BOXING: RESULTS FROM THE GRAND CASINO

Report By Ray Kilgore, Photo’s by Jesse Kelley at ringside

Delorien “Lord” Caraway (9-1, 5 KO’s) of Minneapolis, Mn defeated Jerome Rodriguez (7-7-3, 2 KO’s) of Allentown, Pennsylvania by unanimous decision in last Friday night’s main event at the Grand Casino in Hinkley, MN.

It was clear from round one that Rodriguez was going to have a long night dealing with Caraway’s speed and footwork. Caraway landed right hands to Rodriguez’s body and head, while feinting and mocking Rodriguez at times. But it wasn’t as if Rodriguez didn’t offer up a fight. In round two, he was able to stun Caraway with some good right hands and body blows.  And several times throughout the fight, Caraway was forced to back up, circle and got hit with some clean head shots.
But to Caraway’s credit, he never lost his focus as he circled and reset when he needed.  Once Caraway established his ground by using his jabs, game plan of movement, and solid right hands to Rodriguez’s head and body, Caraway got the job done.   
The final scores read:  59-56, 58-56, 59-55.

Ve Shawn Owens of Minneapolis, MN improved to (6-0, 6 KO’s) with a TKO victory over Romon Barber, (7-14, 6 KO’s) of Kansas at :56 into of round one.  
Owens started the round bobbing, weaving and throwing jabs. And although Barber landed some good jabs and right hands of his own, the shots had little impact on Owens.
Owens sensed Barber could not hurt him, so he increased his tempo and landed a good right to Barber’s head and thudding body shots that sent Barber down.
Barber made the count, but Owens changed his game plan and focused almost strictly on Barber’s body. Owens connected with powerful shots until Barber fell to one knee from a final body shot and the fight was waived off.

Joe Amouta (7-1-1, 2 KO’s) of Minneapolis, MN and Tarvis Perzynski ( 2-2-1, 1 KO) of Mazeppa, MN fought to a six round draw in a super middleweight bout. 
In round one both men started out by jabbing. Amouta got the better of the action as he landed solid counter right hands to Perzynski’s head.
To Perzynski’s credit, he pressed the action and never looked outclassed.  However, Amouta’s shots were the stiffer of the two as he moved side to side looking for openings in the first round.
In round two, Amouta continued to move as he looked to land jabs and right hands. But the blows had little impact on Peryznski.
Perzynski pawed with his right jab as he looked for the perfect shot.  Perzynski’s right found its target to the right side of Amouta’s head.  And he was also able to work Amouta’s body when the fighters were on the ropes.
Although Perzynski appeared to get the better of the two, Amouta did not look hurt as he moved, and fired back with his own blows and combos to Perzynski’s body and head.
By the time round three started, both men stood their ground in the middle of the ring.  And shortly thereafter, Perzynski went to Amouta’s body effectively.  Amouta focused on Perzynski’s head.
As the third round came to an end, Amouta’s blows looked the better of the two. He circled and hit Perzynski at will at times.
At the start of the fourth round, Perzynski was the aggressor going and targeted Amouta’s body.  Amouta circled and Perzynski did not attempt to cut Amouta’s movement off.
When Perzynski was finally able to pin Amouta on the ropes, he wasn’t able to do any real body work as Amouta’s blows to Perzynski’s head distracted Perzynski.
At the start of round five, Perzynski landed good flurries to Amouta’s body and head. And while Amouta didn’t appear hurt, he looked tired.  When he attempted to land his blows, they missed as he fell into clinches with Perzynski.  Perzynski started to hit Amounta with good head shots and Amouta retreated, throwing one punch at a time.  Amouta’s strategy of constantly moving away from the bigger Perzynski was slowing his punch output considerably.
At the start of the final round, Perzynski once again took on the role of aggressor while Amouta stayed on his bike.  Perzynski landed the better blows as he worked Amouta’s body and head well.  Amouta circled and continued to land in flurries, but he appeared too tired to mix it up to score points. And several times during the round he jogged around the ring not wanting to engage.
The scores were: 58-57 Perzynski, 59-55 Amouta and  57-57.

RJ Laase (13-3, 8 KO’s) of Duluth, MN defeated Jacob Fox (2-5, 1 KO) of Fort Yates, South Dakota at 1:14 into round one. Afterwards, Laase picked up his second victory of the night after successfully proposing to his girlfriend in the center of the ring.

Fox was in trouble shortly into round one.  Laase’s speed was too much as he landed good head and body blows while Fox covered up.  Laase pinned Fox on the ropes, and landed several good body blows to Fox’s ribs. Fox tried to fire back but Lasse’s body blows to the rib were too much as Fox went down for good on both knees looking at the canvas.

Celso Ramirez improved to (6-0, 6 KOs) by destroying Ryan White Mountain (4-7) at 1:30 into round one .
Ramirez kept his defense tight while White Mountain fired looping blows until he unleashed a thunderous right hand that knocked White Mountain down.
White Mountain beat the count. And Ramirez took advantage by landing a barrage of shots to White Mountain’s head and body. White Mountain staggered into the far ropes while Ramirez continued his attack.  White Mountain offered little in return at this point and Referee Mark Nelson jumped between the two to stop the fight.

Cruiserweight Tony Palmasino (1-0, 1 KO) of Duluth, MN scored a devastating one punch knockout over BJ Lacy (1-2) of Minneapolis, MN at 2:59 in round one.   
Lacy was in trouble from the start as the chisled Palmasino attacked with hard shots. Lacy started in a defensive posture with his shoulders pinched up to his neck as he circled. He was able to land several right hand jabs to Palmasino’s belly but they had no impact.
Palmasino moved forward, and when he landed his first good right to Lacy’s head, Lacy grimaced and was clearly impacted by the shot.
Palmasino continued to land right hands to Lacy’s head causing Lacy to look  unsure of himself. As the round went on, Lacy appeared tired and looked unsteady from Palmasino’s pressure. 
As the round came to an end, Palmasino land a strong right to Lacy’s head; Lacy fell flat on his back near his corner. The fight was waved off as Lacy was out on his feet.

Richard Quiterio of Minneapolis, MN improved to (2-0) by taking a unanimous decision over Jeff Farmer (3-9) of Iowa in a good action fight to kick the night off in a lightweight bout.
Both boxers traded early into the round with Quiterio getting the better of the action. Farmer was the aggressor, but Quiterio anticipated his movement and was able to land solid right hands and body blows.
At the start of round two, Quiterio picked up where he left off by moving and picking his shots well. However, this time, Farmer connected with more blows to Quiterio’s head and body. Both men were willing to trade at times. 
In round three, Farmer continued the role as being the aggressor.  And his blows snapped Quiterio’s head back several times. Once more, Quiterio circled for most of the round and appeared to be tired at To Quiterio’s credit, he was able to land some effective blows to Farmer’s head. But they appeared to have little impact as Farmer pressed the action by throwing his punches at will.  
By round four, Farmer was the stronger of the two; he was able to pin Quiterio on the ropes and work his body and head.  And while Quiterio fought back, he once again appeared exhausted and his blows at times were wild as he missed Farmer’s head for the most part.  
Farmer’s punches continued to snap Quiterio’s head back in the final round. And he worked Quiterio’s body by keeping his head ducked into Quiterio’s chest.  But to the credit of Quiterio he was able to counter with good blows of his own now. Although Quiterio appeared tired, he was willing to exchange in the middle of the ring before getting out of dodge by circling again. In the end, final scores read: 38-37, 38-37, 39-36 for Quiterio.