Miller upsets Hammack in St. Charles, MO

By Brian Grammer and Clint Rosser at ringside

As the icy rain fell outside, Rumble Time Promotions, turned up the heat at the Heart of St. Charles Banquet Center in St. Charles, MO, Friday night. In an upset, veteran light heavyweight, Shannon Miller (25-47-8, 18 KOs) made the trip from his home in Columbus, MS tripping up local favorite, Shawn Hammack (21-8-2, 15 KOs), winning a unanimous 6 round decision.

Miller put lots of money in the bank by focusing on Hammack’s stomach and ribs, pounding away at the popular hometown pugilist.

In the first, Hammack, the shorter, stockier fighter, worked around his reach and height disadvantage to land a solid overhand right to Miller’s jaw and then followed that up with a blistering left hook to the other cheek. Miller shook off the blows and responded with his own right hand to Hammack’s chin.

The second saw Hammack continue the attack, shooting a solid jab to Miller’s jaw, sending him backward for a few unsteady steps. It was as if that was the wake-up call Miller needed as he then started to take control of the action. A right hand to the ear and then another to Hammack’s body gave Miller the advantage he was looking for, stalking Hammack for the remainder of the contest.

Hammack came out of his corner in the third, determined to be the aggressor, but a quick 1-2 from his opponent slowed the attack. Then, a straight right hand from Miller stunned the local fighter. As the bell rang to conclude the round both fighters unleashed their arsenal on the other, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet, roaring their approval.

The bodywork that Miller had intermixed in his attack from the opening bell became more intense and frequent in the fourth stanza as he worked to continually pump both hands into Hammack’s abdomen, further slowing him.

Hammack continued to move forward to start the fifth, swinging from the hip, however Miller, a wily veteran, sustained his attack, peppering Hammack with a stiff and quick jab. Blood began to flow from Hammack’s nose and his vision began to narrow as a mouse began to form underneath each eye. Although damaged from the sustained attack, Hammack continued to fight, ending the round with a picture perfect 1-2 combination.

The bodywork that Miller concentrated so heavily on throughout the contest paid off midway into the final round, as yet another left-right combination to Hammack’s head finally dropped the him to the canvas. Hammack was able to climb back to his feet, but he paid the price for completing the contest, eating a couple of left hooks from the eventual winner. Hammack fought to the final bell, landing his own combinations, but a final straight right hand from Miller sealed the deal.

After the judge’s scorecards were collected and totaled, ring announcer Peter Vaccaro moved to ring center and announced the decision. Jackson Harper scored the contest 59-54, Marty Bickle saw it as a 58-55 decision and Rob Francis completed the unanimous result, filling out his card in a 57-56 victory for Miller.

After the bout, Miller commented that this was a big win for him, ending a five fight losing streak. “I haven’t always done my best in training, but I knew going into this fight that I would have to work hard in the gym. We paid close attention to both my jabs and my defense. I am happy with the victory, but it is back to the gym for more training.”, Miller said.

Although dejected, Hammack tried to find some silver linings in the cloud of defeat. He said that, “Miller was much better than we expected. The game plan was to go to the body and slow him down, but he (Miller) came prepared to fight and deserved the victory. We are going back to the drawing board.” He added, “Next time I just need to hit the other guy more and get hit less!”

In the co-feature attraction, welterweights Troy White (4-2-1, 1 KO) and Justin Robbins (0-1) fought all the way to the final bell as those in attendance were finally treated to a decision victory. Four rounds was the contracted distance and these two warriors made every second count. White set the tone for the fight by going to the body hard and heavy.

In the first, just after firing a lead left hand to Robbins midsection, White worked his way back up to Robbins chin, ending the combination with a sweet right, then a piston-like left.

White continued the combination action in the second, again working first to the body and finally ending the 4-punch combo with another powerful left hand, sending Robbins back on his heels. White instantly pounced on his dizzied opponent dropping a right cross behind his ear, sending him down to the canvas. After receiving the mandatory eight count from referee Mike England, Robbins moved forward and engaged White immediately. The strategy did not work as White staggered Robbins again with the right hook and then as the bell was ringing to end the round, let loose with yet another 4 punch combination, this time focusing on his opponent’s midsection.

The third round found both fighters trying to bust each other’s ribs up, attempting to set the other up for a fourth round knockout. However, it was not to be, but in the fourth, White had the advantage continuing the right hooks to the body and then working them upstairs to the head.

The scorecards were collected and White proved to be best on all three as he was awarded a 40-35 unanimous decision.

The night started with a bang as middleweight Keith Debow (2-4-1, 1KO) knocked Justin Henderson (0-2) down twice on way to the first round TKO victory. Debow used a bruising right hook to floor Henderson midway in the round. Henderson rose by the count of eight and seemed steady on his feet. With about 30 seconds left, Debow found the range again delivering a right hook, followed by a straight right hand to drop Henderson again. Henderson made it up again and survived the round, but after sitting on the stool and thinking about it, Henderson decided to stay put and give Debow the victory.

Cruiserweights Ian Warren (1-0, 1 KO) and John Fortt (0-1) squared off in a four round contest. Warren immediately took control of the bout, landing both the jab and the straight right hand. Early in the first, Warren stepped into a power jab, surprising Fortt and actually knocking him to the canvas. Fortt’s night did not get any better, as Warren then found his opponent’s chin with a beautiful right hand, right down the pipe. Fortt was at his feet at eight, but unfortunately Warren did not stop coming forward and a huge right hand to the jaw turned out the lights. Warren wins by TKO at 1:57.

Stephon Young (2-0, 1 KO) took on tough junior featherweight Clayton Coots (1-1, 1 KO) in a 4 round attraction. Young immediately went to the taller, slender Coots’ body and pounded him relentlessly with both the right hook and the lead left hand. Coots tried to keep Young off of him with the jab, but it was to no avail as Young unleashed a blistering 4-punch combination to end round 1. Round two started the way that the first ended with Young pounding his competitor’s ribs and letting the right hook go to the chin. After two powerful right hooks to Coots’ side, the slender fighter wisely took a knee to catch his breath. Seeing his opponent down was the final bit of incentive Young needed and he came after Coots with abandon. A ripping left hand popped the Coots’ mouthpiece out and as Young charged in to finish the job, Coots wisely took another knee. Mike England took one look at the downed fighter and determined that he had had enough and called an end to the bout at 2:31 of the second round.

Wild, crowd-pleasing action defined the action as middleweight foes Chris Rapa (4-0, 3 KOs) and Tim Franklin (1-3, 1 KO) tangled in a scheduled 4 round contest. From the opening bell, both fighters moved to the center of the ring and started flinging the leather. Franklin, taller and thinner than his opponent, came out throwing big right hands, trying to end the bout early. Rapa remained composed, weathering the storm, until he saw his opening. With Franklin’s mouth open and gulping in huge amounts of air, Rapa saw that his opponent had punched himself out just halfway through round one. Rapa, slipped one more wild right hand, sat down on his punch and fired a devastating left hook, flooring Franklin. Referee Mike England immediately waved the bout to an end and signaling the doctor into the ring. Time of the knockout came at 2:15.

Contact the author

January 21st, 2012

For all the latest boxing news, click here.