Gomez Edges Saunders in 35th Battle of the Boat
by
Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp - Ringside
2/26 - The evening started with a full house at the Emerald Queen Casino. The performances of the fighters continued getting better in each event. The crowds truly enjoy the mix of the action and the Casino benefits from loyal fans, and they have hosted the events in Tacoma, just south of Seattle, for 35 times. The packed house showed many celebrities of the area.
The first fight started off with Beto Garcia fighting James Horning from Beavercreek, Ohio. Beto finished with a TKO of Horning in the 3rd round. Horning went down to the mat in the 2nd round as Beto showed great reach against the shorter and less skilled Horning. Perhaps Horning might decide to hang up the gloves with 10 losses to his record.
Cami Hostettler made her pro-debut. Cami hails from northern Washington from the township of Arlington. Hostettler comes from a family interested in marital arts and tonight had her twin brother, Josh, in the corner. Cami lost the match to the shorter Beth Westover. Street fighting brought Josh and Cami into the Charles Combat Club and Arlington Kickboxing Academy. In the second and third round, Cami took hard shots to the head. After the third round, Cami’s corner called it an evening and decided not to answer the bell. Her TKO might show a great start and a good learning experience. Beth Westover works as a personal trainer in Gold’s Gym. She decided to train for a professional career in boxing. She has coached for years in the amateur ranks and helped others in their boxing careers. The crowd truly enjoyed the professional nature of the two ladies fighting. Most of the spectators felt they put out more heart than most of the other fighters.
Marcus Pernell fought Richard Paige at 173 pounds. Pernell jumped into the ring as the local favorite. In the 4th, Paige hammered a left hook to the body and went upstairs and wobbled the shorter Pernell. By the 6th, Pernell looked visibly tired as Paige duck walked under most of the shots. Many of the crowd was surprised at the decisio as Marcus Pernell advanced by decision over Richard Paige for his fifth win without a loss.
Walter Wright, who hails from Seattle, had the crowd cheering his entrance in his middleweight fight with Ray Craig. Most of the fight went well and Walter finished of Ray with body blows throughout the fight. This provided Walter with his fourth win.
The semi-main event showed signs of a brutal beating. David Torres comes from Spokane, Washington and is a favorite of the audience. Torres TKO'd Cesar Vega in the 6th round, the last and final round of the fight. Torres kept pressing his opponent and caught most of the punches of Vega on his glove and elbows. Torres showed excellent defensive skills for a style like the 'Raging Bull' Jake La Motta. He forged into his opponents, probably not taking one backward step the whole fight. In the 5th, Torres placed a right and left hook to the body heard around the arena. When the body blows landed, he launched several upper cuts and almost put Vega down. By the 6th round, it was apparent that the referee should call the fight on a TKO. Vega took a real pounding and lost the fight to Torres, and placing David Torres with a solid 8 wins, and not a single loss.
The main event of the evening matched two different fighters with much different styles. Gary Gomez hailed from Utah with Rayco Saunders via Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Fans and media at the fight showed some displeasure in the results with the controversy on the decision of Gomez over Saunders. Saunders displayed good defensive skills and moved constantly away from Gomez.
Saunders at 5’11”, kept out of Gomez’s reach and landed a good number of headshots and some body blows. Saunders did not breath heavy throughout the fight and showed good training, and the obvious more cut fighter. Gomez tired by the end of the 6th round, dropping his hands either to lure Rayco in, or perhaps just a worn out fighter. Gomez probably should drop down two weight classes since at 5’7” fighting cruiserweight; he will always fight a taller longer reach man. He did show good skills dropping low to neutralize the power of Rayco. The crowed was surprised at the decision of Gomez over Rayco Saunders.
Scoring after 10-rounds was 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94 in favor of Gomez, who improved to 14-4, while Saunders dropped to 14-4-1.
This Saunders/Gomez fight reminded us of the fight last month with Kevin Johnson and Will Cook. In the first week of April, unbeaten heavyweight Kevin Johnson with eight wins returns to the 'Battle of the Boat', as seeks to continue his move up the ranks, adding to his major win over Robert Wiggins. He also won against the very respected Timor Ibragimov.
As the semi-main event back on January 8th of this year, Johnson beat Cook in an eight rounder as heavyweight. Johnson, who stands at 6’3” and weighs about 232 without an ounce of body fat around the middle, shows amazing promise with his jab, and an 83” reach. Kevin sports a large array of golden support structures in his mouth. Just ask him to smile and you will see the next amour added to the jaw line.
His next fight draws attention in a month from now. Kevin Johnson, heavyweight fighter of 2005 is [pictured with Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp who fought in 1968 as a heavyweight]. Almost 40 years later, this former heavyweight fighter shows heart and skills like none other in the current ranks of the contenders. The fans look for an intriguing fight next month at the 'Battle of the Boat'.
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