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By Scotti Vandevender – Fightnews.com

Shelby “The Bonetown Brawler” Gross (14-1, 12 KOs) jumped into the ring at the New Daisy Theatre in Memphis, TN, Tuesday night adorned in an oversized pair of overalls, his arms flailing about. When the bell rang to begin the first round, the overalls were off but the arms still flailed, this time all over his opponent Jeff Holcomb (9-3-1, 4 KOs) en route to winning the WBE Cruiserweight title.

From the opening bell Holcomb went on the defensive, soon drawing boos from the impatient crowd. But by round three Gross managed to begin landing power shots, drawing a standing eight count from referee Clay Huttleston. By the close of round three Holcomb’s nose trailed crimson down his cheeks as Gross blasted him with left hooks.

Round five showed Holcomb come alive a little, landing a lumbering left and right combination, but Gross sloughed them off as if bathwater splashed in his face and sent Holcomb back into a retreating, defensive mode.

Gross then began round eight with a huge right hand to the ribs that sent Holcomb’s mouthpeice flying to the canvas. Referee Clay Huttleston warned Holcomb that the next time would result in a one-point deduction. But that never came to pass as Gross again landed a hard right hand that caused another standing eight count. Then, during a pause as the ringside physician
examined him, Holcomb’s corner asked for a stoppage.

Pillow Punishes Hammac!

In a lightweight fight, Jerome Pillow (11-0, 8 KOs) punished Phillip Hammac (4-8, 2 KOs) for two rounds earning, bloodying his face in a TKO victory as Hammac could not answer the bell for round three.

Hammac Puzzled Pillow during most of round one, coming forward, smothering his punches, and landing body punches. But by the end of the round Pillow began to land on Hammac’s chin. Pillow followed the action in round three by driving a straight right hand into Hammac’s nose, probably breaking it, and definitely opening a free flow of blow for the duration of the bout.

But, Pillow continued to land power punches to Hammac’s skull, opening another cut above his right eye. Hammac stumbled back to the corner, his skull painted red. Hammac decided himself at that point that he wanted no more of the power-punching Pillow, who is rapidly becoming a local powerhouse at 135 pounds.

Freeman wins Rematch vs Burford

Welterweight Rodney Freeman (3-1, 2 KOs) out-muscled a game Chris Burford (5-19, 4 KOs) who gave up 13 pounds. This was a rematch from a fight where Burford caught Freeman with a round house right hand that flattened him. This time Freeman seemed more content to land hard shots and avoid the knockout blow, a strategy that earned him a victory this time around.

Burford begin round one with a hard left hook to Freeman’s chin. Freeman smiled as if to say it didn’t hurt. The two exchanged power shots throughout the round and Burford ended the round strong with a right hand.

Burford continued to press the action in round two, hurting Freeman in the ropes. But, unfortunately for him, Burford wore down and was unable to finish as Freeman began using his size advantage to muscle in for hard shots. Freeman then worked behind a body attack to finish strong and take advantage of Burford, earning him the victory.

Good Chin Keeps Bonds Undefeated

Middleweight Marcus Bonds (3-0-1) won via a TKO in round two over Billy Tipton (1-5), easily outgunning Tipton as referee Allan Lovell stops the action after the fourth knockdown.

Tipton landed a straight right hand to begin the bout but Bonds continued forward, looking to land a left hook. But it was a right hand that sent Tipton down the first time. Then a left hook against the ropes dropped him again in round one.

Round two looked pretty much the same as a Bonds right uppercut sent Tipton sprawling to the canvas again. Then Tipton charged back at Bonds who intently stepped forward and struck with a left hook that sent Tipton to the floor on his back. Referee Allan Lovell immediately called an end to the punishment.

D. Logan Spars with Sprouse

And, Lightweight Darnell Logan (2-0, 2 KOs) made easy prey of Jessie Sprouse with a TKO in round three. After several standing 8 counts, referee Clay Huttleston had seen enough and stopped this one in round three.