Phillips upsets Spinks!
Thursday, March 27 2008
By Brian Grammer at ringside
38-year-old Verno Phillips (42-10-1, 21 KOs) is a world champion for the third time after a split decision win over reigning IBF junior middleweight champion Cory Spinks (36-5, 11 KOs) on Thursday night before 8,874 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. After a close and technical fight, two judges favored Phillips' power shots (116-112, 115-113) while one preferred the movement and handspeed of Spinks (115-113). Phillips, who entered the bout as a 6:1 underdog, stated afterward, "I hit more with my left. They told me not to reach in. He is hard to adapt to. He is sneaky. You lean in, he will hit you with a one-two. I just relied on my experience. I did my best and I am still in the top 10. I had harder shots. I felt like his people were booing him because they felt he didn’t bring it." A disappointed Spinks stated, "I felt good, just a little rusty that’s all. Verno fought a good fight. He came in to do a job, but I feel I did what I came to do. I am upset with myself. I let myself down."
Unbeaten super lightweight Devon Alexander "The Great" (15-0, 8 KOs) scored a shutout twelve-round unanimous decision over Miguel Callist (24-7-1, 17 KOs) in a bout for both the WBC Continental Americas and WBA FEDELATIN belts. Alexander came on strong in the second half of the fight, dropping the survival-minded Callist in round twelve to punctuate an impressive performance. Scores were 120-105, 120-106, 120-106. "I felt great tonight but I always feel I could have done better," said Alexander afterward. "I was happy with the knockdown in the last round, but I would have liked to have had a knockout. St. Louis has a new champion and I am going to stay around. I want to fight for a world championship by the end of the year." Alexander’s trainer/manager Kevin Cunningham added, "Devon did what he had to do. There is not much you can do when a guy brings his track shoes instead of his boxing shoes. When Callist sat down in the sixth round and fought, Devon shut him out. Then he [Callist] got on his bike." Callist stated "He was a strong man. Besides strong, he was a little younger. I did my best, but he had the home crowd on his side. Yes, I think I did enough to win."
Super lightweight John Jackson (11-1, 11 KOs) vaporized Leroy Newton (6-11-1, 4 KOs) in 2:10 of round one. "Action" Jackson dropped Newton twice, the second time for the count.
In another early ending, unbeaten super middleweight Marcus "Too Much" Johnson (13-0, 10 KOs) knocked out Jose Medina (14-11, 10 KOs) with a left hook to the liver at 1:57 of round one.
In the bout bout of the night to get past the first round, unbeaten cruiserweight Francisco "The Wizard" Palacios (14-0, 7 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over savvy veteran Zack Page (14-19-1, 5 KOs) by scores of 79-72, 79-72, 78-73.
Super lightweight Angelo "La Cobra" Santana (2-0, 2 KOs) needed just 28 seconds to demolish Rasool Shakoor (1-3, 1 KO).
Hard-punching heavyweight Bermane "B-Ware" Stiverne (14-1, 14 KOs) manhandled Jimmy "Hurricane" Haynes (18-15-2, 8 KOs), dropping Haynes three times en route to a first round annihilation at the 2:08 mark.
Undefeated heavyweight Kertson "The Majii" Manswell (15-0, 13 KOs) needed just 93 seconds to desyroy Cerrone Fox (8-8, 8 KOs). Manswell punished Fox from the opening bell until the referee halted the slaughter.
Note: A FREE live worldwide webcast of this Don King Productions world championship card will commence on DonKingTV.com at 8PM ET/5PM PT (blocked in St. Louis where fight fans can see the action in-person at the Scottrade Center.
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