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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2003)
8 FEBRUARY 15, 2003 Smoke Signals Success Of Fight Night III Could Mean More Boxing In Portland Spirit Mountain Casino and Oscar De La Hoya proving to be an effective team. By Justin Phillips Wien the bell rang, the referee jumped in between the two fighters. But, even he can't stop the fighting, because with a crowd of 5,355 fight fans in the house, there might just be more fights headed to Portland's Rose Garden. Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Productions and Spirit Mountain Casino played host to an other night of boxing on Thursday, January 30. The 10-round main event featured Heavy weight prospect Jeremy Williams 36-4 (32 KOs) against Al Cole 32-11 (16 KOs). Williams, ranked 15lh by the World Boxing Council (WBC), put on a feeble performance against the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Cole. The outcome was a majority draw with few hard, crowd pleasing punches. The semi-main event was a six-round Junior Middleweight (165 lbs) bout, with Portland's very own Jose "Tony" Martinez (12-2-2, 7 KO's) fac ing Ron Pasek (12-20-3, 7 KO's. Martinez earned a decision for his efforts. In a four round Heavyweight bout, local boxer Joe Gusman (5-0, 2 KO's) outboxed Troy Beets (3-2-1, 1 KO). Despite getting knocked through the ropes during the bout, Gusman's rib shat tering body shots and steady pressure earned him a unanimous decision. Super featherweight (1301bs) Greg "The Port land Kid" Piper (6-1, 2 KO's) fought for four founds against Christian Lopez (4-3-1, 1 KO). Piper also received a unanimous decision. The first fight of the night consisted of Willamina's own Super Middleweight (1681bs) The Sweet Science Greg "The Portland Kid" Piper (right) eats a overhand left fist from Christian Lopez. Piper received a unanimous decision to improve his record to 6-1 with 2 KO's during Spirit Mountain Casino's and Oscar De La Hoya's Goldon Boy Produc tions Fight Night III at the Portland Rose Garden. The night of boxing drew more than 5,000 fight fans which could be good for the future of boxing in Oregon. Victor Branson (3-4-1, 3 KO's) against Davis Thompson (5-2, 3 KO's). Thompson out boxed a tough Branson to improve his record with a unanimous decision. Although there was not the anticipation and excitement of a Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis boxing match, the crowd seemed to enjoy an evening of "the sweet science" otherwise known as boxing. This was the third event of the Fight Night series at the Portland Rose Garden. The first fights (July 2002) drew a crowd of 3,784. The attendance at Fight Night II in November of 2002 was about 2,500. Stan Sittser, Rose Quarter Marketing Man- ager, says he feels that boxing has a potential in the City of Roses. Light heavyweight (175 lbs) Roy Jones, Jr., (IBF light heavyweight champion, WBC light heavyweight champion, World Boxing Associa tion light heavyweight champion) drew more than 16,000 in his bout at the Rose Garden. It was the first championship bout in Portland in nearly 40 years. Golden Boy Productions would like to hold a card every two months, selling season-ticket packages. Roy Englebrecht, Golden Boy's Chief Operat ing Officer said people would be able to put it on their calendar and know there are going to be boxing matches about every 2 months. ,r r T -., ) Brutal Willamina's own Super Middleweight Victor Branson connects with a overhand left body shot that momentarly jolted Davis Thompson (in the green trunks) back a few feet. Despite Branson's power display, he lost a unanimous decision. Branson's next fight is March 1 at the Emerald Queen in Washington. " ----- 1 7 V X. K:" if 4 Not A Knockdown Portland crowd favorite Joe Gusman, heavyweight, falls through the ropes while brawling with fellow heavweight Troy Beets. Gusman went on to win a unanimous decision to improve his record to 5-0 with 2 knockouts. Main Event Professional boxer Jeremy Williams (red trunks), the World Boxing Council's 15th ranked heavyweight in the world, unloaded repeated body shots to Al Cole during Fight Night Ill's main event. The main event lacked the luster of a normal heavy weight bout and ended in a draw. Photos by Justin Phillips
