Smoking hot night of boxing
<p>Flathead's Cassie Krueger, left, and Glacier's Keyawana Larson trade punches Thursday evening during the third annual Crosstown Smoker at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. Krueger won the three-round bout by major decision. </p>
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake Glacier's Tyson Hubbard walks away after knocking Flathead's Robert Heavilin to the mat Thursday evening during the third annual Crosstown Smoker at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.</p>
On a night featuring state champions, seasoned boxers and a handful of huge fighters, perhaps the fight of the night at Thursday’s Crosstown Boxing Smoker came from the ladies.
Flathead’s Cassie Krueger, who went by the nickname “Lights out” at the fight, swung big right hook after big right hook in an attempt to validate the catchy moniker in her bout with Glacier’s Keyawana Larson.
Krueger was able to catch Larson clean early in the first round, shaking her knees and forcing the referee to step in for a break. But as in every good boxing movie, Larson wasn’t out.
She came back, catching a gassed Krueger solid a few times to close the round. Krueger came out fast again to start the second, landing two big rights to Larson’s chin before Larson was again able to find her rhythm and land a few shots of her own.
In the third, Larson was the one to set the tone, landing a pair of shots. As Larson tired, Krueger took advantage landing a hard right-left-right combination before tiring herself out. As both fighters struggled for breath, Larson landed a series of hard rights in the last few seconds of the bout, bringing the crowd to its feet.
Krueger won by majority decision.
“She’s a really tough opponent,” Krueger said of Larson after the fight. “I’m really glad I got to fight her.”
The guys produced a handful of exciting fights as well.
Glacier’s Tyson “The Hurricane” Hubbard earned a second round TKO of Flathead’s Robert “Hardcore” Heavilin, physically dominating Heavilin in the second round.
Hubbard landed a series of big shots to the body and pushed Heavilin to the mat early on. Hubbard was docked a point shortly after when he punched Heavlin on the mat.
He was able to recover from the momentary setback and took advantage of a pair of wild punches by Heavilin, catching him on the jaw with a right hook, wobbling the Flathead fighter and forcing the referee to call the fight.
“I was just trying to throw some hooks there,” Hubbard said. “I got a few good body shots in and knocked the wind out of him.
Flathead’s Reno Abregana scored a TKO early in the second round of his bout with Glacier’s Branden Perina, catching Perina a number of times while the Glacier fighter swung with his head down. The winning sequence saw Abregana catch Perina with three rights, then shake him with a straight left jab before finishing the bout with a right cross.
Glacier’s Wyatt Clay scored the only other TKO of the night, finishing Flathead’s Scott “Peterbuilt” Bolt with a flurry of punches in the corner. Flathead’s Dyan Guzman fought one of the most technically sound matches of the night, dominating in his unanimous decision victory over Glacier’s Ryan Danielson.
Flathead’s Dani “El Diablo” Davis also got a rousing cheer from the crowd, defeating Glacier’s Mariah Kanistanaux in a unanimous decision.
Glacier’s Amy Lybeck took a split decision victory in her bout with Flathead’s Savanah “Suga Mama” Mahlen and in one of the bloodiest fights of the night, Juan “The Mexicutioner” Rodriguez and Cole “Wicked Clown” DeLaughder slugged their way to a draw.
Other winners on the night were Glacier’s Jonah Isles, Alex Fralin and Lucas Mantel, Flathead’s Cody “T Cell” Walters, Matthew Oftedahl and Gage “Pretty Boy” Palmer and Columbia Falls’ Adam Richardson.
Proceeds from the benefit went to Glacier, Flathead and Columbia Falls wrestling programs as well as Evergreen Wrestling Club and Kalispell Wrestling Club.
Third Annual Crosstown Boxing Smoker
Bout 1 — Jonah Isles, G, unan. dec., Tristan Hines, F
Bout 2 — Cody Walters, CF, unan. dec., Clark Jones, G
Bout 3 — Alex Fralin, G, unan. dec., Brendan Moseman, CF, F
Bout 4 — Amy Lybeck, G, maj. dec., Savanah Mahlen, F
Bout 5 — Wyatt Clay, G, TKO, Scott Bolt, F
Bout 6 — Matthew Oftedahl, F, unan. dec., Brandon Scholz, G
Bout 7 — Adam Richardson, CF, unan. dec., Ramon Saenz, G
Bout 8 — Danielle Davis, F, unan. dec. Mariah Kanistanaux, G
Bout 9 — Reno Abregana, F, TKO, Branden Perina, G
Bout 10 — Dyan Guzman, F, unan. dec., Ryan Danielson, G
Bout 11 — Juan Rodriguez, G, draw, Cole DeLaughder, F
Bout 12 — Tyson Hubbard, G, TKO, Robert Heavilin, F
Bout 14 — Gage Palmer, F, unan. dec., Lucas Leigh, G
Bout 15 — Cassie Krueger, F, maj. dec., Keyawana Larson, G
Bout 16 — Lucas Mantel, G, unan. dec., Cody Hader, CF