Starting on September 8th the world of boxing
entered into an injury prone “regular season” by way of
Fernando Vargas and anemia. I had my heart set on a busy
September and what can I say folks; I’m fragile, as
fragile (emotionally) as Vitali Klitschko is physically.
Right now the only thing a media type can do is focus on
lesser fights and peripheral issues like how will Floyd
place on Dancing with the Stars. How many of the 25
million viewers will vote for boxing's “lippy leprechaun”
and determine whether there’s a “mainstream” payoff. Until
Jermain Taylor squares off against Kelly Pavlik I’ve been
filling my “blue Saturdays” with a healthy dose of college
football and recovering from my own diluted brand of the
“Cha Cha” on Friday nights.
Yet somehow, I (king of the boxing writers) received an
invite to cover a mixed martial arts event on September
15th at the Minneapolis Target Center. The card was aptly
titled “Throw down in Downtown” and featured some of the
best fighters this area can provide. Now I’ve been to
several “smokers” in gyms but this event was a “first” for
the Target Center as the WFC is a locally run company. I
stared at the email for days (thanks Gina) until finally
coming to the conclusion we all come to when trying
something new… what the hell, I’ll give it a shot.
Now, if I wanted to do this right and “respect the
game” I had to enlist the services of my best friend
Charles Roberts. My homie is an instructor at the
Minnesota Martial Arts Academy and also has a wrestling
background. What’s crazy about my relationship with
“Chicken Grease” is I’m always taunting him like a pint
sized Ali. How he’s listened to it for over twenty years
without reaching over and pulling out my voice box is
beyond me. Having him with me will allow me to understand
what it is I’m seeing, so I can write about it with some
kind of clarity. I can also name drop him when people
accuse me of writing something discriminating about MMA by
saying; “why some of my best friends are in the MMA
community.” Besides, if I’m going to promote the
eradication of the “us vs. them” mentality in combat
sports it's high time I back it up by covering MMA.
First off, Scott LeDoux was really cool when it came to
getting our credentials because there was nobody in the
media office when we arrived. The former Heavyweight
Contender just looked us over, saw no list, shrugged and
handed us the plastic. Robb Leer of Leer Communications
was equally gracious in taking the time to seat us and
assure that we had full access.
Here is what I believed to be the highlights and
lowlights of the evening, let’s start from the bottom.
Some fool got into a scrap inside the Target Center and
decided he would settle it with a gun. Unfortunately there
were no metal detectors, so there's no telling how many
'wanna be' thugs were packing that night. Note to promoter;
violence sometimes attracts violent types. The funny thing
is the fights went on without a hitch reminding me of what
I’ve heard about the night shots rang out in the Garden
back in '78 during Duran vs. DeJesus 2.
The one female fight on the card was cancelled due to
the opponent pulling out. Alicia “Ice Cold” Mena (7-1
5 KO’s) was seated next to me for about 5 fights
until I realized she was a fighter. A lot of females that
I know just by seeing them in gyms were in dresses and on
dates. From the reports I’ve received a lot of women in
this area work hard in the gym and want the opportunity.
It would have been nice to see the women do their thing on
this night.
Now for the Highlights!
Hey Minnesota is the state that produced UFC star Sean
Shirk and the state is fertile with little guys that can
choke you out. Marcus “The Prospect” LeVesseur (7-0) of
Minneapolis distinguished himself as a possible star in
waiting. This guy is “word of mouth” good, meaning I’ve
been hearing Minnesotans raving about his stellar
wrestling career for years. Marcus never lost a prep or
collegiate affair on the mat and early on he showed an
athleticism that was well... “Mayweather like.” His
opponent Richard Silvis was behind the 8 ball from the
opening bell. “The Prospect” boxed a little from stand up
style showing off quick hands. Silva couldn’t get in a
punch and didn’t fare any better trying to advance when
the “Prospect” switched to southpaw in the blink of an
eye.
Silva who thought he’d fare better on the ground lunged
at LeVesseur only to get body slammed for his trouble.
After getting on the ground Silva got a taste of why
Marcus was such a decorated grappler. LeVesseur was able
to easily mount Silva from guard position and spent a
good portion of the round striking Silva from this post.
Somehow Silva was able to get out of the bind but instead
of returning to a stand up style he stayed on his back and
tried kicking from there. Unfortunately for him LeVesseur
was quick enough to leap in between failed kicks and
strike from a standing position. Impressive stuff.
The round of doom began with LeVesseur pulling off a
single leg takedown/cross body mount simultaneously.
Charles Roberts raved at the execution due to how
difficult it is to pull off the single leg takedown alone.
This put the Minneapolis native on Silva's back which
Charles says is a “no.” From this position Marcus was able
to “choke out” his opponent.
One of the reasons boxing and now UFC
are so popular is
because the personalities incite us to passionate
response. Because this was a local card a lot of the
fighters were greeted to loud ovation by way of having
family and friends present. Only one fighter truly touched
a nerve with the crowd and that fighter was a brotha from
“North Minny” simply billed as “CROW.” From the minute he
made his ring walk the crowd erupted in boos which was
hard to fathom cus the guy is only 2-1. What the hell
could someone with a record of 2-1 do to elicit that kind
of “response”?
Crow was fighting a guy (Brian Strain) from Mendota MN,
who not only outweighed him in cheers but a good 7-8
pounds. The bout started off with Crow, already in a good
sweat, boxing Strain from the outside. In what was
literally seconds Crow had Strain in what Roberts
described as a “guard” that morphed into a choke move.
Roberts also pointed out that the hold Strain was stuck in
can “stretch your ass south and your head north.”
Strain tried to get out of the choke but tapped the mat
soon after the hold was applied. What followed was theatre
that leads me to believe this fighter has a future. Crow
leapt from the floor position ran and climbed to the
Octagon and exalted in his own superiority. Now I know why
they hate him, and I loved every minute of it, the crowd
erupted in boos. Afterwards on the Jumbotron during an
interview with promoter Carey Thul Crow didn’t mince any
words by saying that the crowd 'can kiss his black ass.'
Charles and I laughed our asses off at how this 148-pound
dynamo was able to set off what we like to call a
“Mayweather moment.”
Later in the locker room the “villain” pontificated
about how most fighters lack common sense and the
importance of entertainment. He also pointed out (while
talking to the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder) that most
people were “brutal” yet didn’t have the balls to “do it”
so they go “see it.” While most fighters post fight wore
tight fitting Affliction ® shirts Crow came out of the
locker room rocking dress pants and shirt; black of
course. Instead of sitting in the restricted area reserved
for fighters Crow went into the crowd were he was being
loathed the most. Before long the Crow was taking pictures
and talking to children in the crowd. That kind of PR
awareness will take him just as far as his ability in the
ring.
BJ “Da Beast” Lacy vs. Lucas “The Pit Bull” St. Claire
– 191 lbs.
BJ, Minneapolis native, trains out of the Minnesota
Martial Arts Academy and according to Roberts lives up to
his name “Da Beast.” St. Clair hailed from North Dakota
but that’s practically local around these parts. Lacy
entered the ring ushered by an obnoxious yet really hot
“manager” dancing in stiletto boots. At 24-7 Lacy was one
of the more experienced fighters on the bill and had the
support of a lot of the fighters at ringside. Da Beast set
a kinetic pace winning the first round on aggression
alone. The action was highlighted by Lacy administering
several hellacious body slams. By round's end, Lacy, who
attempted to terminate the Pit Bull by putting him in a
dreaded “chikenwing” had to be content with pounding his
prey from mount position.
The second round began as usual with Lacy dominating
St. Claire on the mat and hitting him… well, everywhere.
This was Bernard Hopkins stuff folks, Da Beast hit his
opponent in the back and arms, chest, anywhere he could
find flesh. Then something happened; battered and swollen
St. Claire clawed his way back into the fight. First by
outfighting Lacy from a standing distance, then putting
Lacy in guard position and landing blows to the face. The
crowd, sensing the makings of a great fight responded to
the back and forth with loud ovations. In my opinion the
“Pit Bull” did enough to earn an even round and went into
the deciding round with all of the momentum.
The third round was murky at best; the way I saw it
Lacy dominated action when he was close and lost the hand
to hand exchanges. By this time the really hot manager was
creating another show running around the Octagon and
yelling at her charge to “Whoop that trick.” Her shouts
fell upon def ears because the remainder of the round was
spent in survival mode for Lacy. The Pit Bull had Lacy
bloodied, exhausted and trying to somehow get his back
from the mat. St. Claire was exhausted too, as his punches
weren’t sharp enough to break through when he had his man
down. Once on his feet Lacy showed urgency in trying to
land a telling kick to add some punctuation to the round
with no success. At the end of the bout the scorecards
took forever (remind boxing fans of anything?) and finally
produced a split decision for Lacy. I had it for Lacy
based on 1st round dominance but my boxing eyes loved the
clean punching of St. Claire.
Ironically while answering questions from the Minnesota
Spokesman Recorder someone marched both fighters back into
the ring and announced the fight a draw. The crowd seemed
to be OK with the verdict and I (burdened on this night
with “boxing eye”) can’t complain because St. Claire had
momentum in the “championship round.” I do find it amusing
that something that UFC fans claim “plagues” boxing
occurred at the first event I attended.
All in all it was a great night of
entertainment with most bouts ending by choking and a lot
of “wrestling 101” provided by my esteemed partner. I can
only say that I will be returning because
for me
what most strictly MMA/Boxing fans don’t
understand is this: A good fight has a language of its own
(despite our prejudices) and that language is Universal.
Questions? Comments? Write Martin Wade here
