Allan defeats Butterbean in rematch

By Brian Grammer and Patrick Jones, ringside

Coming into Saturday night, heavyweight Curt “The Hurt” Allan (8-1-1, 3 KOs) had two goals. Avenging the lone loss on his record and paying homage to his longtime trainer, Larry Alvey, who is stricken with cancer. Allan made good on both, defeating the “King of the Four Rounders” Eric “Butterbean” Esch (77-9-4, 58 KOs) at the Elizabeth, IN Horseshoe Casino Southern Indiana in the CTH Boxing’s “The Rematch.”

Butterbean weighed a svelte 365 pounds – which is his lowest weight since July 2007 – while Allan weighed 211 1/2 pounds.

Allan, returning from a 12 1/2 year layoff, stayed out of Butterbean’s range for the majority of the 4 round contest, pumping the jab while working in and out, just slipping away from Esch’s sweeping left hooks and big right hands.

Both fighters took awhile to warm up, but that was to be expected considering the length of time both had been out of the ring. Coming off of his own 2 1/2 year absence, Esch, now starring on his own reality tv series called Big Law Deputy on the Investigation Discovery channel, got his surprisingly quick hands moving for a couple of 1-2 combinations, landing the heavier blows in the round one.

Allan, sticking to the game plan of keeping away from Esch, was able to get in and out in the second, popping the super heavyweight with his own left-right combinations. Esch, who said after the contest that, “I didn’t expect him (Allan) to run from me in his own hometown”, began to taunt his opponent by dropping his hands and pointing to his chin in an effort to draw Allan in. Both fighters landed solid left hooks just as the bell ending the second round tolled, intensely staring at each other as they returned to their respective corners.

The third round was more of the same as Allan stayed on the bicycle, circling to his right while keeping just out of range. Allan, now an iron worker from nearby Louisville, KY, consistently frustrated Butterbean by staying just out of reach, while popping the jab into the big man’s face

As both fighters met in the center of the ring to touch gloves to begin the fourth and final round, the raucous capacity crowd began to chant, “Curt The Hurt”. Allan, boxing the last round of his professional career, was visibly moved by the gesture and he began to engage with the Jasper, AL native, letting his hands go and trying to do more damage. Butterbean, encouraged by the effort as well, relentlessly pursued his prey, trying to land a big left hand, but was continually just a half-step behind. At one point, as Allan landed a lead right hand to the belly, Esch bent over, trying to convince Allan into believing that he hurt him. The ploy ultimately failed and as the bell sounded to end the contest, the crowd, now all on their feet, roared their approval, believing that their local hero had shed the albatross of his only loss.

A hush fell over the hall as the ring announcer stepped to the middle of the ring to announce the score totals and with the realization that the result was a unanimous decision in the favor of Allan on cards of 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37, a deafening din reached all corners of the building.

Allan then took the microphone to thank all those in attendance for coming out and contributing in a multitude of ways to the care of his trainer, Alvey, informing them that the proceeds from the contest would pay mounting medical bills and more importantly, bring a much needed smile to the ailing man’s face.

The co-main event featured powerful heavyweight Alexis Santos (5-0, 4 KOs) as he destroyed Jason Harbin (0-3) in just 28 seconds. Santos stormed from his corner at the opening bell, throwing both hands with evil intent. Harbin, backing away and trying to get some distance between the two, never knew what hit him as he was completely overwhelmed and after absorbing huge shots from both hands, dropped to the canvas, without landing a single punch. After the ten count, Santos leapt high into the air, relishing his quick knockout victory.

In an action-packed 4 round opening tilt, heavyweights Justin Novaria (0-5) and Jeremiah Williams (1-8) fired up the crowd, as someone’s “0″ had to go. Williams was economical with his output, but when he let his hands go, the punches were heavy and punishing. Working behind a solid jab and left hook, Williams did what he could before being tied up by his bigger opponent. Rounds 2 and 3 saw Williams let loose the arsenal as he fired more combinations and the occasional straight right hand to Novaria’s head. As the scorecards were read, both corners felt that they had won the contest but Williams tasted victory for the first time winning a majority decision on scores of 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37.

Cruiserweights Steve Schmitt (2-0, 1 KO) and Nathan Wilkes (2-24-1, 2 KOs) went toe to toe for four rounds as both fighters unleashed big punches. Wilkes, who switched from conventional to southpaw throughout the contest, seemed to channel “Drunken Master” Emanuel Augustus, waving his arms and daring Schmitt to hit him. Schmitt obliged, and in the 2nd round, he pounded Wilkes the body at every opportunity in an effort to slow his opponent’s feet and hands down. The body work paid off as in the 4th, Schmitt fired a blistering left hook to Wilkes liver, dropping him. Wilkes stayed down to the count of seven, bouncing up at eight, seemingly ready to go. The boxers came together again and Schmitt walked his opponent down into a neutral corner and fired one more left hook and Wilkes fell straight down, not able to get up. Time of the knockout, 2:12.

Daniel Crabtree (3-3, 3 KOs) dropped Aaron Lucky (0-3) 3 times enroute to a 2nd round TKO victory. In the first round, the welterweight Crabtree fired the right hand at will and pinned Lucky against the ropes several times. Late in the round, a 3 punch combination from Crabtree found the target and Lucky slumped to the canvas. Able to get to his feet and finish the round, Lucky looked questionable to answer the bell for the second. The bell rang signaling the start of the 2nd and Lucky got to his feet and tried his best to keep the persistent Crabtree off of him, to no avail. A straight right hand from Crabtree landed to his game opponent’s jaw, dropping him for a second time. Again, Lucky got to his feet, but at that point his luck ran out as a right uppercut from Crabtree floored him again. Although he got to his feet, the referee had seen enough and called a halt to the contest at 1:57.

Thaddeus Hamlin (1-1, 1 KO) and fellow junior welterweight William Bokhart (0-7) engaged in a rough and tumble contest that was slowed by two low blow calls against Hamlin, resulting in timeouts, but it did not dampen his progress as he legally floored Bokhart 3 times with body shots, ending the contest at 1:42 of the 3rd round. Hamlin who last fought in 2007 as a 185 pound cruiserweight showed that he still had the power, relentlessly pounding Bokhart to the ribs and midsection, then following up with power shots to the head with the right hand. But the telling blows were the straight right hands to the lanky Bokhart’s belly and after the third, Bokhart lay in the ring for several moments after the ten count, sucking air into his body to try to get the pain to dissipate.

Former Chicago Golden Gloves champion, Junior Wright ran his professional record to 2-0 with 2 knockouts by driving Brandon Bennett into the referee’s arms, winning the contest by TKO at 1:33 of the first round. Wright, competing as a cruiserweight, took on Bennett even though Bennett missed the contracted weight by more than 15 pounds. It did not take long for the decorated amateur to find the range, dropping two nice left hooks to his opponent’s face and then quickly following those with a couple of blistering right hands to the nose, literally driving Bennett into the referee. One look into Bennett’s face was all it took as the ref quickly called a halt to the bout, blood streaming from the fighter’s nose, staining the official’s shirt.

January 14th, 2012

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