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From Staff Reports
TUNICA, MS - At 5-foot-7, Akron light middleweight prospect Shawn "Showtime" Porter is not going to tower over many opponents.
In fact, the 2008 Olympic alternate fights like a lot bigger fighter once his hands get to moving and his assaults push taller opponents into all-out retreat for survival. As is often the case, Porter's quickness and fast hands simply overwhelm opponents.
That was the case in point on the May 22 "Mississippi Fight Night" main event from Fitzgerald's Hotel and Casino in Prize Fight Boxing's "Fights at the Fitz" series. Porter floored 6-foot-1 Robert Kliewer seven times, including four times in the fifth round enroute to finishing him off by TKO at 1:08 of the fifth round.
The final knockdown was a result of head shots, one of the few times Kliewer went down from head shots.
The fight was scheduled for eight rounds. The 6-bout card was televised on SportSouth.
Minnesotan Kliewer (10-11-2, 5 KOs) suffered much the same fate as previous Porter opponents such as 6-foot-2 Russell Jordan (UD 10) and 5-foot-10 Eloy Suarez (TKO 1). Porter improved to 15-0, 12 KOs.
"I dominated from the start," Porter told Deep South Boxing. "I put him down with a body shot 15 seconds into the fight. The gameplan was to go to the body and then attack the head. We had the perfect gameplan.
"Yes, I dominated. I'm used to using my skills to have my way in the ring," Porter said. "He had guts and was able to block a lot of my shots, but the ones that hit him, hurt him."
Kliewer was down once in the fourth rounds as well because of body shots.
In other bouts, despite a 36-pound weight disadvantage, Poland native and Brooklyn, NY resident Adam Kownacki (3-0, 3 KOs) knocked out California's Yohan Banks at 1:11 of the fourth round. The 266-pound Banks dropped to 3-4-3 1 KO).
Largo, MD super middleweight Dominic Wade (7-0, 5 KOs) dominated in a 4-round unanimous decision over St. Paul, MN's Michael Faulk. Wade won on all three scorecards 40-35 against Faulk (2-1).
Atlanta cruiserweight Donta Woods was originally scheduled to fight Arkansas' Terry Porter, but Porter failed his physical. So Lake Charles, LA tough guy Roy Ashworth was brought in as a late replacement.
The change of opponent mattered little as Woods won by TKO at 2:27 of the second round. The fight was scheduled for four. Woods moved to 7-0, (6 KOs), while Ashworth fell to 5-9 (1 KO).
Memphis lightweight Marlon Lewis (3-1-1, 1 KO) won a 4-round unanimous decision (40-34, 39-35 X 2) over Batesville, AR's Chris Gray (1-2, 1 KO).
Tupelo welterweight Rodney Coffman won his professional debut via a TKO over Tennessee's Lewis Crews. Coffman TKO'd Crews (0-3) at 55 seconds of the second round.
Prize Fight recorded its 62nd straight sell out of an event from Tunica. The bouts will air via tape delay on SportSouth on May 29. |
