Thompson, Ryan claim Bouts titles
By KATIE HUGHES
Sports Writer
Josh "The Redemon" Thompson has always had the unique ability to focus on his own form and to find his rhythm amidst the wild crowd and the toughest opponents.
Thompson found his focus once again Friday and won a unanimous decision against Scott "The Dark Horse" Duba in the 185 class of the Bengal Bout finals, finally earning the championship he had waited four years for.
"I was more nervous than I've ever been in my entire life before the fight," said Thompson. "Knowing it was my last shot at a championship, I was a wreck going into it."
With a crowd of hometown South Bend supporters and his family cheering Thompson on, the fight began. In round one, Duba started in with three-four jab combinations, then pushed for the brawl. Thompson came back with his one-two hook, focusing on what he knew he had to do. Duba returned with some wild jabs and made impact with his upper cuts.
"Duba came at me harder than everyone's come at me before," Thompson said. "It was kind of shocking to me. The hardest thing was to fight my fight at all. He was crowding me, and I couldn't move around and and fight him the way I wanted to.
"I felt like I had no control at all in the first round," said Thompson.
As voices from outside the ring yelled, "Get em JT," Duba showed the first signs of losing some control of the fight. Thompson came back with some more left-right jabs, using his strong left and following through tenaciously.
In round two, Duba started off with a few strong jab combinations and good upper cuts, but then Thompson finally found the reach he had been looking for the whole round. A strong left hook from Thompson finished the round.
It seemed that Thompson had been waiting for Duba to get tired, to overpower him at a weak moment, but Duba's armor wouldn't crack.
"Patience is the key for me, trying to stick with one thing the entire time. If you don't you get flustered," said Thompson. "If I start brawling and get crazy, and don't concentrate, then it's not gonna work for me," said Thompson.
The back and forth battle for control continued into the third round as Duba pushed for the brawl again with some decisive upper cuts and hooks. In Thompson's last Bengal Bout round, he got in with some left-right high impact hooks. Duba had a triple right hook, and then Thompson came back, defying the fatigue that hung over the ring like an inescapable demon, finishing off the round with a big right hook and jab.
"Scott Duba did an absolutely amazing job. He's a first year guy, and it was such a close fight. When the fight was over, I didn't know what to expect, but you can't regret anything if you feel like you fought your best fight," said Thompson.
Light Heavyweight
"Hell, yeah! Give it to me! Yeah! Yeah!" yelled Pete "Beat the Rap" Ryan as his name was announced as this year's Light Heavyweight champion. Ryan defeated Mike Vanderpoel for the title. The title is his fourth, a distinction shared by only eight other men in Bengal Bouts history: Bill Roemer in 1949, Tim Reardon in 1963, Roland Chamblee in 1973, Anthony Ricci in 1980, Mike Noone in 1989, Kerry Wate in 1992, Mike Trainor in 1992 and Jeff Gerber in 1994.
Some past four-time champions and boxing club captains joined Ryan in the ring as he received his award, and his family and a crowd of supporters from his old dorm, Keenan, watched from the audience.
"My mom even came out of the bathroom, where she usually goes during my fights, to watch me fight this year," said Ryan. "And that was incredible, so cool, when all my good buddies and all those guys were right with me in the ring when it was all over.
"Going into the fight, I just knew it was my last chance to soak it all in," continued Ryan.
Ryan's unstoppable left-left-right upper combinations were flying, as he dominated this round of anticipation. Ryan's jabs made some contact, and he got in two jabs to Vanderpoel's body to end the first round.
"I actually didn't feel that good about the first round, until I got my rhythm going," said Ryan.
Ryan continued with the left-left-right combinations, and debuted his straight-on jabs and high-low to Vanderpoel's body combos. A colossal left hook caused the referee to stop the contest twice. Ryan finished round two with two more huge right hooks.
Ryan continued his display of tight technical boxing, initiating movement around Vanderpoel's powerful defense, boxing in pure form until the end.
"I'll be a big supporter of the program for the rest of my life. It's been the most important think I've done at Notre Dame. Boxing gives you a lot of confidence outside the ring," said Ryan, who will attend law school next year at Washington University.
"Under the lights, with just one other guy is scary, but it makes a lot of day to day things not seem like such a big deal. But a four time champion? That's a big deal," 185 champ and fellow captain Josh Thompson said, "We knew Pete could do it. We can't be more happy for him. That was awesome."
Heavyweight
It seemed that Carlos "The Master" Abeyta's more compact build and height would keep him at a disadvantage, but in this contest between the hardest hitting boxers in the Bouts, Abeyta's agility helped him to earn the heavyweight title in a technical knock-out 42 seconds into the second round against Dan Adam.
"I respect [Adam's] power. I tried to stay as far away from his right hand as I could, and to get in and get out as fast as I could. At first I was kind of testing him out. I had seen him fight before, and I knew he tires early. He has a long reach advantage, and he hit me with his jab which was incredibly hard. Then I hit him few times with some hard punches and I could tell he was little more timid," said Abeyta.
Abeyta found some inspiration for his own fight in the 10 fights before his.
"I've never seen so many fights where people just laid their hearts out on the line. I couldn't believe some of the stamina the little guys had," said Abeyta.
Late in the first round, Abeyta threw out his elbow, which he had done in practice three times before. Though he said he was in pain, he continued to fight.
"I couldn't feel my arm for a good 15 to 20 seconds. The refs just told me one more time and they were gonna stop the fight, and I had to suck it up and go with it. And then once you step out of the corner your adreneline starts," said Abeyta.
In the first round, Abeyta stayed down low, but Adam reacted, getting in some hard jabs.
"I just had to throw straight punches and get out. It was either that or tie him up. I either had to be hugging him or five feet away," said Abeyta.
Abeyta, who is a first year law student, had boxed for four years as an undergraduate at Texas Tech.
"This week was horrible, I probably slept like three or four hours a night. It's hard to think about anything else at any time. Sleeping, in class, walking to your car, it's always on your mind. Now I can get a good night's sleep," said Abeyta, who will relax in Las Vegas over spring break.
The pressure for next year's Bouts, however, has already begun to build. "I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year. It's too much fun," said Abeyta.
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 5, 2001
