Document text
Wilson topples mammoth foe By Greg Stiles CENTRAL POINT � Mike Wilson, one of America�s up-and-coming amateur heavyweight boxers, ran smack into a fellow whose athletic heyday is past at Olsrud Pavilion on the Jackson County Expo grounds Saturday night. Wilson, a Crater High School senior who spent last summer with the U.S. Olympic team and was an alternate for the Sydney Games, prevailed. But 32-year-old Brian Torzewski, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 280 pounds, proved a mountain of a challenge for Wilson. The local fan favorite wasn�t necessarily in danger of losing to the Tacoma behemoth, he just had to deal with his opponent�s significant mass. "I was trying to keep him off me because he�s so big," said Wilson, after improving his career record to 40-6. "Every time he got in on me, I got tired." The bout was one of 17 as the Bulldog Boxing Club played host to the Regional Silver Gloves/USA Oregon Tournament. Wilson was in command through the first two rounds in the four-round bout. But he suffered a cut under his left eye that dribbled blood the rest of the fight. "The referee said that if it kept bleeding, he�d have to stop the fight," Wilson said. Both fighters pounded away above the shoulders and Torzewski had a nasty cut on top of his scalp by night�s end. "I was happy to hold my own against him," said Torzewski (6-2), who marked the first anniversary of his journey into boxing in front of 1,000 vocal fight fans. "I played semipro football and I missed the contact. I decided to get into boxing and see what it�s got. Unfortunately, if I want to do something like this, I�m going to have to go against guys like Mike. I wish everybody in this business was like him. He�s a great mentor for kids." Wilson�s next stop is the regional USA tournament next month in Spokane, Wash. "Right now, I�m trying to get in shape," Wilson said. "The last couple of rounds were tough, because I didn�t have any legs after the first two rounds. So I just had to stay in there with him. If I�m in shape, nobody is going to beat me." The Bulldogs� two-time national runner-up, Troy Wohosky, continued on his march toward a Silver Gloves championship by dominating Eloy Perez of Washington�s Fight For Life Club. Wohosky relentlessly worked Perez for three rounds as the South Medford High School freshman upped his four-year record to 41-6. "I had never fought him before, but I saw him (Friday)," Wohosky said. "He threw a lot of hooks. I knew I could slide a lot and counter his hooks." That�s exactly what club owner Joe Pedrojetti has been hoping to see. "Sometimes Troy stands right with a guy and guns with him," Pedrojetti said. "We�ve been trying to get him to move from side to side. He was real smart out there. He�s starting to listen. "He kind of went through a stage where he was moving and then he must have started feeling strong and was just standing there. In amateur boxing, that�s not good. We try to teach our boxers to move from side to side. You don�t see that a lot at this level." The pace of the bout slowed in the second round, but it had no impact on the outcome. "I think he felt my power," Wohosky said. "I don�t know if that�s what slowed him down or if he was trying to save himself for the third round." In all, nine Bulldogs � the most ever for the 5-year-old club � qualified for the Jan. 31-Feb.2 nationals tournament in Lenaxa, Kan. However, Pedrojetti said, not every qualifier will make the trip. In the primary undercard, Bulldog senior 156-pounder Ricky Gallegos hammered Russian immigrant Antoli Iusico, in a fight stopped midway through the fourth round. "I wasn�t sure how good of shape I was in," admitted Gallegos, who improved to 40-18. "I�d only been training three weeks consistently for this fight. I went down to Arizona a month ago and wasn�t able to breathe by the end of the round." But the 26-year-old Iusico, who now lives in Tacoma, Wash., showed less endurance after a two-year layoff from the ring and took a standing eight count in the third and two more in the fourth. "It�s been hard for him to get fights," said Tacoma coach Aaron Gomillion. "He had to pick a tough one to start with." SILVER GLOVES SEMIFINALS 14-15 years 132 pounds � Brian Dotson, Bumble Bee, Seattle, Wash. dec. Rafael Martinez, SRA, Idaho; Roger Cantrell, Summit, Wash., dec. John Leonard, Sweet Home. SILVER GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS 14-15 years 106 pounds � Josh Groat, SRA, Idaho, stopped Mike Chamberlain, Central Oregon. 119 pounds � Troy Wohosky, Bulldog Boxing Club, dec. Eloy Perez, Fight for Life. SILVER GLOVES UNCONTESTED CHAMPIONS 10-11 years 55 pounds � Dillon Tabino, West Portland, 60 pounds � Luis Regalado, Oregon. 70 pounds � Sven Harrison, Wash. 75 pounds � Cody Kelly, Bulldog Boxing Club. 80 pounds � Tito Torres, Bulldog Boxng Club. 85 pounds � Orris Osbourne, Idaho. 12-13 years 70 pounds � Duran Caferro, Montana. 85 pounds � Armando Rodriguez, Idaho. 90 pounds � Manuel Gonzalez, Bulldog Boxing Club. 95 pounds � Ben Perez, Oregon. 119 pounds � Javier Torres, Bulldog Boxing Club. 139 pounds � Aaron Turner, Oregon. 201 pounds � Lorenzo Arenas, Oregon. 14-15 years 90 pounds � Ryan Welker, Idaho. 95 pounds � Omar Rodriguez, Idaho. 100 pounds � Mike Woodington, Idaho. 112 pounds � Antonio Lopez. Idaho. 139 pounds � Nalo Leal, Airway Heights, Wash. 165 pounds � Keenan Mace, Idaho. 178 pounds � Tyler Reid, Wash. 201 pounds � Leonardo Garcia, Idaho. MATCH BOUTS 9-10 years 75 pounds � Taylor Shirley, Tacoma, Wash., dec. Wes Padilla, Rock Springs, Wyo.. 10-11 years 80 pounds � Orris Osbourne, SRA, Idaho, dec. Tito Torres, Bulldog Boxing Club. 12-13 years 95 pounds � Ben Perez, Bulldog Boxing Club, dec. Caleb Leonard, Sweet Home. 119 pounds � Javier Torres, Bulldog Boxing Club, dec. Willie Padilla, Rock Springs, Wyo. 12-14 years 90 pounds � Manuel Gonzalez, Bulldog Boxing Club, stopped. Ryan Welker, SRA, Idaho. 13-14 years 100 pounds � Mike Woodington, SRA Idaho, dec. Justin Watson, West Portland. 106 pounds � Eloy Fabian, SRA, Idaho, dec. Luis Dealba, Bumble Bee, Seattle, Wash. 14-15 years 156 pounds � Chris Baz, Central Oregon, dec. Juan Vargus, SRA, Idaho. 15-16 years 139 pounds � Cordell Barbour, Tacoma, Wash., dec. Nalo Leal, Airway Heights, Wash. SENIOR 125 pounds � Salvador Regalado, Bulldog Boxing Club, dec. Luis Gomez, Rocking Springs, Wyo. 156 pounds � Ricky Gallegos, Bulldog Boxing Club, stopped Antolli Iusico, Tacoma, Wash.. 201 pounds � Marco Ashe, Sweet Home, stopped. Tyler Livingston, Central Oregon. 201-pounds-plus � Mike Wilson, Bulldog Boxing Club, dec. Brian Torzewski, Tacoma, Wash. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.