The record crowd that packed the Savvis Center in anticipation of the rematch between Cory Spinks and Zab Judah was treated to a terrific heavyweight fight to begin Showtime’s live coverage of the event.
With the weak state of the current heavyweight rankings, many championship elimination bouts in boxing’s “Glamour Division” end up being very ordinary, but Don King hit a home run by matching up Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett against Owen “What the Heck” Beck in a thrilling bout that was the perfect lead-in to the main event.
Both big men entered the ring in relative obscurity, but both saw their stock rise after trading punishment for nearly nine rounds.
Beck entered the contest with a perfect record of 24 and 0. But, at age 28, he needs to accelerate his climb up the heavyweight mountain.
At age 33, it’s really make-or-break time for Barrett, who had an impressive 30 and 3 record prior to Saturday night. Barrett has a tattoo across his shoulders that reads “In God I Trust,” but apparently he doesn’t put all of his faith in a higher power to pay the bills, as he also displayed the name of an online casino in magic marker across his back.
The fight began with Beck using a busy jab to keep his opponent honest. Barrett tried turning lazy jabs over into lead hooks, but distance kept the shorter Beck out of harm’s way. Barrett then tried baiting Beck for a counter jab on the way in, but Beck refused to cooperate. The first round ended as Barrett missed with a wild right hand at the bell.
As the fighters went back to their trainers and sat down, cameras and microphones swooped down to capture the conversations in the corners. It didn’t take long for the pace of the fight to accelerate, as both boxers abandoned their “safety first” approaches and took the fight to the inside in the second frame.
Beck began the action by ripping hooks to Barrett’s body. Barrett answered, but was warned to keep his punches up by referee Jay Nady after an errant hook strayed south of the beltline. Barrett landed a stiff jab and backed Beck into the red corner. Beck temporarily avoided that pitfall by stepping and turning Barrett against the ropes, but Barrett jolted Beck’s chin with an uppercut and followed with a left hook that landed flush on Beck’s cheek, sending him to the canvas.
Beck rose quickly, and Barrett tried to make it a short night by flinging wide hooks with fight-ending intentions. But he was unable to close the show, and the two traded hooks to the body and head to end the round. The action had the stragglers in the audience scrambling to find their seats.
The inside fighting continued for the next six rounds and, with each exchange, the crowd became more immersed in the action. The excitement almost came to a premature halt in the fourth round, after a punch and a clash of heads opened a nasty cut over Barrett’s left eye. Barrett pawed at the crimson stream that was stinging and distorting his vision, but his cut man was able to stem the flow, and the battle continued.
Barrett tried to catch Beck again with several uppercuts, but Beck showed a strong chin as he absorbed the teeth-rattling blows. Barrett proved he was equally durable, shaking off two thunderous overhand rights in the eighth round.
With the fight still up for grabs in the ninth, Barrett landed a sharp hook to Beck’s ribs, and then followed up with a barrage of hooks to Beck’s jaw near the blue corner. Beck hit the deck and rose at the count of seven, but Barrett added a pair of clean right hooks that were punctuated with a left that ended the fight via TKO with just 8 seconds left in the round.
The crowd stood to applaud the action and the show rolled at full speed toward the main event n which, of course, ended on a much less triumphant note for the sold-out Savvis.
