ST. LOUIS - Mississippi County Boxing traveled to St. Louis this week to compete in the 11th Annual Gateway Classic Boxing Tournament. The tournament was held at the Gateway Athletic Foundation Center approximately 150 boxers attending.
Roger Achter started the week for Miss. Co. losing his match to Rondell Sykes of the Cherokee Boxing Team from St. Louis.
In the first round, Rondell went onto the Championships losing to John Heart from the Hannibal Boxing Team.
Matt Gephart finished off the week fighting in the championships against Jordan Brown of the Hannibal Boxing Team.
"We knew we were in for a good fight with Jordan, he is a good experienced and disciplined fighter," stated coach Wick.
Going into the match, Gephart started off strong connecting with good clean jabs and scoring with some good combinations.
"I hit him hard and he took it well, I was worried for a minute about how strong he was going to be going into the later rounds," stated Gephart about his opponent.
Going into the second round both fighters came out strong scoring "Punch for Punch" points.
"At the end of the second round both fighters were about even on the scorecards, it was getting to close for comfort," Wick stated. "I told Matt in between the second and third round that he really needed to pick it up if he was going to win it, that if he wanted to win, go fight like it was the first round all over again."
Gephart entered the third round with fire landing some early shots on Brown. Halfway through the round both fighters had the crowd screaming. Both tired from throwing so many punches as the end of the round drew closer. When the bell rang they both grabbed each other with a new found respect for one another and congratulated each other with talks of a future rematch before the results were even read.
"I think I've seen the best fight of the whole evening," stated Wick. "I told Matt when he came to the corner that if we won that fight it was because he threw three or four more punches than Jordan did. It was a very close fight and I was happy with the results."
For his accomplishments in the tournament, Matt received a Gold Medal and a Champions Jacket from the Gateway Classic Athletic Foundation.
This is the first tournament championship win for Mississippi County Boxing with many more to come in the future. Next on the schedule for the team is the Junior Olympics in St. Louis starting April 14, 2005.
Mississippi County Boxing wants to hold their 1st year Anniversary Homeshow on May 29th in East Prairie and is seeking supporters for the show, if interested, contact Brad Wick at (573) 380-0383 for more information. If you are interested in boxing and would like to train in the gym, stop by at 108 E. Pine St. in East Prairie Mon-Fri 4pm-close or contact coach Wick.