THE NIGHT JOHN SARGENT FOUGHT JIMMY LEE SMITH FOR THE STATE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE AND… A BIG OL’ THANKSGIVING TURKEY!

John “The Hoggman” Sargent (9-0 at the time) of Naytahwaush, MN had just defeated unbeaten Russian giant Yuri Vaulin three weeks earlier and jumped right back in the ring against local heavyweight rival Jimmy Lee Smith (then 7-0) in front of a 3000 fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Sargent vs Smith on December 7, 1990 was a rubber match as both men split wins as amateurs before turning pro. Smith went on to defeat MN boxing hall of famer Rocky Sekorski in 1993 for a career best win but it would turn out to be Sargents hand being raised by a close, 8 round split decision victory on that night.

“They were offering something like $1200 for the fight so the offer sat on the table for a while” Sargent told Minnesotaboxing.com. “Well, it was right around Thanksgiving time so I told them If they throw in another hundred and add a turkey I’ll go for it. A big ol turkey! They did it too! We had a pretty good fight. It was close, it went the distance but I pulled it off.”

“Kid Polack” Chuck Daszkiewicz promoted the show which featured the inaugural WBF cruiserweight title fight between Rickey Parkey and Young Joe Louis (Eddie Taylor). Ron Peterson cornered Sargent for the fight (and helped negotiate the Turkey).

Minnesota boxers Richie Albrecht, Damion Sutton, Cortez Box, and Thomas Jones also fought on the show.