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Ramada Rumble I February 18 2005 Event was held at the Ramada Inn in St. Joseph, Missouri. Detailed review to come. Brian Bernard (168) vs. Brandon
Burke (174) Brian Bernard (0-1) vs. Brandon Burke (0-0) Burke met Bernard in his corner and landed multiple Right Hooks to the body. Burke used his weight to his advantage by forcing Bernard into the corner so he could land more Right Hooks to the body. Brian did land a couple of good Left Hands but Brandon controlled the first round. The second round was very entertaining. The fighters traded punches and both had their moments. I felt that Brandon's work earned him the round but he looked more tired at the end of the round than Brian did. Fatigue was setting in on both fighters by the end of the second round. Brian began the third round by landing heavy shots to dominate the first minute of the round; but then, Brian's work rate slipped and Brandon out worked Brian the last two minutes of the round. I still feel that Brian's initial minute was good enough to force a toss-up round. Brian showed great heart but Burke was too much in the fourth. Burke dominated the round so much that it could be scored a 10-8 round. Bernard needed to counter off the ropes but did not do so in the fourth which allowed Burke to have his way. Burke dominated the round so much that it could be scored a 10-8 round. Now to the judges decision - All judges 38-38 for a draw. My guess is Burke got round one and four and Bernard got two and three. I did not see it that way but that is boxing. Travis Allen (0-0) vs. Steve Witt (1-1) This was a match up of a taller fighter (Allen) versus a shorter fighter (Witt). Both fighters put forth a lot of effort in the first round although they were a step too far apart for maximum result. It was very exciting to watch though and very close to score. The first round was a toss-up for me. All action in the second round as Witt came out attacking. He landed/pushed against Allen which caused him to fall which the ref called it a slip. After Allen got back up, Witt landed a punch straight on the nose to get an eight count. Allen did not appear hurt by the punch though but Steve went in for the kill anyway. Travis was able to withstand the onslaught until he was able to land a Left Hook that hurt Steve. Travis backup Steve up against the ropes and landed another good punch. Steve came off the ropes as Travis was throwing a Right Hand and the punch sent Steve from the far ropes to the near corner. While Steve was in the corner facing the wrong way, Travis landed another Heavy Right Hand that sent Steve down for the count. KO victory for Travis Allen at 2:53 of 2nd round. Tyler Seever (0-2) vs. Lonnie Hill (0-4) Lonnie came out wild and Tyler was more reserved. Then out of nowhere, Hill landed a short little Right Jab to Seever's chin that sent him to the canvas. It did not appear to be much of a punch but did land flush. Seever did not appear too hurt and when he got up the fighters exchanged punches until Hill landed another clean punch and Tyler was down for the count. KO victory for Lonnie Hill at 1:19 of 1st round. Neither punch seemed like it should have done the damage it did but it was obvious that Seever would not be able to get up after the second knockdown. Aaron Drake (6-0) vs. Chris Reider (1-1) Drake came out using a token Jab and Straight Right Hands to the body. Then all of a sudden, Chris landed a good Right Cross that got Aaron's attention. Aaron did not like that so he picked up the pace on his punches and forced Reider into a corner where Chris tied Drake up. After the break, the were trading punches until Drake landed a beautiful Over-Hand Right that floored Reider for an eight count. Chris did the right thing by waiting on one knee until the count of six to make give him time to regroup. Chris got up and was able to continue. Now Drake went back to the Jab and Right Hands to the body to finish out the round. It appeared that Drake was going to try and get some round work in now. Drake continue the Jab work in the second followed by Right Hands. This time Reider went down twice on such work and both times he had a look on his face like why am I getting knocked down by these punches. The next knockdown was different. Same work as before - Left Jab and Right Hand to the body but this time the Right Hand to the body landed heavy right in the bread basket and Reider went down in a heap. Chris managed to get up before the count of eight and wanted to continue but was unable to fully straighten up from the body show and the ref stopped the fight for a TKO victory by Aaron Drake at 2:19 of 2nd round. Billy Zumbrun (17-5-1) vs. Mike Pena (10-8) The fight was off to a nice start. Zumbrun showed magnificent hand speed with Left Hook/Right Hook to the body followed by Left Hook to the head. Pena was undeterred by this combination work and threw punches of his own until Zumbrun landed a thunderous Right Hook to the body that sent Pena to the canvas. Pena was not able continue so Zumbrun gets a TKO at 1:20 of 1st round. Galen Brown (17-2-1) vs. Craig Schrimpf (8-1) This fight was amazing to watch. Galen's talent was so far superior to Schrimpf that it looked like a cat playing with a mouse. Craig gave it the old college try but Galen was simply too good. Galen would stand and bait Craig in and then throw a Left Jab so quick that it was already returning to its resting position before Craig even knew he had been hit. Other times, Galen would put his Right Hand out like he was going to use it and while Craig was watching it, Galen would land a Left Hook. Fortunately the fight was stopped between the second and third rounds due to a cut. I say fortunately because Craig was getting pounded and he could do nothing about it. Galen Brown gets a TKO at 3:00 of 2nd round. Byron Polley (15-5) vs. Vance Winn (6-17-2)
This was the most entertaining fight of the evening for me. It had nothing to do with the action and everything to do with Vance Winn. Before Vance's last fight he told me it would be his last - that he was retiring after the fight. Then after the fight, he told me he was retired. So when I saw that he was the replacement fighter for this fight I was let's just say unenthused. To my complete amazement, Winn displayed superior hand speed in the first round and did enough work in my opinion to earn the first round. Vance did appear tired after the first round though. I figured there would be no way Vance would make it out of the second round. During the round, Vance's mouth piece fell/was thrown out of his mouth. The ref tossed it aside until a break. Vance was able to tie Byron up whenever they got close and this allowed him to make it to the bell. At this point in my voice notes ringside I said I would not be surprised if Vance did not answer the bell for the third round. He was sitting on his stool with both legs outstretched gasping for air. Well the bell sounded and there was Vance ready to continue. Byron continued to control the fight and knocked Vance down but Vance got up long before the count of eight and held on to the end of the third round. Quote from my voice notes after round three: "I can't believe it!! Vance still up. .. I just can't believe he is still together." Quote from my voice notes after the fourth round: "And he makes it the distance!! I am very proud of Vance. He was gassed after the first but he held on. He used all of his experience, all of his guile to hold on. He goes down twice in the fourth [but] he held on he made it to the end. You have to give Craig Cummings all the glory for that one because absolutely forced him to keep going and did not let him quit." Vance did a great job going the distance but Byron easily won the last three rounds. The judges saw it 39-33, 39-33, and 40-32 for an unanimous victory for Byron Polley. I mean no disrespect to Vance Winn by this review. It takes a lot of guts to step into a ring where you can get seriously hurt and fight through fatigue and not quit. I commend Vance on showing great heart and effort. Donnie McCrary (7-1-1) vs. Jesse Bryan
(8-1-2) This was a TV quality fight. Both fighters displayed boxing skills and determination. In fact, their styles were mirror images of each other which made for a great fight. The first round was very close. Both fighters displayed an effective Jab. Donnie's main weapon was a Lead Right Hand while Jesse threw multiple Hooks to the body. I felt Donnie was more effective in the first round so I gave the round to him. The second round saw both fighters fighting on the inside ripping Hooks to each others body. Donnie also found a home for his Right Upper-Cut and that set his action ahead of Jesse's to get the second round. Jesse's most effective punches of the round were Left Hooks on the way in. A Right Upper-Cut followed by a Left Hook stunned Jesse in the third round. Jesse did not go down but appeared to be hurt by the combination. That was what separated Donnie's performance in the third round compared to Jesse's. Jesse came back and controlled the first 2:30 seconds of the fourth round but Donnie landed a powerful Left Hook that knocked the mouth piece out of Jesse's mouth. Donnie followed it up with a Right Upper-Cut to finish off the punishment. Despite this action in the last 30 seconds, I gave the fourth round to Jesse. Donnie regained control in the fifth round despite taking a Left Jab/Right Cross flush in the face. There was power behind the one/two but Donnie was not affected. Donnie began to step to the side while they were trading punches on the inside which gave him a better angle for his punches and convinced me to give the fifth round to Donnie. Donnie walked through three one/two combinations thrown by Jesse and forced him into against the ropes. Having his opponent pinned to the ropes, Donnie threw Left Hook to the body, Left Hook to the head, and Right Upper-cut to the face. During one of the combinations, Jesse sat down on the ropes but was not given a standing eight count (not sure if they could have or not). Jesse stood back up and tried to get off of the ropes but Donnie just forced him to the corner all the while throwing Hooks and Upper-Cuts. It got to a point that Jesse was bent over and getting hit on top of the head and the ref stepped in at 1:50 of 6th round for a TKO victory for Donnie McCrary. My review makes it look like a one sided fight but each round was close and could have went either way. Article has been accessed
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