, maybe he can make some noise. Even if he doesn’t, he’s still fun to watch.”  ESPN’s Dan Rafael

Litzau TKOs Kimbrough!

Jason Litzau won by TKO tonight when his opponent’s corner threw in the towel after three rounds.

News and comments to come!

Minnesota Boxing Scene: Summer/Fall 2009

The Fistic Mystic surveys the Minnesota boxing landscape at the beginning of August, 2009.

• August 8 at Wyatt Earp’s in Ramsey (just west of Anoka on the south side of Highway 10) we have a completely unexpected show from Seconds Out Promotions.  According to the poster, the event will feature Mohammed Kayongo and Caleb Traux, with Willshaun Boxley and others appearing on the undercard.
• August 14 promoter MSC presents a boxing show at The Myth in Maplewood.  This one features Matt Vanda in a tune-up fight against veteran Jose Spearman, with Cerresso Fort and Brad Patraw on the undercard.  Incidentally, the younger Hilario brother (Jose) makes his professional debut on this card.
• A day later, on August 15, Jason Litzau of St Paul appears in a supporting bout at the Roy Jones Jr-Jeff Lacy event in Biloxi, MS.  Attempting to reassert himself on the national stage, Litzau will be facing 21-1-2 Verquan Kimbrough in a lightweight bout.  This fight is be no mere formality; there are no easy fights against 21-1 opponents.
• September 26 brings us the next boxing show at Target Center in Minneapolis.  This event is to be anchored by the first round of fights in a local super middleweight tournament: Phil Williams and Matt Vanda are matched in one bout, while Jungle Boy Zach Walters is expected to be paired with an opponent yet to be named in the second.  Also scheduled to appear on this card: Cerresso Fort, Antwan Robertson, and the professional debut of Derek Winston.
• A little farther down the line, on November 21, is another event at Target Center.  According to mnboxingleague.com, this event will host the championship round of the super middleweight tournament.  I’ve also heard it whispered that the Jason Litzau -vs- Wilton Hilario match, torpedoed this summer by a rib injury suffered by Hilario, could be rescheduled to this date.

It’s also worth mentioning, though no details are yet available, that the long wished-for heavyweight matchup of Joey Abell (25-4) -vs- Raphael Butler (34-8) reportedly has been or soon will be signed.  Neither the date nor the location has yet been announced.  More details will be published here when they become known to me.

Jason Litzau Could Fight August 15

Rumors are circulating that Minnesota’s reigning P4P king Jason Litzau will fight Verquan Kimbrough (21-1-2 with 7 kayos) on August 15 in Biloxi, MS.

Asked for a comment, Litzau’s manager, Bob Van Syckle, had this to say: “Everything is not done.  I should be getting the contract tonight.”  I asked Van Syckle if it was safe to say that the fight was tentative, and he reiterated, “We’re 90% sure, but the contract hasn’t been read or signed yet.”

If it happens, the fight would be on the undercard of  Roy Jones Jr -vs- Jeff Lacy at the Gulf Coast Arena in Biloxi.  The card is televised; it will be presented in the US on Square Ring PPV and in Canada on Canada Super Channel.