Strikeforce

By David A. Avila

LAS VEGAS-Vicious Bobby Voelker scored a second round knockout to win the third welterweight match with Roger Bowling on Friday at the Palm Casino.

The Strikeforce fight card main event saw Voelker (24-8) and Bowling (9-2) looking to be the decisive winner of their trilogy.

Bowling had a great first round with numerous snapping kicks and thudding right hands that seemed to surprise Voelker. With just 10 seconds remaining the Kansas City fighter finally landed some retaliatory strikes.

“He was winning the whole thing. I knew I had to weather the storm and catch him with something and I did,” said Voelker.

Voelker seemed to bolt out of his corner with a more determined presence and began landing more combinations and putting the pressure on Bowling. During a clinch Voelker kneed Bowling perfectly and had the Cincinnati fighter reeling backward. Voelker put the finishing touches with right hands to the downed fighter. Referee Josh Rosenthal stopped the fight at 2:16 of round two.

“He’s a great fighter,” Voelker said.

Oregon’s Devin Cole (19-9-1) beat Louisiana’s Shawn Jordan (10-3) a late replacement in the heavyweight match. Cole was the fresher fighter and it showed in all three rounds though Jordan landed some nasty blows on occasion.

“I worked hard,” said Cole who broke his two-fight losing streak.

Tennessee’s Ovince St. Preux (11-4) handed Milwaukee’s Joe Cason (6-1) his first defeat with a pummeling that ended at 1:12 of round one of the light heavyweight bout. A left handed stunned Cason who was then overwhelmed and tapped out from the punches.

“I rocked him with a good knee and took him down, and that’s all I needed” said St. Preux.

Canada’s Sarah Kaufman (14-1) was too strong and too big for San Diego’s Liz Carmouche (6-2) who stayed in punching range but ate right hands all three rounds of a bantamweight fight.

“Liz is not an easy fight for anyone,” Kaufman said. “I really wanted to clear that distance and use my strikes and use my length.”

Brazil’s Alman Amagov (8-1-1) literally held on to win a split decision over Maryland’s Ron Stallings (9-4) after three rounds of a middleweight fight. In the third round Amagov held on to the fence to prevent repeated take downs despite warnings from referee Steve Mazzagati. Probably a point deduction would have been the proper call as Amagov barely won.

“I thought I won,” Stallings said. “I’m very disappointed there wasn’t a finish.”

Veteran TJ Cook (15-3) out lasted New Mexico’s Lionel Lanham (3-1) after a turbulent back and forth round one light heavyweight bout. Both fired away and landed heavy blows but a right uppercut by Cook turned things around. Both were spent but Cook floored Lanham and pummeled him on the floor for a technical knockout at 4:59 of round one. The ringside doctor said the winner may have suffered a collapsed lung. He was sent to the hospital complaining of breathing problems.

Anthony “The Lionheart” Smith (14-6) was a little perturbed at first getting warned for a late throw down, then a kick from San Diego’s Ben Lagman (6-2) only further infuriated the Nebraska fighter. That did it. He reacted by attacking with a flying knee that backed up Lagman then let loose with an overhand right to the chin. Down went Lagman after a few more punches the referee jumped in and stopped it at 33 seconds of round two.

Bill “The Grill” Cooper (2-0) only had one fight under his belt but his ground work was enough to offset the athleticism of Mack Watson (4-2). A rear naked choke at 2:39 of round two by Cooper ended the night for Watson.

Sterling Ford out scrapped Brian McLaughlin after three rounds. McLaughlin preferred the ground but Ford did not cooperate and won by standing up and pounding occasional big punches. All three judges scored it 30-27.