17.05.05 – By Christine Maynard: The venue for six fights Saturday, May 14th, was Coushatta Grand Casino, located on Louisiana’s Mason-Dixon line dividing Bible belt, Baptist, north Louisiana piney woods, from the laissez les bon temps roules Catholic, south Louisiana swamps. Owned by the Coushatta Indian tribe, this once sylvan hunting ground now proffers “bread and circuses,” for the masses. And the boxing entertainment was not a disappointment.
Think Gladiator. Instead of loaves thrown to onlookers in the coliseum, who were hungering for blood rather than bread, call girls in fluorescent pink lycra threw shirts emblazoned “Knock Outs in Coushatta.” The videos projected before each boxer emerged were inflammatory for the crowd and the opponent, like initial spur cuts in a cock fight. The emcee and promoter was Nora Papillon, a heavy set black man coiffed and made up. His theatrics and the drama of the pre-recorded videos set the tone for the fights.
A doctor’s wife seated next to the ring hid her face in her husband’s sports coat when she wasn’t motioning, thespian-like, for the bloodied boxer who’d been downed numerous times to come “off stage.” Her “affect” was juxtaposed to a casino crowd that booed fluidly, in mob mentality waves, when a lull in action occurred, evidently conditioned by the slots.
The first fight was sacrificial, not a chance for Carl “the dog” Pierce, who ran from the lion in the coliseum, Chris Henry. Chris has a flawless record, and has KO’d his past 4 opponents in short order. Carl was 1-4. You could smell the fear. When he fled from Chris, terrified, there were two distinct reactions, which polarized the audience. Some felt compassion and pity; others reviled his apparent cowardice, and booed loudly. One minute and 48 seconds into the fight, Chris’ KO of his opponent was a relief, merciful compared to the abuse 39 year old Carl could have suffered, if the fight had gone on beyond the first round.
“Bad” Chad Broussard was 35-0 in the early 90’s, ranked #1 by the WBF. His impressive career was short circuited by jail time for drug charges and a later parole violation. Broussard says, of his comeback “It’s been a slow and grueling process. It has taken me basically two years to get Chad back to where Chad was.” (Crowley Post Signal, 5-13-2005)
He looked hardened; Bad Chad was tattooed in large, block letters on his tanned, taut stomach, accentuated by his silver sequined black trunks. He disrobed to ”Bad to the bone.” Brad knows how to work the crowd and he had no trouble eliciting a visceral response.
His highly defined legs, huge lats and a thick torso, combined with “attitude” made it appear that he was ready to draw and quarter his opponent, Brad Thompson, of Tuscaloosa, AL. Despite his pallor and the fact that he was sporting sandy blonde braids that look like corn rows, this fighter displayed heart, refusing to stay down. Bleeding from one nostril early on, and taking some serious abuse from Chad, he was downed twice, and both times was saved by the bell. The next time he was felled, a palpable murmur issued from the crowd as he again rose, staggered, hands raised, and no referee nixed his return.
The fight doctor’s wife reached for him, as if he were going to take her hand, assisted like a card girl, and step out of the ring. Chad was an animal, looking too big and bad for Brad, although, in actuality, Brad outweighed him by 3 pounds (150 –153.) 50 seconds into the 4th of 6 rounds, referee Bruce McDaniel declared a TKO taking Bad Chad to 49-4 with 35 KO’s.
Chad’s performance is solid enough to warrant a match in Lafayette, LA between himself and Rodney Wilson on June 17th for the vacant IBU Welterweight title.
Shelby “Showtime” Pudwill from North Dakota (20-2 with 9 KO’s) beat down James “Hurricane” Kitchens, (6-2 with 5 KO’s.) Pudwill’s finesse in the ring was apparent early on, and he easily outboxed Kitchens. Bearing a chest covered in tattoos and a crazed look in his eyes, Kitchens was out pointed and tired early on. He didn’t come up with combos, and Pudwill was able to break him down. A good slipper, Pudwill didn’t take many blows himself. When he did, they were body shots, along with a couple of head butts that the ref noted.
Pudwill was an excellent counter puncher, with good footwork. His glove touched the floor twice but he recovered, a collective breath in, as the growing favorite stumbled. The fight clearly belonged to Pudwill 40-36.
Mary Jo Sanders, 15-0 with 5 KO’s, and the IBA Jr. welterweight champion, is also Ring magazine’s 2004 female fighter of the year. She had a good show, even without an opponent. She is a personable, accomplished boxer with beautifully developed deltoids, biceps and triceps. It is a shame that she didn’t get an opportunity to demonstrate what she is capable of achieving with her musculature and well honed skills.
She was reduced to chasing “Brown Sugar”, Belinda Laracuente, from Florida, around the ring for way too many rounds. Mary Jo aimed at her chest, as Belinda’s head moved like a toy Chihuahua situated below furry dice on a dash. The fight was met by a yawning audience, despite the wet T-shirt effects created by Belinda’s casual “uniform” of a soaked white sheer jog bra and wispy running shorts- no protective gear. Negotiating grey panties into a more comfortable position, she’d head to her corner, unscathed, after each two minutes, as if she and Mary Jo had been playing 4 corners on a school yard. She danced and jived with exaggerated facial expressions and never (maybe once) threw a right jab. Much of her time was spent tucked into her ribcage behind a fortress of forearms, on the ropes.
Mary Jo got her good once. She was wincing, crouching in pain, momentarily stopping her Ali shuffle. 99-91, 98-92, 100-90; the victory went to Mary Jo Sanders.
I spoke to Mary Jo’s intended opponent Lisa Holewyne. She was forced to drop out of the fight because of an injury sustained during sparring. He elbow and forearm were swollen and painful, possibly due to a bone spur. She stated, in a telephone interview, that the injury had limited her range of motion, making it impossible to have any snap in her punch. She mentioned taking it to heart and feeling very emotional about missing the fight and she expressed concern about the real possibility of this injury causing her to retire. As of this read, Holewyne plans a retirement fight in Austin in the Fall, with 5 fights on the undercard. She mentioned that she was the longest reigning female champion in the history of boxing. Holewyne continued, stating that Mary Jo was “a hell of a fighter; faster and younger than me. She is the female fighter of the future.”
Olympics Gold Medalist Vassiliy Jirov defeated southpaw Troy Beets, leaving his worthy opponent with a broken hand. Jirov, 34-3 with 30 KO’s, is originally from Russia. Troy “The Basher” Beets, 15-5 with 8 KO’s is from Ocean Springs Mississippi. Jirov had a point taken in round 8 for low blows. They both appeared beat by round 5 of 10. Vassiliy fought 5 weeks ago, but his movements seemed to be in slow motion. Yet, his facile boxing form, and well orchestrated combinations were, as always, evident. Beets displayed guts and heart, creating a lot of buzz with his bravery in the ring. It was conceivable by round 5 that he could win, if he put on the pressure. But the win went to Vassiliy. The 3 time cruiser weight champion simply outboxed him. Beets knocked him down (pushed) once. The crowd booed during the fight, as well as when the winner was announced. 97-92, 97-93, and 97-92. Unanimous decision.
The fight of the night was JoJo Aiken’s (7-4 6 KO’s ) victory over Will McIntyre (36-3-14KO’s ). Aiken threw volleys of punches and made good use of his long arms. Once he figured out the range he was merciless in delivering punches. However, Will retorted with numerous combos and plenty of solid punches himself. If Jojo hadn’t knocked Will down, he wouldn’t have won. McIntyre should have been creaming him, but Jojo kept it coming. The crowd, initially showing thunderous support for Will, began to favor the underdog for his valiant effort, mid way into the fight. His heart was into it, and his skills took over. He proved a survivor, and was victorious. He sucked it up and dug down deep, finding the reserve to fuel his effort. The crowd read that, and responded. 57-56 three times.