By Jake Donovan
It was a rare night of boxing on ESPN2 in the fall, as the Deuce boldly went against Game Six of the Major League Baseball World Series to air live from the Marine Corps Air Station in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Judging by the action presented from each sport – it’s the thought that counts, as far as boxing is concerned.
The most grateful participant of the evening was Jason Litzau, who continues to rebuild a career that was once threatening to spiral out of control. The usually all-action super featherweight found comfort in boxing his way to a decision win over former Marine and crowd favorite Johnnie Edwards in their ten-round main event.
Litzau weighed in at the super featherweight limit of 130 lb.; Edwards was one pound lighter at a compact 129 lb.
The surprisingly slow pace worked to Edwards benefit in the early going, as Litzau struggled to click offensively. Despite boasting a 6” height and 9” reach advantage, the one-time featherweight title challenger found Edwards to be an elusive target.
All of that changed in the third round, at which point Litzau began to land with a semblance of regularity, slowly but surely picking apart Edwards the rest of the way. Edwards found himself on the canvas on numerous occasions, though never once for an eight count as there were no official knockdowns in the bout.
Referee Dale Frye was a busy man throughout, constantly breaking apart clinches, differentiating slips from knockdowns, and also forced to determine on the spot that a cut over Litzau’s left eye was the result of a punch, though not enough to create any sense of urgency.
While a knockout never threatened to surface, Litzau continued to press the action in the later rounds. The Minnesota-based puncher was at his most effective when he remembered to work behind his jab, coming back with straight right hands that often resulted in an Edwards clinch.
The fight eventually reached a point where Edwards was no longer interested in representing the Corps, but rather finishing the fight on his feet. Litzau spent every second of the final six minutes trying to put on a show for the fans, continuing to come forward and landing effectively upstairs and to the body until eventually running out of clock.
A couple of hours before his Bronx Bombers earned their 27th World Series Championship, Frankie “Gato” Figueroa appeared to be on his way to an upset win in his televised co-feature with welterweight Rashad Holloway.
He was instead forced to settle for a split decision draw in their six-round welterweight battle that featured far too little action or punches landed, leaving the judges with not much to choose from.
The bout came in stark contrast to the last time Figueroa appeared on the Deuce, trading knockdowns with Randall Bailey before winding up on the wrong end in one of the year’s best knockouts. Tonight’s bout was ugly and lacking ebb and flow, though such a fight normally favors the southpaw boxer.
Not so, said two of the three judges, though it was the type of fight where there was no wrong scorecard. Scores of 58-56 Holloway, 58-56 Figueroa and 57-57 even sees neither fighter advance in what have been rough 2009 campaigns for each.
Figueroa is now 20-3-1 (13KO), but goes winless for the year. He deserves credit for not only moving up in weight to take this fight, but agreeing to a higher limit after Holloway revealed last week that he was struggling to make the catchweight upon which they initially agreed.
Still, a performance such as this won’t have networks racing to secure a future time slot, thus leaving promoter Square Ring with an uphill battle in efforts to move his career.
For Holloway, the verdict is indicative of his recent progress, or lack thereof – a career destined to remain in neutral. The split tie sees his record shift to 11-1-2 (5KO), having now been held to a draw in two of his last three fights.
The Cincinnati native grabbed past headlines for his sparring work with Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, but has yet to put it altogether in any fight that matters. The skills are evident, but the passion is sorely lacking, at least once the bell rings.
The lone pro bout of the evening to offer any action also proved to be the evening’s most lopsided affair. Yaundale Evans kicked off the pro action with a four-round whitewash of Jason Rorie in their super featherweight scrap.
Evans scored knockdowns in the first and second round, and appeared well on his way to scoring a stoppage at any given time. Credit goes to Rorie, who never stopped fighting despite being down twice and with blood oozing from a cut over his right eye.
It wasn’t enough to ever turn the tide, but enabled the North Carolina native to cross the finish line. That was where Rorie’s good news ended. Scores of 40-34 (2x) and 39-35 were announced for Evans, who improves to 3-0 (2KO) with the win.
Having turned pro less than three months ago, the bout was Evans’ first to last beyond the first round and the first to go to the cards. All told, the televised prelim proved to be a quality win for the talented Cleveland-based newcomer.
Rorie’s record evens up at 5-5-2 (2KO) with the loss, his second straight.
Even rarer than an ESPN2 Wednesday Night Fights telecast in the fall is the presence of amateur fighters on the televised portion of the show.
With tonight’s card airing live from Camp Lejeune, four Marines were featured in two separate three-round amateur bouts.
Private First Class (PFC) Jason Jordan was given the chance to live out the dream of every lower enlisted soldier – to beat the snot out of someone who outranks him. He fell very short of making that dream a reality, as Lance Corporal (LCPL) Tommy “No Joke” Roque outworked, outlanded and eventually outpointed Jordan over the course of their three-round affair.
The higher ranking soldier came through in the second battle as well, as CPL Angel Garcia emerged victorious over the much taller and more experienced LCPL Pierre Webster. It became a matter of will over skill, though not a decision that set well with the enlisted soldiers on hand in attendance.
The show was presented by Square Ring, Inc.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .