Rowland
impressive against McFail!
February 2, 2003
By Andre
Courtemanche
www.fightnews.com
In front of
2000 of his fanatical fans, Grand Rapids’ own Troy “Rockin” Rowland
continued his march toward local hero status with an exciting 10-round
unanimous decision over always game Mike McFail. Fighting as the main event
of an action-packed seven-fight card promoted by Gerald Evans and 1World
Productions, Rowland put in his most impressive appearance to date and sent
a message to the other middleweight making noise in the state.
Flashing
quick hands and elusive movement, Rowland, 11-1, darted in and out while
scoring to the body and head with both hands. McFail, who went ten tough
rounds with Teamcannon’s Rubin Williams in his last bout, tried valiantly to
make a fight of it, but couldn’t match the speed and power of his foe.
Rowland
delighted the crowd by dropping McFail in round four and battering him
around the ring. To his credit, McFail hung in and never stopped throwing,
even landing an occasional hard one. The wide unanimous decision victory was
a clear indication of the hometown hero’s marked improvement and may have
gone a long way toward evening the public’s perception of his chances in
“the fight that has to be”… a showdown with Williams for Michigan
middleweight supremacy.
Another Grand
Rapids fighter with potential, lightweight Harold Cutts, 2-1, returned from
his shocking defeat to Frankie O’Neil by pounding out another unanimous
4-round decision over Kronk’s Ken Walton, 1-2.
Walton
managed to avoid the beating he took in their first fight by holding onto
Cutts whenever he got close, but didn’t do much to impress the judges while
doing it. A distant cousin to most-famous local, Floyd Mayweather, Cutts
flashed his lighting hand and foot speed often enough to deserve the scores
of 40-36 X2 and 40-37. Heading off to work with cousin and trainer Roger
Mayweather immediately after the fight, Cutts needs to be busier in the
ring, or all the talent in the world won’t be enough. Although it didn’t
cost him like it did against O’Neil, Cutts still seemed prone to admiring
his own work at times. Walton can fight, but should forget the notion of
revenge against Cutts. It’s not happening.
Rocky Smith,
quickly becoming a very popular favorite at the DeltaPlex, came back from
the brink of certain defeat to win by thrilling knockout against Florida’s
Theo Krueger.
Krueger came
out from the opening bell and smashed Smith all over the ring, culminating
in a perfect right hand that sent the Hawaiian turned Michigander down in a
heap. Somehow, Smith managed to rise and hold on for the remainder of the
opening round.
Coming out
for the second, Smith seemed to be in deep trouble, but quite the opposite
was true. Smith caught Krueger with his own right hand and the fight was
over. Referee Ron Cunningham reached ten with Krueger still trying to figure
out how he could have lost this fight.
Papa
Byrd-trained heavyweight “Hurricane” Steve Daher of Howell, Michigan had a
bad night, losing a unanimous four-round decision to John James of Grand
Rapids. James’ handspeed was too much for the 37-year-old tough guy, who
kept trying, but couldn’t come up with an answer to the quick counter right
hand.
With the
victory, James pulls ahead of the game at 2-1. Daher, who swears he shall
return, is now 4-3.
Well regarded
local lightweight prospect Ramon Guevara turned professional in
scintillating fashion by going toe-to-toe with Kentucky tough guy Karl “The
Stunner’ Hunter 0-3. The sharper punching of Tito Trinidad look-alike
Guevara eventually got to Hunter, whose corner threw the towel midway
through round three while he was absorbing a series of crushing body blows.
The TKO3 end
didn’t come as easy for Guevara as he may have liked, however, as Hunter
wanted to rumble and scored with several of his own haymakers before
succumbing. Guevara looks to be an exciting fighter for the future if he can
concentrate more, or even just a little more, on defense.
Traverse City
Michigan’s Chris Grays moved above sea level with his second consecutive win
in Grand Rapids, this time by unanimous decision against brave, but
outgunned Murad Juwad of Dearborn. Middleweight Grays, now 3-2 (2), showed
an improving style and good speed while scoring with several clean bombs,
finally staggering Juwad with ten seconds remaining in the fight. The scores
were 40-37 X2 and 40-36. Juwad has all the heart he needs and appears to be
learning on the job.
In the
opening fight, welterweight Robert Jones of Detroit started his career the
right way by leveling Ohio’s Omar Dotson, 0-2. Jones took over midway
through the first round with impressive power and had Dotson wobbling all
over the ring until putting the finishing touches on a nice performance by
sending Dotson to the floor with a right hand. Dotson rose, but his legs
didn’t agree with his decision.
Great crowd,
great night.
--Joel
Langlois, owner of the DeltaPlex has made a strong commitment to the boxing
scene in Grand Rapids. Last night, the fighters entered to taped interviews
on the big screen, booming music, smoke, lights and a “Prince Hamed” style
ramp. Langlois and Evans have reportedly reached a deal to continue this
successful “Defenders of Democracy” series through the rest of the year;
involving at least four more shows.
--Troy
Rowland’s boisterous fans, all adorned in his signature red and white, are
beginning to look like playoff hockey fans with the way they make the arena
mostly the same colors.
--Ronnie
Duncan was the ring announcer tonight and did his usual excellent job.
Duncan, an expert on the sport and accomplished broadcast journalist, should
be on big-time television conducting in-ring interviews instead of the less
knowledgeable and overly confrontational talent currently being used on one
of the networks.
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