Two captains continue quest for 175-pound title
By BRIAN BURKE
Sports Writer
Mark Criniti insists this year's 175-pound weight division is the strongest in the tourney. If you take his word for it, Wednesday's semifinal matches will set the stage for a highly anticipated title bout Friday. Two captains remain alive, both with championships to defend, and their quests to repeat continue tonight.
Top seeded Rob "A.M.D.G." Joyce takes on Keith "A Little Ball of Hate" Arnold in hopes of continuing his success against strong opponents. Arnold took over his quarterfinal match, overwhelming Nathan Scheid in less than a round, but expects much more of a challenge out of Joyce.
"I don't think Rob's anywhere near the fighter that kid was," Arnold said. "I really don't know what I plan on doing. Rob's a better boxer than me, so I'll have to figure something out. I wouldn't mind punching it out, but he will want to, he's more tactical."
Arnold perhaps can rely on the fact that the rest of the 175 pounders don't know a whole lot about him.
"The guys left are all pretty good fighters," Arnold said. "I think I was just an after-thought."
The other 175 pound card pits second seeded Mark "I'm So Pretty" Criniti against John Lynk. Criniti comes off a dominating victory over Brian Colville in which he needed only 58 seconds of the second round to earn a TKO. The left hander moved well in the ring, and was able to do damage both to the head and the body, something Lynk will have to prepare for. A key for Criniti will be to move in and out against the hard-hitting Lynk.
165-pounds
In the 165-pound division, senior Brian "Nightmare" Hobbins enters his second fight of the bouts against Justin "The ResLife Regular" Myers. Hobbins was the only fighter at 165 pounds to receive a preliminary round bye and then defeated Patrick Dillon in the quarterfinals.
"I have to hit [Myers] as hard as I can," Hobbins said. "He likes to go in with that charging stuff, and I need to make him pay every single time."
With one captain having already been upset in the quarterfinals, Hobbins knows he is a marked man.
"To knock the captain down is a big deal," Hobbins said. "The pressure isn't as much for the other guys. If they lose, they're supposed to lose. If they win it's a big upset, so the pressure's on me."
The other bout at 165 pounds features Christopher "Can't We all Just" Kitalong, clashing with 32 year old grad student Thomas "Boom-Boom" Macias. Kitalong and Macias both had little trouble advancing to the seminfinals, controlling their fights. Both like to fight in close, and this one could come down to two fighters trading punches.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 28, 2001
