Boxing at the Beach returned to the South Bay area of Los Angeles for the first time in 20 years, as the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center presented a seven-bout boxing and MMA card Friday night. Lance 'Mount" Whitaker, Granada Hills, CA made a step toward re-establishing himself as a viable heavyweight contender with a close unanimous decision over Danny Batchelder, Phoenix, AZ. Batchelder started strong, by countering and out boxing the much bigger man, but gradually decreased his offensive output. Whittaker picked up the pace in round 5, out slugging Batchelder, who proved his durability by weathering several hard shots. Whittaker, who has had issues with stamina and activity in the past, had lulls in his aggressiveness, but came on strong down the finish to prevail 96-94 on all three cards. Convicted Artist scored the bout 96-95 Whittaker, who moves to 33-5-1-27 KO's, while Batchelder falls to 25-7-1-12 KO's
Los Angeles heavyweight journeyman David Johnson and Blackpool, England's Matthew Ellis fought to a four round draw. Every round was difficult to score, yet Ellis seemed the lucky one at the bout's decision. Two judges had it 38-38, while a third had Ellis in front, 39-37. Johnson, despite an unimpressive record of 5-21-7 draws, does own a victory over current WBC #14 Manuel Quezada. Ellis is now 20-8-2-9 KO's.
In two professional debuts, local Redondo Beach heavyweight favorite John Ellis Jr. scored a 2nd round TKO over Dusty Callander. Callander, from Peru, IN was dropped twice with an accumulation of punches, finally succumbing to Ellis' body attack. referee Ray Corona stopped the fight without a count.
Alex Rivera also made his debut a successful one in the cruiserweight division, with a win over another Peru, IN fighter, Roy Timmons. In was a lively, but sloppy affair, Rivera, known as "Cooter Spooky" used looping shots to control the first round, and dropped Timmons after nearly 30 unanswered punches in the second. A long count from referee Raul Caiz Jr. seemed to prolong the inevitable, but after another unanswered barrage, along with prodding from the crowd, Caiz finally called a halt to the action. Timmons drops to 0-2.
Female junior welters took center stage In the opening bout of the evening, as Mari Everette, San Leandro, CA made her professional debut against Tina Anderson. Anderson, nicknamed "Lil Tyson" ate a lot of shots throughout, as she was the much shorter fighter, trying to bull her way in. Gradually however, she was able to overtake the bout with power shots. Everette was repeatedly off-balance and pushed to the floor, also suffering two legitimate knockdowns from Anderson's big left hooks. Following the second knockdown, in round four, Anderson pinned Everett to the ropes, and began to unload. While Everette continued to punch back, referee Ray Corona stepped in and stopped the fight. Anderson, of Las Vegas, moves to 2-0.
In MMA Action, the ring walk of Redondo Beach local Sean Loeffler lasted much longer than the fight. Norman, Oklahoma's Jason Anderson came storming out, utilizing wrestling tactics to control the action. However, in only 32 seconds, Loeffler was able to draw a submission via an arm-bar. Loeffler had entered the ring with 6 beauties in front of him throwing cash and t-shirts to the crowd. Anderson falls to 8-16, while Loeffler moves to 23-4.
The walkout bout of the night was also an MMA match up between Chris Cope of San Diego, and Mando Montoya. Montoya, 1-0, was hit with a vicious low blow in the opening seconds, but came back to control the first round with looping shots.
There was little to no grappling action, as both strikers attempted to control from the outside. The end came abruptly in round two as Cope caught Montoya with a vicious roundhouse kick, knocking him unconscious. Referee Jason Herzog immediately waved of the action. Cope improves to 3-1.
It was largely a night of Southern California big men, and appropriately, former WBA Heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, of Diamond Bar, CA and former California Heavyweight champion Stan Ward, of Sacramento were in attendance.
