Photos by SnapLocally.com

Truax (left) Williams (right), Courtesy SnapLocally.com

In front of a full house at the St Paul Armory, “Golden” Caleb Truax and Phil “The Drill” Williams did something nobody predicted would happen, they fought to a draw. To the fans point of view this decision was split among party lines, both sides feeling their guy got robbed. I even pulled some of the professional fighters in attendance and it was an even split as to who they thought had won the fight, again following their party lines. My vantage point was somewhat obstructed so I could not give a completely accurate scoring myself. Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell  finished his destruction of Josh Gutcher in exciting fashion at 55 seconds of the second round. Ismail “Sharp Shooter” Muwendo lived up to his moniker with precise strikes until his fight was stopped after the 5thround. Full results below. Stay tuned for more on the Truax/Williams fight from Laura Zink.

Derek Winston exhibition Jake Backus - This was one of the more spirited exhibitions I have seen. I think if Winston would use his length more he would be a very tough foe.

Meier (left) Copp (right), Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Charlse Meier over Dan Copp (UD 40,36/ 39,37/ 40,36) - This was a pretty fun fight. Meier was able to control things when he stuck to his boxing and using his jab. To Copp’s credit he was very game in this fight, he did much of the pressing and was able to land a fair amount of his punches.

Courtesy SnapLocally.com

James Owen over Antwan Robertson  (UD 40,36/ 39,37/ 40,36) - Superman vs Batman, Robertson came to the ring in his customary Superman attire while Owen was sporting a Batman T. From opening bell until the final moments of the fight Batman controlled the ring. As soon as both fighters entered the ring it was clear to me that Robertson was the much smaller man and Owen took full advantage of that in forcing almost all the action and stalking Robertson around the ring for pretty much the entire fight.

MMA

Zach Juusola over Shaine Emmons (Arm Bar)

Travis Reddinger over Elias Jones (Ground and Pound)

Boxing

Muwendo (right) Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Ismail “Sharp Shooter” Muwendo over David Laque (Ref stopped the fight after the 5th) - Muwendo continues to impress me hugely. Laque looked quite a bit bigger to me but that did not stop Muwendo from dishing out punishment over the 5 rounds the fight lasted. Ismail Muwendo was sharp as ever with his jabs and pretty much whatever else he threw. I think it was only Laque’s size advantage that kept him on his feet throughout. I dont think it will be long before we hear much more from Sharp Shooter.

Joey "Minnesota Ice" Abell, Courtesy SnapLocally.com

Joey “Minnesota Ice’ Abell over Josh Gutcher(Stopped 55 seconds into the 2nd round) - Not too much to say about this fight. Abell is just a man amongst boys in most cases when he enters the ring. One only needs to look at Abell as he enters the ring to know what separates him from so many. Abell seemed like he would knock Gutchers head off with every strike landed. Ice stunned Gutcher on several occasions with varying punches from jabs to straight lefts, hooks and you name it, almost every throw could have been a game ender.

Truax (left) Courtesy SnapLocally.com

“Golden” Caleb Truax Draw Phil “The Drill” Williams (Draw 97,94 T/ 96,94 W/ 95,95) - This was a much different fight than I expected. Phil Williams learned his lesson against Matt Vanda and decided to let his hands go during his fight with Truax. Early in the contest it seemed Truax’s superior boxing skill would win the day but as the rounds went on and Williams kept increasing his offense the fight grew very close. Like I have stated before from my vantage point I would not feel comfortable giving any score other than I saw it as a close fight. The two biggest things I took away from this one is, Phil Williams was able to learn from prior mistakes and used his full arsenal in this fight, and Caleb Truax has a chin, a very good chin.

Again, stay tuned for Laura Zink’s peice on the fight.