Night of Fights — Dooley, Hicks win main events

The 25th annual Night of Fights punched its way into the annals of the Greenwave wrestling program, but it was the evening’s last bout between two heavyweights that brought the fans to their feet, and their deafening roar of chants vibrated throughout the City-County Gym at Venturacci Park for the last two rounds.

The boxing card consisted of 16 bouts with three 1-minute rounds.

The classic matchup pitted Ben “Big Ben” Dooley against Marcellus “Big Chief” Schaffer in the Boys Main Event, a bout where each fighter gutted it out to the very end, and one where the crowd gave both boxers a standing ovation.

Each fighter sized each up each other in the first round. Dooley backed Schaffer into a neutral corner once, but neither boxer could land a blow. Schaffer came out swinging in the second round, but Dooley backed his opponent into the ropes and continued to land punches until referee Bert Serrano invoked a standing eight count.

Schaffer fired Dooley up when he knocked out his opponent’s mouthguard. Dooley stopped, stared at Schaffer and then taunted him. With the crowd screaming and cheering for each boxer, both Dooley and Schaffer went after each other with the gusto of two determined prize fighters. Dooley countered most every punch Schaffer threw and kept backing him into the blue corner.

The crowd’s chanting energized Dooley down the stretch, but time ran out on both boxers. After the bout, each boxer shook hands with the opposing coaches and then hugged each other in the center of the ring.

Judges rendered an unanimous decision for Dooley in a bout that could’ve gone either way.

In the Girls Main Event, Aisha “The Tongan” Sharron and Rihanna “White Chick” Farren went the distance in their bout.

Farren showed her aggressiveness in the first round, landing several soft jabs and moving from corners to the center of the ring.

Sharron kept her poised during the next two rounds, blocking most of Farren’s punches. Sharron became more of the aggressor in the third round, going after Farren. Sharron picked up the win by unanimous decision, and like the Boys Main Event, this bout could’ve gone either way with a decision.

Sean “Mercs” McCormick had another successful Night of Fights by earning an unanimous decision over Jimmy “The Joker” Seeger in the Boys Semi-Main Event. In control throughout the three rounds, McCormick stalked his opponent, landing a combination of punches on Seeger.

McCormick kept Seeger on the ropes for most of the bout, continuing to lead with his left.

Just as spirited was the Girls Semi-Main Event featuring Sadoni “Knocks Them” Downs and Makiala “Heavy Hitter” Hicks.

Hicks controlled the bout, landing more punches than her opponent. Her aggressiveness tired Downs throughout the bout, and Downs kept retreating in the second round.

Hicks’ conditioning prevailed in the final round, though. She chased Downs into her own corner and then knocked her down to invoke a standing eight count. Downs was slow getting onto her feet. Hicks unanimously picked up the win.

Austin “Doug” Maxfield vs. Kaden “Hand of” Stone — The first bout of the 2019 Night of Fights featured Stone entering the blue corner to the theme of the iconic Star Wars and to the cheers of the capacity crowd. The two boxers wasted little time in swinging at each other, a few punches from each boxer connecting.

Stone defeated Maxfield by unanimous decision.

Colby “Mighty Malko” Malkovich faced Mason “Billy” Adams in the second bout. Malkovich came out swinging, landing punches to Adams’ head and backing him into the ropes. The bout was stopped in the first round with Malkovich declared the winner of a technical knockout.

The female fighters squared off in the third bout between Janine “Asian Persuasion” Garcia and Paige “Der Machine” Donahue. Coming into the bout, Donahue had a distinct height advantage, but Garcia showed spunk in deflecting her punches. Garcia backed Donahue toward the ropes in the second round and caused her to fall backward with 14 seconds remaining.

Donahue landed a number of punches on Garcia in the final round, none doing much damage, but she won the bout by unanimous decision.

Myles “One Mile” Lara took on Drew “The Great” Kramer in the fourth bout of the evening, an all-American battle. Lara approached the ring with the theme music from “Rocky” blaring. Kramer approached his corner with the U.S. flag draped over his shoulders.

Both boxers went after each other, swinging wildly, but Kramer connected on several uppercuts. The action stayed on the red side for the first half of the second round with Kramer keeping Lara close to the ropes. Kramer definitely looked more energized in the third bout going after Lara.

By split decision, judges awarded the bout to Kramer.

Seth “Happy” Plants and Caden “Snickers” Bowman rolled in with another iconic Rocky movie theme of “Eye of the Tiger” in bout five. Bowman and Plants danced along the ropes for most of the first round, but each fighter kept the pressure on the other. Bowman aggressively pursued Plans to open the second round until Plants landed a well-placed punch for a standing eight count.

Bowman went after Plants to open the final round, but Plants responded and landed a shot to the head, causing Bowman to retreat toward his corner.

In another great fight, Plants won by split decision.

Bout six featured William “The Wild” Card and Wyatt “Storm’n Mormon” Hatch.

Card entered the bout with a slight height advantage and used it to begin the first round. He also landed a few blows to Hatch’s face, but after referee Bert Serrano checked Hatch, he came out and landed a punch to Card’s head.

Card kept backing Hatch toward the ropes in the second round, looking poised with his with his jabs. Both boxers brawled in the third round, chasing each other and swinging wildly.

In the end, though, Card had the ace by winning an unanimous decision.

In a three-boxer bout, Kansas “Daddy” Smith, Alexis “Sweet Pea” Jarrett and Franny “Hits Like a Man” Mori took to the ring.

Smith and Mori boxed first. Mori roared out of the blue corner, landing one hit after another on Smith and backing her to the ropes. Mori, who relentlessly landed one punch after another, won by technical knockout.

The second round between Mori and Jarrett featured a brawl around the mat. Jarrett, fighting out of the red corner, landed several punches on Mori as time ticked away. Mori, though, held her own and aggressively fought Jarrett.

In the third round, Mori appeared to be wearing down as Jarrett kept coming after Mori.

Judges declared the bout a draw between Jarrett and Mori.

Case “Cornbread” Cornmesser and Harley “Hitman” Fausey entered the ring for bout eight. Fausey zeroed in on Cornmesser to begin the match. Cornmesser regrouped, went after Fausey and caused him to stumble near the end of the first round.

Cornmesser opened the second round with a flurry of punches, causing Fausey to drop by the ropes. Once Serrano separated the boxers, Cornmesser continued to go after Fausey, landing another punch to the chin.

Cornmesser gained more momentum in the third round, causing Fausey to lose his head gear twice. Both boxers battled each other with one punch after another until the final bell. Cornmesser won by unanimous decision.

Shaw “Big Red” Lee and Tristen “Wreck Your Life” Rodarte fought in the ninth bout. Rodarte came out swinging wildly, failing to connect on any uppercuts as Lee dodged one attempt after another.

Both boxers went after each other in the second round, each holding his own. In the final round, Rodarte dodged several punches as both boxers began to fade. By split decision, Lee won.

The females took to the ring in bout 10. Hailey “The Hurricane” Guerrero faced Amanda “Scary” Carey. Guerrero began the first round aggressively and landed a punch to the face to stun Carey. Listening to instructions from her corner, Carey kept backing Guerrero up in the second round and also chased Guerrero into her corner.

Guerrero didn’t connect with her punches in the third round, but that didn’t prevent her from winning by unanimous decision.

In a three-way match for bout 11, Tim “Timmy Studders” Adams, Andrew “Thunder” Larimer and Neil “Dino” Murran fought. The first round began with Larimer and Adams, who immediately came after Larimer.

The second round saw Murran coming to the blue corner, and Larimer remaining in the ring. Murran chased Larimer, but Larimer responded with a right hook to Murran’s head.

In the final round, Adams tangled with Murran as both boxers landed several punches. The overall winner of among the three boxers was Adams.

Another three-way bout before the main matches of the night included Tommy “Money” McCormick, Caleb “Haymaker” Haynes and Ethan “Golden Gloves” Martinez.

McCormick went after Haynes in the first round with a number of punches to the head resulting in a standing-eight count. Once the bout resumed, McCormick continued to pummel Haynes, knocking him to the mat.

In the second and third rounds, McCormick faced Martinez. Both boxers swung wildly to begin the second round, but McCormick kept backing Martinez to the ropes and showed more aggressiveness.

McCormick landed a combination of punches on Martinez, wearing out his opponent out in the final round. Judges declared McCormick the unanimous winner of the three-way bout.

Judges selected the Cornmesser-Fausey match as the best bout of the night, and Adams as best boxer.