THE GOOD, BAD, UGLY By George J. Elsasser

After taking in the ESPN2 club fights from good ol' Concho, Oklahoma- where the wind comes right behind the rain - I quickly scratched the burgh from any future consideration as vacation spot.

Ready? Checks and balances pleeze:

The Good: Main eventers O’Neil Bell and Kelvin Davis truly gave it their best in a up and down, give-n-take cruiserweight donnybrook affair over ten and change bruising rounds. Bell victim of early head butt ... nasty cut compounded by unfriendly incoming overhand right in second candle that drops him late in round. Still, Bell shows true grit and draws even with payback right hand that sees Davis on the deck, and in trouble come round eleven.

Referee Bill Marshall calls halt at 1:03 mark of eleven with Bell doing the pitching and Davis the catching - some see the stoppage as premature ... I’ll pass since it was pretty much judgment call.

The Bad: Brainless trust responsible for well being of 11-8-1, 8 KOs Sergio Soto and failing to do homework - not to mention taking fight on a single day notice - has the guy in with Lou Duva find James Kirkland that enters undefeated at 8-0 with six stoppages. Ends by TKO at 54 seconds round three ... free swinging lefty had himself target practice at a flesh & blood punching bag. Sad, sad, sad.

The Ugly: Referee (alleged) Joe Miller ... this Johnny Carson look-a-like better suited as stand up comic than ring official ... and if he gets the gig as dues paying party member in good standings someone should change the job title ... official scorer maybe ... nobody gets killed that way.

First peek he's working 8-round prelim with a promising Chris Smith facing a hapless Grover Wiley ... ok, Wiley is tough kid with solid chin ... end of resume ... my "BW" hits harder than this guy ... and there he is from get-go on wrong end of shootin' gallery.

Wiley is down in round two ... not a prayer ... shutout into round five ... down, up, down, up, down, up, ... counting? ... down, up, down up ... that’s like five trips to the canvas without a stoppage ... bell rescues the kid ... a 60-second respite.

Now it is stanza six ... about them five drops in round five ... seems Miller lite-head saw the first two as low blows, so no knock down ... yeah, right.

Finally, this bit of Ripley's "Believe it or not" ... Wiley hits deck not once, but twice in candle six before it is finally halted ... not by Miller ... the corner finally gets clue maybe they have trouble collecting their share were he to show up as DOA.

And yes, same lunatic worked the Kirkland - Soto massacre as well.

Semper fi,