Battle Star XVII January 28 2004

Battle Star XVII January 28 2004

Event was held at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City

Review by Mark Graves

Carrie Crawford vs. Sara Snyder

Close 1st round with Sara landing more punches. Both fighters threw wide punches and were tired mid-way through rd 2. At one point, Sara put her hands on her knees showing just how tired she was. Up to the point of exhaustion, Sara did her best to land a good Left-Jab on he much taller opponent. Unfortunately for Sara, she ran out of gas in the third and went down on her own for the TKO loss.

Raul Munoz (13-2) vs. Todd Mansfield (0-2)

Limited action in 1st rd until the end when Munoz landed a good Left-Hook to the body for an 8 count. The 2nd rd was all Raul and ended when the ref stopped the fight at 1:02 of the round after a Left-Hook for an 8 count and then a Straight-Right ended a barrage of punches. Once again, Raul had a good showing.

Francisco Diaz (9-1) vs. Donny McCrary (4-0)

Diaz won a high quality 1st rd. Lots of punches thrown by both fighters and lots of punches landed. The 2nd rd was going along fine until a devastating Left-Hook to the body put Donny down for an 8 count. There was debate around me whether it was low or not. Even if it was low, it appeared to be on the side not "in the middle". Francisco put McCrary down again with, this time, a more clear low-blow. It took another low-blow before the ref finally saw one. This time Diaz was warned. From this point on, the two fighters traded shots with Diaz landing cleaner shots. Diaz won a unanimous decision. Francisco did not seem to have much power on his shots or Donny has a really good chin.

Isaiah Henderson (6-1) vs. Omar Clemons (0-0)

This was not much of a contest. Isaiah won via TKO at 2:25 of 1st round after a Straight-Right caused an 8 count and then two other knockdowns occurred. A final Straight-Righted ended the fight.

Alvin Brown (21-6) vs. Mark Burse (11-6)

This was a fantastic fight. It went the full 12 rounds and was a split decision.

The first round was a toss-up with both fighters performing well. Alvin landed a good Overhand-Right in 2nd but Mark threw more punches. Alvin did more work in 3rd rd while Mark had a better 4th rd. Alvin gets the 5th rd and it appeared that Burse was tiring. The 6th round seemed again to be a toss-up to me. The 7th rd began with Brown in control then about halfway through, Burse came on strong. I think Mark won the 7th. Burse also got the 8th by landing cleaner shots. The 9th rd was close. I felt Mark won the round with cleaner punches again - but a case could be made for Alvin getting the round. The 10th was a complete toss-up to me. I gave the last two rounds to Alvin because he continued to execute his fight plan which was to jab the much taller opponent.

The size contrast was significant and it was hard for Alvin to land his jab but he continued to throw it the entire fight. There were many times that Burse buckled Alvin with his jab while Brown was trying to get inside; however, neither fighter was hurt up stairs. Up stairs no but both showed signs of pain when hit with Left-Hooks to the body. Another point that needs to be made, Alvin spent much of the fight going backwards. Many times the aggressor is given close rounds.

There was a mixed reaction when the scores were announced. One judge had it 118-110 for Brown, another had it 117-112 for Burse, and the final judge had it 116-112 for Brown. After the final score was announced, Burse dropped to his knees in angst and Alvin showed relief and joy at his victory. The crowed, well, Alvin's posse went nuts and others in the crowd lightly booed. I would have to say that in a different location, the result could have been the other way; however, that is boxing.