411’s King of the Cage – Prowler Report: 12.11.08
Posted by Raymundo Dioses on 12.12.2008
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King of the Cage: Prowler touched down at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in San Bernardino, California on December 11, 2008.
2,500 plus fans were on hand for ten action-packed King of the Cage fights featuring a plethora of fighters from the Southern California area.
Reigning KOTC welterweight champion Anthony "The Recipe" Lapsley lost his title against Mike Guymon in a tactical bout that was spent mostly on the ground. Lapsley controlled the pace of the fight form the outset, and calmly worked in right and left hands to the face alongside a consistent attack to the body with knees and kicks. Slowly but surely, Guyman hung around enough to wear down Lapsley, who faded in the later rounds. Guyman was content to fight Lapsley on the ground, as "The Recipe" is a former state-wrestling champion who sought a ground affair. With :30 left in the fourth, Guymon landed a succession of unanswered right hands while on the ground, and Lapsely was helped to his stool by his corner men when the round ended. Both men touched gloves as the crowd roared for the fifth and final round, and the two went to the ground in the opening seconds. Guymon secured an arm triangle, and a faded Lapsley tapped out to hand Guyman the belt.
In a junior welterweight title bout, San Bernardino' s Brian Warren pulled off the upset against champion Joe Boxer, using perfectly placed knee's to the body and an incredible punching output en route to becoming the new junior welterweight champion via unanimous decision.
Undefeated Rick "I.E. Badboy" Legere faced stiff competition in his opponent Wachiim Spiritwolf. In the opening seconds, the two were against the cage, and do the ground where Spiritwolf threw four elbows to the top of Legere's head. Once back on their feet, the fighters traded leg kicks before going to the ground again, advantage Legere. Legere landed a knee to the midsection as Spiritwolf attempted to get up to standing position, and was knocked back down by Legere. The opening stanza ended with both fighters on their feet, trading knees to the body. A huge left and in the opening seconds of the second round from Spiritwolf dropped Legere in a highlight knockout that brought the crowd to its feet. Bout was stopped at :16 as Legere, (6-1) recorded his first KOTC loss and Spiritwolf became the No. 1 contender for the welterweight title. "After the first round, my trainer told me to stand and trade, so I did."
Heavyweight Dave Cryer dominated Andrew Jones, bloodying his smaller opponent in the first round and in the process opening a gash over Jones' right eye. Jones' corner stopped the bout after the opening round and Cryer improved to 6-1.
Welterweight Aaron Miller won a three round unanimous decision over Brian Abram.
Rancho Cucamonga resident Dominic Verdugo improved to 5-3 after three rounds fought mostly stand-up via split decision over Yosuke Koreeda.
Yosuke Noreeda needed only twenty-one seconds to knockout Anthony Guerra with a straight right hand to the jaw. Guerra fell to the canvas and Noreeda landed two more big rights as referee Cecil Peoples rushed in to halt the bout.
San Bernardino' s Vincent Martinez made his professional debut against Fernando Bernstein. After a hard fought first round in which Martinez scored two takedowns, Bernstein, (2-0) landed a series of knee kicks and got Martinez to the ground, scoring the tap out with a triangle submission midway through the second round.
King of The Cage will return to San Manuel in February and April of 2009.
