'Superman" breaks MMA record

Rookie Manacio V dispatches Johnson in record 11 seconds in Rough House fight

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Anthony "Five" Manacio V, 23, a first-time fighter with a six-year wrestling career, stunned the crowd with his Rough House Boxing record breaking win over fellow first-time fighter Andrew "Anderson" Johnson, 21, just 11 seconds into the bout. With Superman tattoos on his arms, Manacio beat the previous MMA record of 17 seconds by using what he called his "Superman" punch.

"Basically you just use your legs as leverage and jump up and hit him in the face," Manacio said after the win.

Adrenaline-filled from the bell, Manacio, cheered on by his sparring partner brothers, rushed his opponent. Then, using his powerful leg muscles, he sprung up against his taller opponent, tagged him in the head and dropped him with the first punch. After five more hard shots to the head, referee Joe Isturis called the fight.

"I feel awesome," Manacio said after. "I wanted more, but I guess things just happen."

In the only other MMA fight of the night, Manacio's older brother Anthony "Four" Manacio IV, who served a year in Iraq as a gunner but now works for the Alaska Marine Highway System, lost a fight to Aaron "Bloody Red Baron" Tucker in a bout where the fighters spent most of the time on the ground exchanging power positions. The closest bout of the night, Tucker squeaked out the win by tiring Manacio out.

"He was just holding me down and I got too tired," Manacio explained.

In another close bout, Juneau's Cameron Mitchell, 2-0-0, remained perfect with his win over Hoonah's Mitchell Zarazua, who picked up his first loss bringing his record to 2-1-0. Zarazua, who studied Mitchell's fights, planned to block Mitchell's signature right uppercut by switching forward standing foot. Mitchell's stance, usually his right glove up around his head and left glove at his side with some jabs thrown with his southpaw, left Mitchell's head open. His corner yelled repeatedly, "Hands up, hands up." Both boxers traded hard blows in extended rounds but the close win went to Mitchell.

Shaun Guthrie, 27, defeated Ketchikan's TJ Jackson, 21, and dominated the first two rounds, tiring him out. Jackson, who'd never gone the distance in a bout, gassed out and retired before the third round.

Angoon's Alexa Elisoff, 24, with two losses, defeated first-time fighter Francine "Shorty" Brown, 22, of Angoon to grab her first win. To give her strength, Elisoff said she thinks about her deceased brother, Ryan Elisoff, right before her fights.

Round one was pretty even. Then Elisoff delivered Brown a standing eight-count in round two, and Brown answered by throwing punches after the bell. Elisoff dominated the last round, but both boxers were sucking air.

In a heavyweight bout featuring fighters from Angoon, 274-pound Thomas "Tommy Guns" Parkin, 22, a first-time fighter, defeated 288-pound Thomas Adam Jack, 25, by dominating from the start. Parkin exploded from the bell and tagged Jack in the temple. A barrage of punches got a standing eight-count delivered to Jack. Right before the bell, Parkin landed a right hook that dropped Jack to the mat. Joe Isturis stopped the fight before the second round.

In another heavyweight bout, 4-2-0 James "The Beast" Roberts, 24, of Klawock, defeated Clifford "Bad News" Brown, 19, with a record of 1-0-0, which started off strong for Brown. Adrenaline filled Brown dominated the first part of the round landing two big haymakers to Roberts head. Roberts answered with his own big right that left Brown looking a little dazed and the two remained pretty even.

Brown had a rocket-right uppercut that seemed to have minimal effect on the solid Roberts. Resembling the tortoise and the hare, Brown darted around the solid and steady Roberts who ended up with the win by crowd decision.

Charles Paul Bagoyo, 21, with a record of 2-2-0, defeated 18-year-old Michael Trull, 1-0-0, in a bout where both boxers traded hard head shots in round one, with Trull leading. Before the start of round two, Trull stood up to fight and collapsed to the mat with a concussion. Trull was carried out on a stretcher and taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital where he was treated and released. Trull's mother Carla Vulgamore reported the next day that he suffered a concussion but was doing better. Trull will not be boxing next month.

The main event featuring a rematch match with Ryan Wong and Inoke Topui was canceled when Topui scratched before the bout.

The Southeast Showdown is scheduled for May 8, and mixed martial arts will be held May 15.