According to Hinckley Grand Casino’s website, tickets for the April 2nd show go on sale Friday Feb 26 at 10AM.

April 2 in Hinckley looks to be getting more stacked by the minute. The card as it stands has; The Minnesota Middleweight Title fight Andy Kolle (20,2 Champ) vs Matt Vanda (42,10), Gary Eyer (7,0,1) vs “Bad” Brad Patraw (6,1) Eyer will be going down to Patraw’s weight for this one, Jeremy McLaurin (7,0) vs Hector Orozco (1,5) in a rematch of a very close fight, Tyler Hultin (1,0) vs Tim Taggart (3,2,1), Javontae Starks (3,0) and Jamal James (0,0) will also be featured in separate bouts. All bouts subject to change.

Gary "Stone Cold" Eyer ready to unload.

VS

"Bad" Brad Patraw

Grandma’s Sports Garden hosted another fun evening of Golden Gloves Boxing. Along with 8 Golden Gloves bouts there was a dance-off, great music by the lead singer of Arch Allies, and three public workouts. 3 or 4 fights into the night Pimp James and Winston Anderson’s little bro challenged Chuck Horton to a dance-off, and well, lets just say James and the little guy won. After the Golden Gloves boxing was through, Gary Eyer got in the ring and went a few rounds with Speedy Monchamp as a kick-start to training camp for his upcoming fight April 2 in Hinckley. Eyer also went a couple rounds with Andy Kolle before Tyler Hultin stepped in with Kaos for 6 rounds. During the Kolle/Hultin public workout things got a little hairy for Mr. Horton as both Kolle and Hultin turned on their coach and delivered some pretty nice body blows. Gary Eyer, Tyler Hultin and Andy Kolle will all be fighting April 2 at Hinckley Grand Casino.

The fight of the night was Will Mathews (Horton’s Gym) vs Zack Zontelli (Golden-Lakes Brainerd) followed closely by Jordan Berg (Moore Boxing Club) vs Rick Hatcher (Golden-Lakes Brainerd). Below are the full results from last nights event.

Ben Halverson (Hortons Gym) over Luke Zontelli (Golden-Lakes Brainerd)

Brad Heroff (Brunette’s Gym) over Mark Pogorelskin (Horton’s Gym)

Jarred Guerrero (Horton’s Gym) over Larry Sherk (Horton’s Gym)

Gage Follet (Kokusai Boxing) over Nick Wasmek (Horton’s Gym)

Jordan Berg (Moore Boxing Club) over Rick Hatcher (Gold-Lakes Brainerd)

Randall Gouge Jr (Moore Boxing Club) Over Trevor Marmo (Horton’s Gym)

Rubio Elias (Brunette’s Gym) over Dylan Houle (Kokusai Boxing)

Will Mathews (Horton’s Gym) over Zach Zontelli (Golden-Lakes Brainerd)

“MSC/RDS Card In Hinckley to Have Large Duluth Presence”

The Midwest Sports Council/RDS Boxing card taking place at Grand Casino Hinckley features one of the most anticipated rematches in Minnesota history as Duluth’s Andy “Kaos” Kolle defends his state title for the first time in a middleweight fight against Matt “The Predator Vanda.” 

Andy Kolle (left), Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Fight fans from the Twin Ports will not only have Kolle to cheer on as undefeated Duluth lightweight “Stone Cold” Gary Eyer has recently agreed to appear on the card against an opponent to be named.  Also appearing on the card will be Fergus Falls, Minnesota’s Tyler Hultin who also fights out of Horton’s Gym in Duluth.  Hultin has verbally agreed to fight Tim Taggart of Hinckley, MN in a 5 round bout at 160 lbs.  Taggart, as many will remember, fought out of Horton’s gym for a brief period two years ago.

MSC matchmaker Cory Rapacz said, “We’re very excited to be featuring this much talent from the Twin Ports on this card.  We all know Andy Kolle’s talent, but I think the fans are going to get a real good show with the Hultin vs. Taggart fight as well.  I think Tyler is next in the line of great Minnesota fighters to come out of Fergus Falls.  Zach Walters had a fantastic career, Kolle is on top of the state right now and it’s obvious that Hultin has the type of charisma and talent to follow in their footsteps.”

Gary Eyer (right), Courtesy SnapLocally.com

With rumblings of a potential fight between Gary Eyer and undefeated Minnesota lightweight Jeremy McLaurin flying around the state, the two will be featured in separate bouts on this card.  “These two will definitely fight.  It makes a ton of sense to happen this year, but right now it’s not something either side is wild about.  They’re both coming off real tough fights and I think they each want one more bout before going head-to-head.  Both will be featured in good fights on the card and we’ve already had preliminary discussions about them possibly meeting in Duluth in either the late Spring or early Summer.”

Jeremy McLaurin lands to the body, Courtesy of SnapLocally.com

Andy Kolle and Tyler Hultin will unofficially kick off press for April 2nd’s show when they square off in an 8 round public workout this Thursday night at Grandma’s in Duluth at the end of the “USA vs. Canada” Golden Gloves card.  Rapacz said, “What a great way to unofficially kick off promotion for this thing!  Anyone who has ever worked out with Andy Kolle knows he will not take it easy on Hultin.  I’m going to do my best to make the trip up there to support this show.  It doesn’t hurt that one of Minnesota’s most exciting fighters, Gary Eyer, is going to see some action either!”

The rest of the card in Hinckley will feature rising prospect Javontae Starks in his first six round bout, amatuer star Jamal James in his pro debut and many more fights.  The final card should be finalized in the coming days.  “This is the start of some great things.”  Rapacz said.  “We’re hoping this is the start of a great working relationship with Chuck, Carinda and everyone at Horton’s Gym.  Issues we’ve had in the past have been worked out and we’re all moving forward.  Already this year we’ve seen Andy Kolle’s return to the Twin Cities and we’ve already had discussions of Javontae Starks’ debut in the Twin Ports.  I think this is a real exciting time to be a fan of Minnesota boxing.”

Kolle landing on Coleman, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Chuck Horton has just informed me that Andy Kolle and Tyler Hultin will put on an 8 round public workout Thursday night in preparation for their big April fights. Also at the Garden will be Golden Gloves action featuring USA vs Canada. Thursday night February 18 at Grandma’s Sports Garden in Duluth MN.

You can see all of the WBF awards at worldboxingfoundation.com, click here.

WBF Champ, Caleb Truax, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Remember that wish list of fights? Ask and ye shall receive. Not only will April bring Kolle/Vanda 2, but it has just been announced that “Golden” Caleb Truax and Phil “The Drill” Williams will also be facing off in early April in Minneapolis at a venue yet to be named. We will have much more on both of these fights in the coming days and weeks. Below is a comment from Tony Grygelko of Seconds Out Promotions regarding their company and the big fight between Truax and Williams.

Phil "The Drill" Williams, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

“We have made some exciting changes to unveil with this event. We have brought on the business experience of Craig Murphy, and Katie Grygelko will now be taking on the role of CEO of SO. Along with these changes we have teamed with Vik Uppal of Uppal Enterprises and we are real excited to put this fight together and host it downtown Minneapolis. This fight will be pitting two of Minnesota’s most popular fighters together and each are promising explosive performances. For Phil its a must win fight and Caleb is looking to avenge a loss to Phil in the amateurs. We will have a venue in place by the end of the week. It would have been great to have Andy (Andy Kolle) truly stand behind his statements but as always they are in no hurry to come to the table, thus Caleb wanted to fight “The Most Feared” fighter in the state, Mr. Williams.” Tony Grygelko

 Photos by SnapLocally.com, click here to see more combat photography

Fight Report – February 5^th 2010 at First Avenue in Minneapolis

“Fights Won and Fights to Come”

By: Laura Zink

Andy "Kaos" Kolle, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

At First Avenue Night Club in Minneapolis last night, a capacity crowd filled the club not for rocking, but for socking in the venue’s first ever professional boxing card. Like the venue, which seemed a promising new location for fights, the fights themselves inaugurated this new venture with fights won and the promise of bigger fights to come.

Pat “the Cat” Coleman took a beating from Andy “Kaos” Kolle in the main event of the evening. Though Coleman played the part well in his pre fight antics, telling the crowd with a big smile that they are going to see how “Damn, he cold! You watch!”, when the bell rang he was all about defense. Round after round Kolle had to try to break through the guard of Coleman who kept his forearms cradled around his head almost the entire bout. Kolle tried straight shots to break through the middle, hooks to the body to bring the arms down, and hooks to the head to work around it, but the guard, for the most part, stayed up and prevented any serious power shots from getting through.

Kolle landing on Coleman, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

In round three, however, Kolle found a brief opening during a mid-round lull to land 2 straights and a left which sent Coleman back a bit, wobbling as he stepped backward into the center of the ring with his arms down. Similarly in round four, Kolle landed another sizable left which caused Coleman to fold over forward, resulting in a tangle which made him slip onto his hands and knees. As he lifted himself up, he made protests to ref Nelson from a bloody mouth full of red teeth. By the end of the round the doc was in Coleman’s corner checking his left eye which, similarly, had its white completely infused with blood as well. It was clear that Coleman’s sight was in serious jeopardy. Still, Coleman continued on into round five, but he suffered more of the same, Kolle working in more combos to the head, which again, made Coleman wobble mid-round. Yet, Coleman did not go down for good until he returned to his corner after round five. With ring doc again standing over him and examining his eye, he told ref Nelson that he could not continue due to a lack of sight. Just as the bikinied ring card girl made her final turn around the ring to announce round six, the fight was called and Andy Kolle stood on the corner ropes the victor.

“Yeah, he had good defense,” Andy told the ring announcer after the fight, “He got in that shell all night so it was hard to land good shots….He knew how to protect himself and stay alive.”

“And from what I understand,” the ring announcer returned, “The fight is now signed, sealed and delivered, it’s a rematch coming up in the spring. You will be fighting Matt “The Predator” Vanda.”

“I look forward to fighting Matt,” Kolle said and pointed a finger out into the crowd. “I see Matt over there. He’s a good guy. I love that guy. It was a tough fight. It’s a fight that the fans want to see, and I just want to give the fans what they want.”

“My guess is that you are expecting the same tough rugged fight that you had the last time,” the announcer continued. “Would you approach this fight any differently? I am sure that you have changed as a fighter, and so has Matt.”

“I am a lot smarter now,” Kolle responded. “Back then, that was early in my career. I went to war with him, and I shouldn’t have done that. But I fought his fight. And this time, we are going to come with something different…and it is going to be my fight.”

The co-main event of the evening had a similar ring as the main event - the principal fighter looking forward to the bouts to come. The manifestation of the fight, however, was markedly different than the main event. Where Kolle had to work though getting past a surviving fighter’s defense, Javonte Starks got to practice his defense against an ever-coming, ever-throwing Alex Gonzalez.

Starks started the bout with 2 jabs which ignited an explosion of punches from Gonzalez. Gonzalez attempted to use the barrage as a way to move Starks from one end of the ropes to another. But Starks, cool and collected in the pressure, used the flurries as an opportunity to show his catching skills, shifting and moving through one shot to the next and making almost none of Gonzalez’s shots land cleanly. After the barrage, Gonzalez was clearly gassed, so Starks took the reins. Walking Gonzalez down, Starks landed one head shot which bent Gonzalez over, another shot which punched Gonzalez down more, and 3 more which made Gonzalez kiss canvas and caused the ref wave off the fight in 2 minutes and 51 seconds of the first round.

“I was practicing my defense,” Starks told the announcer after the fight, “catching punches. I wanted to please the fans a little bit so I let it go a little longer than it should have.”

Starks then took a moment to remind fans that the more fights he has, the better the competition will be in the future.

In the prelims, Jeremy McLaurin faced a seriously tough fight with Hector Orozco. From the millisecond the bell rung, Orozco exploded into a barrage of head shots. McLaurin, looking somewhat surprised, moved back and tried to get some distance and range so that he could start landing. It didn’t happen. Orozco, sensing that his pressure tactics were overwhelming any opportunity for McLaurin to throw, kept up the pace the entire round, barreling in with looping shots and, once in, closing the distance by stuffing his head into McLaurin’s chest and hitting the body until they tangled and had to be separated by the ref.

McLaurin landing a big body blow, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

By round two, cries could be heard from ringside screaming at McLaurin to “JAB!! JAB!!! JAB JEREMY!!” But the well-wishers admonitions could not turn the tide as Orozco kept up his stifling pace and made McLaurin work more on moving than finding his usual clean shots. The pressure built more as round three wore on because fans, knowing that this was a four round fight, clearly felt that McLaurin had to pick up the pace in order to gain some leverage with the judges. And while round three was much closer that the previous two, clearly something spectacular needed to happen if McLaurin were to win the fight.

This spectacle happened in round three with a terrible right hand from McLaurin. The punch sliced into Orozco’s eye and opened a gash right under his eyebrow. The cut began to open more and bleed, bleed, bleed into his eye as it began to swell shut toward the end of the final round. Ref Nelson called Orozco over to the doctor for an examination. As the doc’s face became more concerned and his questions became more intent, Orozco began to plead with the doctor to let him continue…but alas for Orozco, the fight was called in1 minute and 41 seconds into the 4^th round due to the injury, making McLaurin the winner.

“I’ll keep fighting,” Orozco told me outside the venue after the fight, “You are going to see me again.”

And in previous bouts, it seems that there are other things that boxing fans will get to see again. After knocking out William Bellcourt in a mere 1 minute and 55 seconds of the first round, Antwan “Lil Superman” Robertson agreed to a rematch with “Bad” Brad Patraw.

As Robertson was about to make his exit, Patraw hopped up into the ring. As the crowd booed, Patraw took the mic and, with a smile on his face, looked at Robertson and said, “All I gotta say is I’m looking for my rematch.”

Antwan Robertson, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Playful in spirit, Robertson stomped his foot hard on the canvas in a theatric of mock shock.

“You got it!” Robertson said, “You gave me a shot. You beat me, and I beat you. Let’s do it!”

Both fighters smiled and exited the ring as the crowd cheered the idea of a rubber match between two fighters who collided both in the amateurs and now what will be the third time in the pros.

And finally, in the kick off of the evening, the crowd was treated to a double-header of quick knockouts. After slamming into Andrew Kato and causing him to flop over head first on third rope in round one, Don Tierney knocked out Kato in 21 seconds of the second round. And for the first bout of the evening Jose Hilario got a lightning fast KO victory over Joe Negron in a mere 41 seconds of round 1.

Photos by SnapLocally.com, click here to see more combat photography

Kolle (left) and Vanda, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

The Midwest Sports Council, RDS Company, and First Avenue Nightclub put on a fun night of fights. The place was packed with vocal fans. Although it turned out to be a short night of fights due to stoppages, it only seemed to add to the excitement among screaming fans. There were two announcements made regarding Minnesota state champions defending their titles. “Bad” Brad Patraw entered the ring after Antwan “Little Superman” Robertson won his fight and challenged him to a rematch for the state belt. After Andy “Kaos” Kolle won his fight they announce April 2 will bring on Kolle/Vanda 2. Aside from all of the big knock-downs, announcements and KO’s, the fight of the night belonged to Jeremy McLaurin and Hector Orozco. Below is a quick run-down of last night’s events. Laura Zink will also have a report later today.

Jose Hilario over Joe Negron (KO 41 seconds into the first round) - Hilario attacked and KOed Negron with a huge left hook. KO of the night.

Don Tierney punches Kato through ropes, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Don Tierney over Andrew Kato (TKO 21 seconds into the second round) - Tierney was the slicker and faster fighter. While Kato was throwing and for the most part missing with big shots, Tierney was moving and landing shots of his own, putting Kato on the mat two times in the first round. The second round started with a mad rush by Tierney that did not subside until the fight was stopped 21 seconds into the second round.

Antwan Robertson, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Antwan Robertson over William Bellcourt (TKO at 1:55 of the first round) - Robertson was just too fast with his jab and movement for Bellcourt. Superman landed hard clean shots at will until the fight was stopped.

McLaurin (left) and Orozco, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Jeremy McLaurin over Hector Orozco (Dr stopped the fight at 1:41 of the fourth and final round due to cut above Orozco’s eye caused by a right hand.) - This was the fight of the night. It reminded me a little of Eyer/Cortez. Orozco brought the pressure and big shots for much of the fight. Most observers had Orozco up by two rounds going into the third. McLaurin seemed to come alive in the third round using his length and superior boxing skills but Orozco was still able to land his shots and muscle McLaurin around a bit, very close round. The fourth round looked a lot like the third with McLaurin probably winning it up until a right hand from McLaurin caused a cut above Hectors left eye that the Dr deemed too serious to allow the fight to go on. Nice come-back win for McLaurin and a very tough break for Orozco.

Javontae Starks, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Javontae Starks over Alex Gonzalez (TKO at 2:51 of the first round) - The fight began with Gonzalez in his pro debut firing nonstop for most of the first half of the round. Though he was firing, little was hitting the always calm, cool, and collected Starks. When he wanted to, Starks opened his guard and landed monster punches whenever he desired. My last note before the stoppage was that it looked almost as though Starks was toying with Gonzalez until the ref stepped in and stopped things.

Andy Kolle (left), Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Andy “Kaos” Kolle over Pat Coleman (Coleman quit after the fifth round claiming he could not see) - This fight in a nut shell was Kolle throwing and Coleman standing in his guard. As the fight progressed Kolle began to get clean shots through Colemans guard by nailing the body and moving upstairs. All rounds showed Kolle throwing shots at Coleman as he back him through all portions of the ring. Although Kolle had him wobbled on a few occasions, Coleman only hit the mat in the fourth. The end of the fourth and through the 5th was Kolle throwing 1 2, 1 2, 1 2, and following up with 5 and 6 punch combos. It was clear after the fourth round that Coleman was beginning to have trouble seeing as the constant slam of Kolle’s lefts and rights were beginning to blind him. After the fifth round was over Coleman told his corner he could not see and the fight was stopped. This leads us to what may become the event of 2010, Andy Kolle vs Matt Vanda, April 2.