Roughhouse Friday

Roughhouse kicks off 2008 season
By Courtney Nelson
For the Juneau Empire
Marlintini’s Lounge kicked off the 2008 Roughhouse Boxing season with six tough bouts. The main event was the quickest fight of the night with Bullwinkle employee Aaron “Red Baron” Tucker, 18, knocking out his friend Charles Paul Bagoyo, 21, forty seconds into round one. Tucker, the 2007 Southeast Showdown Champion, dominated Bagoyo by aggressively chasing him around the ring until he landed a hard right to the head that dropped Bagoyo to the mat. Tucker said his strategy going in was to “work on his gut, then make some power shots to the head.”
A bout with a thirty-year age gap featured Norman “Thunder Punch” Flood III, 20, defeating first-time-fighter Nestor Manuel Pinango, 50, via split decision. Flood had fists of fire early in the bout and dropped Nestor at the bell. Nestor, a Taku Fisheries employee, landed a hard left to Flood’s nose in round two. Flood looked tired in round three and Nestor was just getting warmed up landing three hard jabs to Flood’s middle then a huge right to his head but it was too late.
In the only MMA fight of the night, Roger “Barcode” Booth IV, a “Slaveway” employee fighting for the “almighty dollar” defeated Alaskan Brewing Company employee James Stern via TKO tap out 58 seconds into round two. Booth and Stern, both fighting MMA for the first time, came out swinging spending most of round one on their feet trading hard head shots. Booth Stern, bloodied and tired, tapped out after Booth had him in a head lock on the floor.
First-time-fighter Michelle Macasact, 23, of Ketchikan took a break from cocktailing at Marlintinis Lounge to defeat thirty-seven-year-old Angela “Grim” Anasogak, 6-2-0, by dominating Anasogak every round while wearing a mini skirt. Macasact, a stand-in for a last minute fight scratch, seemed seasoned and more energetic than the experienced Anasogak, going in with quick, clean shots to the head and then keeping her hands up in defense. Macasact said in a post fight interview that she wasn’t sure if she would fight again.
Twenty-two-year-old college student Cameron “El Moostache” Mitchell, 151 lb., defeated twenty-three-year-old Nathan Schroeder, 155 lb., via unanimous decision in a fight that went the distance. Mitchell came out strong, delivering multiple hard left jabs to Schroeder’s head in round one, then Mitchell tired in round two after Schroeder exploded from the bell with renewed energy. Mitchell ended the round with a hard left right combo to Schroeder’s head at the bell. Round three, both boxers tired but Mitchell hung on for the win.
James Roberts Jr. of Klawock defeated Walter “Showstopper” Brown in a close heavyweight bout that went the full three rounds. Roberts, whose strategy was to “go all out and knock him out,” delivered Brown two standing-eight-counts in round one but was sucking air in round two. Brown came alive landing multiple shots in round three but the blows seemed to wake Roberts and he battled back to hang on for the win.
The next fights will be held October 17th. Anyone interested in fighting can contact Bob Haag at (907)240-2530.

Bear trouble

There's an old Arabic saying, "never invite a bear to your garden."

When this bear came in to our garden to eat our raspberries, he stayed for over two hours roaming from front to back and then staring me down through the glass. He is so cute, but next summer, if he doesn't get shot first, he will come back quite a bit bigger and very comfortable and familiar with our garden. Ah, the unique things we deal with when living in Alaska.