LINCOLN, R.I. (Feb. 25, 2011) – This time, Mike “The Beast” Campbell left no doubt as to who the most dominant fighter is in his rivalry with Mike Medrano. For the second time since 2009, Campbell knocked out Medrano, this time beating the Toms River, N.J., lightweight in the main event of Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports’ “Rhode Rage” cage-fighting show at the Twin River Event Center.
The Coventry, R.I., native, who improved to 9-3 with Friday’s win, caught Medrano with four clean left hooks early in the opening round, sending his opponent to his knees. Campbell quickly got Medrano on his back and ultimately ended the fight at the 1:46 mark with a flurry of punches that forced the eventual stoppage.
Medrano, who also got knocked out in the opening round against Campbell in September of 2009 when the two fighters squared off at 170 pounds, disputed the validity of the stoppage in their initial bout at Thursday’s pre-fight weigh-in, but Campbell lived up to his promise and ended Friday’s rematch in similar fashion.
“Good stoppage, right?” Campbell said. “I wanted to give him this rematch because he called me out. He wasn’t the bigger, stronger fighter at 170 and I knew he wouldn’t be the bigger, stronger fighter at 155. The proof is in the pudding.”
For Campbell, this is his first win since losing to Magno Almeida at Twin River in September of 2010. Medrano dropped to 8-8 following Friday’s loss.
The co-feature ended with a similar bang, as Pawtucket, R.I., native Todd “The Hulk” Chattelle scored a major upset by beating heavily-favored middleweight Woody “The Dynasty” Weatherby via technical knockout just 54 seconds into the opening round. Chattelle caught Weatherby with a left knee to the face early in the fight that opened a severe cut over Weatherby’s left eye. After an illegal knee by Weatherby momentarily stopped the fight, the ringside physician examined Weatherby’s cut and ultimately decided to put an end to the bout.
Jimmy “Jimbo Slice” Davidson kicked off the action in the lightweight division with an impressive win over Woonsocket, R.I., native Justin Switzer, forcing Switzer to submit via a rear-naked choke at the 3:01 mark of the opening round. A native of Boston, Mass., Davidson (2-0) controlled the fight from the opening bell and eventually got himself in position to execute the finishing hold by penetrating Switzer’s guard with a series of short, left hands to the head and body. Switzer tapped out, dropping his record to 0-2 (he also lost at Twin River on Dec. 2, 2010 against Massachusetts prospect Tyson Chartier, who coincidentally worked Davidson’s corner for Friday’s bout.
The second bout of the evening ended in similar fashion with middleweight Eric Cusson (2-0) of Franklin, Mass., forcing Woonsocket’s Hector Sanchez (0-2) to tap out 1:14 into the opening round following a series of knees to the ribcage. Much like Davidson in the opening bout, Cusson dominated from the start, dropping Sanchez to the canvas with a quick kick to the temple coupled with a strong leg takedown with the first few seconds of the opening round.
The action continued with Kevin Horowitz (3-2) of Queens, N.Y., beating hometown favorite Rigo Dominicci (6-11) of Pawtucket, R.I. Horowitz utilized his superior ground game to control most of the opening round and eventually put himself in position for a rear-naked choke before Dominicci submitted with one second remaining due to an apparent wrist injury.
Lightweight Saul Almeida (8-1) of Framingham, Mass., rebounded from his loss to Pete Jeffrey in September of 2010 with an impressive 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous decision victory over veteran Bobby Reardanz (6-7) of Bourbanais, Ill. Both fighters exchanged blows in the opening round before Almeida took control with his ground game. Almeida dominated the final two rounds while Reardanz spent the majority of the fight trying to regain leverage.
After dazzling the Twin River fanbase in his pro debut on Dec. 2, Doug Bolanes of Framingham, Mass., returned to Lincoln on Friday with another impressive victory, this time knocking out veteran Stephen Stengel (3-9) at the 2:08 mark of the opening round. Bolanes, who is now 2-0 with two knockouts, pummeled Stengel with a series of overhand rights that momentarily knocked his opponent unconscious before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.