By Mike loving

St. Joseph News-Press

“The Champion vs. The Contender” ended in a draw on Saturday night.

Rob Calloway (70-7-2) squared off against Max Alexander (14-2-2) at Civic Arena in a bout scheduled for 12 rounds. The fighters went the distance and when the bout was over, one judge ruled for Calloway, one judge ruled for Alexander and the third judge declared the fight a draw.

Each fighter employed the same strategy: to wear out the other fighter.

At various times, each fighter seemed to gain an advantage with body blows and punches to the head, and at various times each fighter seemed to lose that same advantage.

In the end it was all for naught, leaving the fighters, the trainers, and the spectators wholly unsatisfied with the result.

A heavyweight match between Gary Dydell (9-4-2) and Clinton Boldridge (7-12-1), both of St. Joseph, ended in a draw, much to the dismay of the crowd and both corners. Each boxer seemed bent on outlasting the other, and the match went the distance. Boldridge appeared to get the best of Dydell at one point, bloodying his face.

A lightweight bout between Brian Carden (8-5) and Reymundo Hernandez (2-6) provided most of the excitement for the evening. After dancing around the ring for several moments, Carden landed a vicious right that sent Hernandez sprawling, head first, to the mat. Hernandez lay unconcious for several minutes while Doctors and trainers attended to him. After several minutes, Hernandez wobbled to his corner for further attention.

Carden proved to be the only local boxer that fared well.