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THE LUNA PARK FIGHT CARD
Opening Bout
The event started with an absolutely fantastic bout, debutants John Tate of Arkansas and Russia's Sergey Pogrebnyak going toe-to-toe like their lives depended on it in a real slugfest. After Tate had the better of an explosive 1st Pogrebnyak came into the contest in rounds two and three, the combatants exchanging numerous haymakers. At the start of the 2nd Tate built on his good work from round one but by the time the frame was over the Russian had shown more than enough to confirm he was capable of winning. He found the mark with a series of wild looping lefts and rights, doing the same in round three before Tate finished it with a flurry of activity.
Defense was put on the backburner, especially in the Russian's case. Both men were determined to overpower the other and that resolute attitude was leading to an incredible fight, the crowd on their feet. It was amazing that two "rookies" were able to produce such a display. The end came in round four, Tate dominating the stanza to the point where Pogrebnyak was exhausted and stunned. A single smashing left hook floored him late in the round and he couldn't beat the count, the fight over at the 2:48 mark. Tate reacted by taking a knee and pointing to the heavens, relief blanketing his face.
Punch totals
Tate: 162/192 (84.4%)
Pogrebnyak: 89/181 (49.2%)
"Didn't bargain for this at all, man," said a euphoric, excited Tate afterwards. "Who the hell thinks their debut will be a war, y'all? Can't believe it. Can't believe I won it, either."
Tate is the 79th seed in the Qualifying League and while he was one of the finds of the Fort Worth auditions he hasn't been mentioned in the same breath as others, such as Romy Alvarez, Scott Mundt or Mike Hanson. His debut performance might just change that.
Preliminary 1
Known by a number of monikers including "Vistaman" and "Blues Brother", Arkansas-born slugger Mark Elwood had gained the personal approval of HBF boss Michael Vincennes during the organisation's Denver auditions, his aggression and punching power earning him a place in the Qualifying League.
"He's got a really solid offense," Vincennes had said back in June. "Great knockout power and a lot of aggression. The type of opponent who'll be right in front of you the whole time."
Elwood has been a resident of Fremont, Nebraska for the last eight years where he is employed as an editor for a local newspaper. As was revealed back in June the 22 year-old discovered boxing by accident when he accompained a friend to the gym four years ago. He was soon ripping into the punching bags there and his passion and enjoyment of the sport has continued to grow in the time since. Tonight Elwood made his federation debut, defeating the German Jan Podolski by a convincing unanimous decision (59-55, 57-56, 58-55). Elwood secured the victory by virtue of a near-faultless opening four rounds, sweeping them on two of the judge's cards and dropping Podolski with a jolting uppercut 43 seconds into the 4th.
Elwood's aggression is one of his strongpoints but he used it in a controlled manner against Podolski, never allowing himself to get carried away even when he was clearly dominating his opponent. He eased off somewhat in the final two rounds but Podolski was in no shape to threaten by then, the bout ending in uneventful fashion.
"I'll take that any day," said Elwood, smiling and nodding his head, wiping the sweat from his face with a white towel. "I don't think there was one moment in the fight where I felt he could beat me. He wasn't going to be able to outbox me and he couldn't hurt me, either. Even so, he was tough and he never quit, so I kept telling myself to stay calm, not to get too excited. It was tempting to load up and finish him off but in the end I'm happy it went the full six."
Punch totals
Mark Elwood: 158/365 (43.3%)
Jan Podolski: 96/224 (42.9%)
"That'll be a tough fight, no doubt," Elwood said, when asked about his next opponent Dre Linton. "He was one of the best guys to come out of the auditions and I'll be watching him carefully when he fights tonight."
Preliminary 2
Tim Carlisle vs David Kane (see post #1587).
(to be continued)
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