By Ryan Burton @ ringside

MORE LIVE RESULTS TO COME.............
 
Family Arena, St. Charles, Mo. - Chaen "Checkmate" Chess made a successful ring debut when he knocked out the blubbery Michael Lunsford (0-5) in their heavyweight tilt.  At times it appeared that Lunsford was throwing his wide punches in slow motion.  Chess put his punches together in the second round and badly hurt his rotund opponent prompting the ref to call a halt to the action at the 2:33 mark of the 2nd round.

Junior middleweight prospect Omar Henry (11-0) made a successful return to the ring after a long layoff when he starched Chris Tyler (2-5-1) in the first round. The fight was sloppy as both fighters pushed and shoved each other throughout the fight.  A right hand to the head finished off Tyler.  Henry recently signed with Don King Promotions.

Former two division champion Cory "The Next Generation" Spinks (38-6) made a successful return to the ring when he defeated Shakir Ashanti (16-11) via unanimous decision.  The scores were 100-90 on all three scorecards as Spinks dominated his hapless opponent to the delight of his hometown fans. 

The fight took place in the middleweight divison and Spinks looked more lively at this weight than he did in his last ring appearance, a knockout loss to Cornelius Bundrage this past August.  Spinks started out very aggressivley going to Ashanti's body.  Towards the middle of the first round a low blow by Spinks drew a warning from the ref.  Spinks started to attack upstairs as his opponent fought tentatively.  Cory was warned for another low blow in the second round although it was a borderlne punch. 

Spinks really started hammering Ashanti midway through the third round, buzzing him several times.  The fight continued the same way as both men fought in a phone booth with Cory pressing the action and Ashanti offering little in the way of return fire. 

In a clash of lightweights, Yuri Romanov (22-2) defeated Darien Ford (11-21) via TKO at the 1:50 mark of the 5th round.  Romanov sent Ford to the canvas at the end of the 2nd round but the veteran was able to beat the count.  Romanov sent Ford to the floor 3 more times in the final round prompting the ref waive the fight off.

Undefeated light heavyweight Nelson Linares (20-0-1) defeated a game Jose Spearman (28-17-5) via unanimous decision. The scores were 79-73 twice and 78-74. Spearman put up a spirited effort but was overmatched by his Venezuelan opponent.  Both fighters stood and traded for most of the fight.  In the end Linares was too much for his opponent. 

In the opening bout to the Devon Alexander-Lucas Matthysse junior welterweight collision, former interm -WBA cruiserweight champion Valery Brudov (39-3) scored a second round knockout over Jimmie Franklin (9-14-2).
 

Tags: Cory Spinks , Omar Henry