Powell-Wood Decisions Carlson in Klamath Falls

KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON – Fighting for the fifth time this calendar year, once-beaten middleweight Gerald Powell-Wood moved past local gatekeeper Dylan Carlson via five-round unanimous decision to cap a night of boxing and kickboxing at the John Hancock Arena at the Klamath County Event Center on Saturday night. 

Powell-Wood (4-1-1, 2 KOs) of Spokane, Washington rebounded from a majority draw just over one month ago to outwork the 35-year-old, 20-bout veteran  Carlson (3-14-3, 1 KO) of Klamath Falls. 

Powell-Wood, 160.5, and Carlson, 159.6, used the first round to feel each other out. Powell-Wood looked comfortable at range with his height and reach advantages making it difficult for Carlson to string much together. The little bit that Carlson did land early seemed to lose some steam by the time it reached the elevated chin of Powell-Wood, who would use much of the time in between to showboat for the crowd. 

Powell-Wood spent a little more time punching with intent and stringing his shots together by the start of the second round. Carlson did find an opening for his overhand right to land midway through the round. Though the punch spun his head, Powell-Wood seemed to absorb it well. 

As the fight progressed, Powell-Wood was increasingly more comfortable in the ring as he mixed some hotdogging in with his combination punching and forward aggression. Carlson did well to keep his hands up on either side of his face, catching some of Powell-Wood’s winging punches. Late in the fight, Powell-Wood made an adjustment and mixed in some uppercuts between Carlson’s guard to some effect. 

By the fifth and final round, Powell-Wood had more left in the gas tank and could string his punches together, even if they did not all land. Carlson maintained his defense throughout, but was more one-at-a-time with his offense. 

In the end, judge Andy Dinger scored the bout 49-45, while judges Kim Caminschi and Jim Nessar scored the bout a shutout, 50-45, all for the winner, Powell-Wood. 

In a highly competitive bout, Roman Avetisyan (2-4-1) of Pasco, Washington spoiled the pro boxing debut of professional MMA fighter Ryan Rowley (0-1) of Bonanza, Oregon via four-round split decision. 

The start of the bout was delayed by a glove issue, as referee David Shurley did not like a difference he felt in the gloves provided to Avetisyan and Rowley. Both fighters had their gloves removed and replaced in the ring just before the start of the bout. 

Despite the delay, Rowley, 161, got off to a hot start to begin round one, pressing Avetisyan, 160.2, to the ropes and unloading with a flurry of head shots before either had worked up a sweat. Avetisyan did well to cover up and began to work his way into the action with some well-placed lefts to the body that got Rowley’s attention. 

Rowley started fast to begin the second round as well, but his onrush tempered down more rapidly than in the first. Avetisyan was able to stem the tide with a solid overhand right that backed Rowley up. Back in the middle of the ring, Rowley occasionally gave Avetisyan a southpaw look while showing decent footwork for an MMA fighter making his boxing debut. 

The third began with a heated exchange that Rowley got the better of, eventually backing Avetisyan to the ropes with a right hand. Halfway through the round, Avetisyan landed one of his better shots, a short left, that backed Rowley into a neutral corner during an exchange. With both fighters looking a little gassed, they traded to end the third. At one point, Avetisyan was spun around before finding Rowley again just before the end of the round. 

Both fighters came out with renewed vigor to start the fourth, entertaining the crowd with some heated exchanges to open the final round. The roles were somewhat reversed from early in the bout, with Avetisyan pressing forward as the aggressor and Rowley looking to counter and move. 

In the end, judge Kim Caminschi scored the bout for Rowley, 39-37, but was overruled by judges Andy Dinger and Jim Nessar, who both scored it 39-37 for Avetisyan. 

Comebacking 27-year-old former amateur standout, James Browning (10-0, 8 KOs) of Auburn, Washington stopped Christian James Torrico (1-2, 1 KO) of Medford, Oregon in the fifth round of a scheduled six to end a layoff of over four years. 

The start of the fight was delayed by the first glove issue of the night. Referee David Shurley did not like the feel of the gloves provided for Torrico and had them removed and replaced in the corner shortly before the start of the fight. Browning did not have to change gloves. 

Browning, 140.7, began by controlling the action with his jab and slowly began to mix in his right hand as the first round progressed. Torrico, 139.5, did not offer much in return, other than flicking out a few jabs and mostly covered up to weather what Browning offered up. It looked as though Torrico’s left shoulder may have been bothering him, as he continually moved his left arm in a circular motion when Browning gave him space. 

Browning upped his aggression and sat down on his punches more in the second round. Action was stopped briefly just before the end of the round after an accidental clash of heads that seemed to catch Browning the worst. 

Browning controlled the third, utilizing lateral movement while placing his shots to the body and head. Torrico was unable to cut off the ring or really get past the jab of Browning to land in a meaningful way. 

Early in the fourth, Browning landed with a right hook from a distance that landed clean to score a knockdown. Torrico appeared clear-headed as he got to his feet, but dejected nonetheless. Moments later, Browning unloaded with a counter right hook and doubled it up to score a second knockdown in the round. Torrico got to his feet in a less enthusiastic fashion, but was able to survive the follow-up attack from Browning as the bell rang to close the round. 

The Medford native actually began the first few seconds of the fourth moving forward, but when Browning landed his first few punches upstairs, Torrico’s corner opted to throw in the towel to signal the referee they had seen enough. Referee David Shurley waved off the contest at 28 seconds of round five. 

Super featherweight prospect Miguel “Tito” Elizondo (4-0, 2 KOs) of Carson City, Nevada dropped Gary Anderson Jr. (0-2) of Federal Way, Washington in the first en route to a second-round stoppage. 

Elizondo, 129.4, went right at Anderson, 130.8, at the opening bell. Within the first 20 seconds of the bout, Elizondo landed with a straight left hand from the southpaw stance. Anderson wobbled back and tried to keep his footing, but he ended up on the seat of his pants for the knockdown. After utilizing his jab to great effect, Elizondo closed the round with Anderson taking punches while covering up. 

Elizondo looked to keep the momentum from the first round, as he pressured Anderson at the outset of the second. Eventually Elizondo forced Anderson into the red corner. With Anderson covering up and not offering anything in return, Elizondo threw a long series of unanswered punches to the body and around the guard of Anderson before referee David Shurley opted to leap in for the stoppage at 2:43 of round two. 

In the first boxing match of the evening, Oscar Arriaga (1-5-1) of Portland, Oregon moved into the win column with an impressive four-round unanimous decision over Gavanni Christian (1-2, 1 KO) of Post Falls, Idaho. 

Christian, 145.4, got off to a good start in round one by landing repeatedly with his overhand right and pressuring Arriaga, 144.8, along the ropes. The first half of round two looked much the same before Arriaga turned the whole fight with one punch. With Christian open as he loaded up for a right hand, Arriaga caught him with a short right in the exchange to drop the Idaho native. Christian got up fairly quickly, but on less steady legs. The two exchanged fairly evenly before Arriaga punctuated the round with another clean right hand that wobbled Christian before the bell.

With Christian not as steady or aggressive, Arriaga upped his output to start round three. Christian, who had been campaigning as a lightweight, appeared to struggle to stand up to the power of Arriaga, who had previously fought as high as 154 pounds. By early in the fourth, Christian was bleeding from the nose as Arriaga maintained the pressure. As the final round wound down, Christian was moving forward, but even when fighting off the ropes, Arriaga was getting the better of the exchanges. 

In the end, all three judges; Kim Caminschi, Andy Dinger and Jim Nessar, saw the bout 39-36 to award Arriaga his first professional victory. 

Amateur Kickboxing 

Austin Martin of Klamath Falls scored a scary second round knockout of Jayvion Preap of Puyallup, Washington. Preap, 167.9, has his moments early in the bout, especially with his strikes. The taller and longer Martin, 166.5, looked to be more adept with his feet but wound up ending the fight with a combination along the ropes in round two. It appeared that a right hook had Preap out on his feet before the follow-up left and right hooks put him down and out. The time of the stoppage was 1:17 of the second round. 

Klamath Falls’ Heather Grant bloodied fellow Klamath Falls resident Olivia Tabor en route to a three-round unanimous decision. Grant, 129.5, was more refined in her technique and had more in the gas tank in the second half of the fight. Tabor, 130.7, hung in there, but the bout probably could have been stopped without much of an objection from anyone. Judges Kim Caminschi, Andy Dinger and Jim Nessar all agreed with a shutout victory for Grant by the score of 30-27. 

Promoter Matthew Phillips’ Arena War Fighting Series will next promote a pro boxing only event next Saturday, November 14th close to 300 miles north at the Clackamas Armory in Clackamas, Oregon. 

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com