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Owensboro, KY. Greg Page, behind on points, stopped 'Big' John Tate in the fifth of a ten rounder. Tate came out for the opener, throwing bombs and dominating Page for the three minutes, but Page regrouped and took the second. The third was close, with Tate just edging it. Page came out in the fifth with a look of intent on his face. He dished out punishment to Tate, then trapped the big man in the corner, throwing punch affter punch unanswered, until the referee stopped the bout at the 2.07 mark.
Lennox Lewis took a split decision against James 'Bonecrusher' Smith over eight rounds. The scores were 78-73, 77-74 Lewis and 76-75 Smith. It was a fair result. Lewis took the opening two rounds, dropping Smith in the second with a bodyshot, but Smith recovered and took the third. There was more clinching than punching in the even fourth round. Lewis took the fifth, then the sixth round was the highlight of the fight, with both men throwing caution to the wind. Lewis landed the more blows and took the round. By the seventh, Smith appeared fatigued, but it didn't stop him putting Lewis down with an uppercut. Lewis beat the count and made it to the bell. Lewis came out for the last round and won it with his jab, keeping the exhausted Smith at bay.
After the bout, the reserved Lewis said he is now ready for the top ten. "My dream is to be the heavyweight champion of the world, and I know I can do it." Maybe, but his shaky chin, exposed by clubfighter Anthony Willis, could cause him a major problem in his quest.
In a mis-match, Marvelous Marvin Hagler took apart Anthony Bartinelli, stopping him in the second round at the 2.49 mark. There were no knockdowns, but by the end Bartinelli couldn't fight back. Hagler now faces Gerald McClellan, who will be an entirely different kettle of fish.
Mik 'Hercules' Weaver put on an aggresive display from start to finish, but couldn't put away Anthony Willis, winning by scores of 78-73 on all three judges cards. Willis finished the bout with both eyes swollen, with a cut over his right one.
Keith Holmes boxed his way to a six rounds points decision over Larry Banks with scores of 58-56 on all cards.
Ayub Kalule stopped Juan Carlos Barreto in the opener, when he threw an inch perfect uppercut out of nowhere. Barreto went down, but beat the count. However, Kayule wasn't going to let his opponent of the hook and went in for the finish, stopping his opponent at 2.49 of the opener.
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