A heavyweight champion was defeated and boxers released aggression by fighting it out in Friday the 13th Roughhouse Boxing action at Marlintini's Lounge.
In the main event, Jesse "The Roofer" Solomon, 27, upset the 2008 Southeast Showdown Heavyweight Champion Toni Talamai, 24, after three 90-second rounds that wore down the former champ. Talamai used his brute force to take the first round, and Solomon was issued a standing eight count by referee Joe Isturis after a fall that Solomon says was a slip. Round two went to Solomon, who was lighter on his feet and had more endurance to bounce around the ring and tag Talamai, who was gassed. Talamai had little left for the third round, which allowed Solomon to get him into the corner and deliver repeated head shots as Talamai's corner yelled, "Toni you've got to throw."
Klawock's Steven Roberts, 19, quickly defeated first-time fighter Don Sapinoso, 35, New York, N.Y., in an MMA bout that was over 37 seconds after it began. Roberts exploded from the bell, attacking Sapinoso, who dislocated his ankle earlier. Roberts got Sapinoso on the ground, then flipped him backward in an arm-triangle choke. Sapinoso tapped when he was pinned and choked by Roberts. Sapinoso, despite losing, said it was an awesome first time and called the fight his aggression therapy. He explained that instead of taking out his aggressions and going to jail, he can release them in the ring.
Juneau's 169-pound Thomas McDonald, 29, defeated Juneau's 252-pound Dillon West, 21, by forcing West to tap out 38 seconds into round one.
"I broke his thumb and overwhelmed him," said McDonald, now 2-0-0, who said he used the "rear naked choke" to take down West, who was up a couple of weight classes. "He was really heavy," said McDonald, who said he likes to fight for the adrenaline rush and to release trapped aggression.
U.S. Coast Guard heavyweight John Wendelschaefer, 30, weighing 220 pounds and hailing from Georgia, defeated a fellow Coast Guard co-worker, 238-pound Marcos Andujar, 40, of Puerto Rico, in an adrenaline-filled "newbie" match. Wendelschaefer attributed his win to his cardio endurance from working out at Pavitt Health & Fitness and learning Muay Thai. He said Andujar was tough and vowed to never underestimate his opponents.
"He hit me with some good shots," said Wendelschaefer, who went looking for a bout at Marlintini's to test himself. He was paired with Andujar because they were both first-time fighters. They traded heavy blows in the first two rounds, but Andujar couldn't keep the adrenaline running, saying after the fight with a shrug, "I ran out of gas."
In another MMA fight, Mike Jepson, 22, a student from Ketchikan, defeated 21-year-old Sean Prebeg, a Breeze-In employee, in a bout that went the distance. Prebeg was aggressive in round one, pinning Jepson's arms to prevent punches while lying on this back. Round two was even with both fighters trading some hard shots. Jepson grabbed more points by tagging in round three to earn the decision.
Heavyweight, 318-pound James "The Beast" Roberts, 24, defeated first-time fighter, 272-pound Donald Williams Jr., 27, in a fight Roberts dominated from the bell. Roberts threw some hard shots, issuing a standing eight count to Williams, who stayed tough through round one. Early in round two, Roberts tagged Williams with a hard right, heavy-leather hook that sent the first-time fighter to the mat, where he retired.
Tyler Papasodora, 19, 146 pounds, grabbed his first win by defeating first-time fighter, 129-pound James Willson, 22, in a lopsided bout. Papasodora clearly dominated the first round, delivering Willson a standing eight count before he could even throw a punch. Referee Joe Isturis called the fight in round two.
The next Roughhouse Friday will be Dec. 11 with an awaited Selena Slack bout on the card.
