Andy "Kaos" Kolle hoisted in victory, Courtesy of Walters Photography
Tickets are going fast to see Andy ”Kaos” Kolle, Javontae Starks, Jeremy McLaurin, Jose Hilario and more. If you are thinking of going to this event, be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible.
Cory Rapacz (left) with Javontae Starks, Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Andy Kolle to Headline February 5 at First Avenue in Minneapolis
For Immediate Release
Minneapolis, MN- Minnesota’s middleweight champion is slated to make his return to the ring this February. Andy “Kaos” Kolle(19-2 14 ko’s) will take on Pat “The Cat” Coleman (29-15 20 ko’s) on February 5 at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN.
Courtesy Walters Photography, all rights reserved
Kolle is coming off of a highlight reel knockout of Anthony Bonsante in March, and an impressive stoppage of Anthony Shuler in June. Although Kolle has been inactive for six months he insists that February 5th presents an opportunity to not only get back into action, but turn some heads in the Twin Cities.
“I am really looking forward to getting back into the ring, it has been too long! It has been a few years since I have fought in the Twin Cities so I can’t wait to come and show the boxing fans there what I got. I don’t know much about my opponent but that is nothing new to me so I will be ready for whatever he brings to the table”
Kolle vs Coleman will be promoted by Midwest Sports Council in association with RDS Company and will bring boxing to the venue made famous by Prince in the mid 80’s. In addition to the anticipated return of Andy Kolle heralded prospect Javontae Starks(2-0 2 ko’s) will do battle for the first time in his native Minneapolis when he takes on Matt Ellis(2-1) in the co-feature. Starks’ MSC stablemate Jeremy McLaurin(6-0 4 ko’s) will also be in action against Brandon Quintana (2-4).
Decorated amateur Tony Lee(1-0) is slated to fight Javier Segura, while fellow prospect Jose Hilario takes on Hector Orozco. Rounding out the card will be Donny Tierney (1-1) taking on Andrew Kato, and Zach Schumach(1-2-1) taking on Lenny McQuen in his professional debut.
The Event will be 18+ and Tickets are available at www.first-avenue.com
Contact: Brett Mauren (publicist)
Fort landing big, Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Cerresso Fort and Javontae Starks to be Showcased in Hinckley!
For Immediate Release
Minneapolis, MN- Midwest Sports Council will showcase two of Minnesota’s top prospects in separate bouts on December 18 at Grand Casino Hinckley.
Cerresso Fort (8-0 7 ko’s) solidified himself as an emerging prospect on November 13 with a win over Lamar Harris, While Javontae Starks dazzled in his anticipated debut the same night, scoring a second round stoppage over Dan Copp. The two will represent Minnesota on an all prospect card that will feature Shawn Porter, and Fernando Guererro and will be aired on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation”.
Fort , 23, hails from St. Paul and will continue his campaign in the middleweight division. After a successful amateur career Fort strung together seven straight stoppages to open his career, and has begun to make a name as one of the state’s most exciting young fighters.
Starks, 20, boxes out of Minneapolis and kicked off his anticipated pro career on November 13. Starks will likely fight in the 154 lb. division before moving to 147. Throughout his amateur career Starks proved to be among the nation’s elite, and doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon.
December 18 will provide an opportunity for Minnesota boxing fans to watch two of the state’s brightest prospects box on a major stage. The card will be rounded out with out with fellow Minnesotans Jeremy McLaurin, Derek Winston, and Brad Patraw.
Tickets are listed at $20, $35, $55, and $100 and are available at grandcasinomn.com.
National TV comes back to Minnesota. SHOWTIME’s, SHOWBOX will be broadcasting live from Hinckley Grand Casino December 18. There will be three world class bouts plus many of Minnesota’s risings stars. Jeremy McLaurin, Cerresso Fort, Javontae Starks and others will fill out the undercard of this event. Below is the televised portion.
First off, I want to give credit where credit is due. MSC, RDS company, and Hinckley Grand Casino held what has to be one of the years best cards. I want to specifically congratulate Cory Rapacz on the best matched card of the year in my opinion, there was only one fight where the judges were not needed. All but two fights were close in my mind.
Vanda landing on Williams, courtesy SnapLocally.com
This night belonged to Matt Vanda, he is a Minnesota boxing superstar. There is just something about Skeletor/The Predator that feels almost bigger than the fights. His walk to the ring with loud heavy music blaring is really something to be seen in person. Once that first bell rang, this fight pretty much belonged to the teacher. Vanda stalked, landed, joked, taunted, and defended with the aggression and control of guy who knew he was just too much for the less experienced foe.
Vanda took my keys to the fight and threw them out the window. Guess there is a reason he has a MUCH greater boxing mind in his corner, Ron Lyke. Vanda acted and looked to be the stronger man. He landed the much more meaningful punches and was pressing and pushing Williams around the ring with what looked to me to be EASE. This fight was pretty much the exact opposite of what I thought it would be. During the 8th round Vandas corner was yelling “He can’t hurt you”. Phil Williams just looked like he never got started. The Drill maybe let two or three of his bombs fly in this fight, and against a guy with as much experience and understanding of the ring as Matt Vanda, that’s just never going to work for somebody who’s game depends on power. As a guy who sat ringside for Williams fight against Echols, I was baffalled and frustrated at the way The Drill approached this one. Matt Vanda deserves credit for how he outclassed Williams from start to finish. In what to me was a big surprise, the judges scored this a split decision, thankfully the right guy won. (SD, 97,93/ 96,95/ 97,94/ Matt Vanda winner) After the fight I started to ask Phil Williams why he never let his hands go? Before I got the words out of my mouth, Williams said “I know I should have let my hands go”.
Wilton Hilario (left), Courtesy SnapLocally.com
The co main event was Wilton Hilario vs Leon Bobo and this one had no chance of being pretty. Hilario came to fight, but you need two to tango. Bobo was fast and allusive, but that is pretty much it. I give credit to Hilario for doing all he could to make it a fight and watchable for the fans. (UD, 78,74/ 78,74/ 79,73/ Wilton Hilario winner)
Cerresso Fort (right), Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Lamar Harris vs Cerresso Fort was the fight of the night. Well, the fight of the night if you love toe to toe slug fests, and I do. You could see the bad blood Jesse Kelley of MinnesotaBoxing.com had reported yesterday. These guys were throwing home run swings from the start. Both Harris and Fort had the other hurt at several points. After this fight there should be no question about the chins of either of these guys. Handling the shots of Harris should leave no question that Fort is strongly in the mix a middle. (UD, 59,56/ 58,54/ 59,55/ Cerresso Fort winner)
The take down, Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Cory Rapacz (right) with Javontae Starks, Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Javontae Starks vs Dan Copp was pretty much what all expected it to be, a great debut for Starks. The first round was mostly just testing out the waters. Round two was ended by the vicious body blows Starks was known for as an amateur. (TKO 1:29 of the second, Javontae Starks winner)
Sam Morales (left), Courtesy SnapLocally.com
The night started with a with a pretty exciting fight. Tim Taggart vs Sam Morales was a slug fest, not much in the way of defense. (MD, 38,38/ 38,38/ 39,37/ last judge scoring for Taggart)
Also on the card was Zach Schumach vs Don Tierney (MD, 38,38/ 39,38/ 39,37/ Zach Schumach winner)
Stay tuned for Laura Zink’s fight report and comments from Vanda and Williams.
Fort landing big, Courtesy SnapLocally.com
Jim Erickson
The conference room where the weigh-ins were held was standing room only. Trainers, fighters, and spectators were all eager to get this exciting show rolling. Fox Sports North was on hand to cover the beginning of what will culminate tomorrow night at 7:30PM, with FSN coverage beginning at 8:45PM. Jim Erickson went over the rules and some questions were asked about details of what would be acceptable for rapping hands. Matt Vanda looked to be in good spirits as did most of the fighters. Below are some short quotes and weights from tonight’s event.
Phil “The Drill” Williams – “It is going to be a great show. I told you this would be my year, 2010 will be too.”
Phil Williams
Wilton Hilario – “I am ready to fight”
Javontae Starks – “Excited, I am ready. I want to get this first one over with.”
Tim Taggart – “I’m excited to be back home to fight.”
Phil Williams 164.5
Matt Vanda 164
Leon Bobo 131 – one pound over, he had two hours to get down to 130 fight weight
Wilton Hilario 130
Cerresso Fort 161.5
Lamar Harris 160
Sam Morales 163.5
Tim Taggart 163
Zach Schumach 150
Don Tierney 149.5
Dan Copp 154
Javontae Starks 153.5
This event could be called, night of tests. Almost all of the bouts on this card feature huge tests for some of Minnesota’s best boxing prospects. I love it!
This card is going to be fun. Generally you don’t hear a lot of chatter about more than maybe one or two fights on any given card. But MSC’s show this Friday night has been talked about from first fight to last. Honestly, I have not heard more conversation about an opening bout than Tim Taggard vs Sam Morales. Then there are the four TV fights that have everyone excited for Minnesota boxing.
Matt Vanda (41,9) vs Phil Williams (11,1) – This fight caused so much excitement the show sold out two weeks before its date. We already have written quite a bit about this one, and will have Keys to victory for Phil Williams tomorrow. – Remember this fight starts at 8:45 PM, right after the Wild game. It will be the third fight of the night for those in attendance.
Wilton Hilario (11,0,1) vs Leon Bobo (18,3,1) – This is a Main Event on most evenings. Hilario did not get his wish to fight Minnesota’s pound for pound best, Jason Litzau, but does get a safer test with a step up fighter. I am really looking forward to this one. While Bobo doesn’t seem to have much pop, only 3 KO’s, he has been in there with the highest of competition and if Hilario can take him down it will be a big boost for his career.
Cerresso Fort (7,0) vs Lamar Harris (6,3,2) – This fight is considered by many to be Fort’s biggest to date. For one, he’s on TV, for another, Lamar Harris may have 3 losses and 2 draws but the guy only seems to fight undefeated prospects. While I think Fort will take care of this one handily it will still be a nice step up the ladder.
Javontae Starks (debut) vs Dan Copp (1,1) – People can not wait to see what Javontae Starks can do as a pro. He was one of the nations best as an amateur and will now see how that translates into the pro game. From the video I have watched of him, he looks like he is built to be a professional. I have been ringside for both of Dan Copps fights. His first was against Jon Schmidt and he was soundly out boxed and TKO ed in the 3rd. Copp got his win against a fellow MMA guy when the two of them met in a boxing match. Starks should be able to use his boxing skills to make easy work of this fight, but Copp will bring it. He has a motor that keeps on running. Should be a fun one.
Tonight is weigh ins for the fight and The League plans to be there. I will try and put up some photos, weights, and hopefully a few quotes tonight.
>7-30-09 Phil Williams Part II
7-31-09 Phil Williams Part III
10-26-09 Vanda vs Williams first glance
10-29-09 Whats wrong with wanting to fight the best?
11-09-09 Matt Vanda, keys to victory
With the fights being broadcast on FSN, the main event featuring Matt Vanda vs Phil Williams will be broadcast first after the Wild game. It is listed as 8:45PM. So unlike on most cards it will not be the last fight of the night. If you wait to enter you may miss the headliners. The non TV fights start at 7:30 PM and the card goes as follows.
1.Tim Taggart vs. Sam Morales
2. Don Tierney vs. Zach Schumach
Fox Sports North Broadcast
3. Matt Vanda vs. Phil Williams
4. Wilton Hilario vs. Leon Bobo
5. Cerresso Fort vs. Lamar Harris
6. Javontae Starks vs. Dan Copp
For those like myself who didn’t get a chance to watch Starks as an amateur.
Here is the link to video. Again, having video on front page was causing issues for some. youtube.com
Minnesota is boxing! We have had more professional fight cards this year than any in recent memory. And there are at least three more coming. Three very big cards and two have huge Minnesota vs Minnesota fights on them. Its a very good time to love the local boxing scene. Having three big shows is great, but it does make for a juggling act by those trying to cover them to the fullest. We have been, and will try to continue to cover them all to the best of our abilities. The week leading up to each of these events we will try and dedicate all our resources to that show. Breaking news aside, all opinion pieces and interviews during that time will have a focus on the fights coming up that weekend. This plan can only work with cooperation of each promotion in granting interviews and passing along pertinent news. If you feel our coverage is leaning towards one card or another, I promise that is due to information flow. If we are granted interviews and given news, you can be sure it will be passed along to you. All this said, we are committed to trying to give new content on daily basis and if that means we have to veer from the above path, so be it. Below is a rundown of these three exciting fight cards.
November 13/ Hinckley Grand Casino/ Televised on Fox Sports North – Matt “The Predator” Vanda vs Phil “The Drill” Williams/ Wilton Hilario vs Leon Bobo/ The highly anticipated professional debut of Javontae Starks. Click on below poster for more on fight card and ticket information.
November 20/ St Paul Armory - ”Golden” Caleb Truax vs Carl Daniels for the IBA Americas Middleweight Title/ Mohammed Kayongo vs James Todd for the WBF United States Welterweight Title. Click on below poster for more on fight card and ticket information.
December 4/ The Target Center – Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell vs Raphael “The Silencer” Butler for Minnesota Heavyweight supremacy and Title/ Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters vs Larry “Razor” Sharpe. Click on below poster for more on card and ticket information.
