IFL World Team Finals Set; Kerr Falters in Return
Single bout results
Josh Gross Nov 3, 2006
If the only thing that mattered about Mark Kerr (Pictures)’s return to the ring was the
result, well then his performance versus Mike Whitehead (Pictures) Thursday evening would have been
a resounding failure.
But for the veteran heavyweight, whose documented past of substance abuse continues in many ways to define him today, it was a victory to simply step foot in a ring and fight professionally again.
Against Whitehead, who was 13-2 versus mixed opposition since the
last time Kerr fought, the veteran wrestler had no answer for the
younger fighter’s attack.
“I hadn’t been in the ring in a longtime,” Kerr said. “Obviously the rust that I had showed up.”
Fighting in a building that saw Whitehead win a high school state wrestling title seven years ago, the eager heavyweight never allowed Kerr to get comfortable.
“You could have put that Russian Fedor (Emelianenko) across from me tonight and it wouldn’t have mattered,” Whitehead said of fighting in the Memorial Coliseum. “This place brings a great feeling in me.”
From the outset Whitehead fired punches that found their mark. It wasn’t long before Kerr, who appeared soft in the midsection, saw a flash of white and was unable to recover sufficiently to mount any sort of serious challenge.
“When I’m standing in front of somebody and allow them to punch me in the head where in I get a flash knockout, you know I’m not prepared,” Kerr said.
By the bout’s third minute, Kerr was running and covering. Three crisp Whitehead punches sent Kerr into a purely defensive mode. “The Smashing Machine” protected himself on the canvas as Whitehead pounded away with punch after punch. At the 2:40 mark of the first referee Dave Hagan had seen enough and moved in to protect Kerr from further punishment.
“I guess I’m gonna keep fighting until I win one,” Kerr quipped.
Goes has easy time with Gracie
Allan Goes (Pictures) looked incredibly sure of himself during his time in the ring with Daniel Gracie (Pictures). Walking through Gracie’s punches, Goes never even sniffed a takedown, opting instead to land punches at his leisure on the wide-open Gracie.
It wasn’t long before Goes, who doubled up on jabs and smiled away much of Gracie’s offense, created a mouse under his fellow Brazilian’s left eye. By the end of the bout, Gracie would sport an ugly black semi-circle beneath his left eye as well.
“I developed my striking,” Goes said after the fight. “I just came to prove that I can strike, punch, whatever.”
With Maurice Smith (Pictures) shouting instructions from his corner, Goes peppered Gracie with strikes before scoring on consecutive right hands, the second an uppercut, dropping Gracie to the canvas along the ropes. “He drives me crazy but he’s the best,” Goes said of Smith. “It’s for my best.”
“My focus is to make grapplers strikers,” Smith said.
Goes followed Gracie down and pounded away until referee Sean Gregory called a halt to the contest at 1:03 of the second.
But for the veteran heavyweight, whose documented past of substance abuse continues in many ways to define him today, it was a victory to simply step foot in a ring and fight professionally again.
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“I hadn’t been in the ring in a longtime,” Kerr said. “Obviously the rust that I had showed up.”
“You don’t realize how much this game has evolved until you get
your butt handed to you,” Kerr continued. “I think that’s one of
the biggest things right now, understanding that the game has
changed. I actually have to make some major adjustments in how I
train and how I prepare.”
Fighting in a building that saw Whitehead win a high school state wrestling title seven years ago, the eager heavyweight never allowed Kerr to get comfortable.
“You could have put that Russian Fedor (Emelianenko) across from me tonight and it wouldn’t have mattered,” Whitehead said of fighting in the Memorial Coliseum. “This place brings a great feeling in me.”
From the outset Whitehead fired punches that found their mark. It wasn’t long before Kerr, who appeared soft in the midsection, saw a flash of white and was unable to recover sufficiently to mount any sort of serious challenge.
“When I’m standing in front of somebody and allow them to punch me in the head where in I get a flash knockout, you know I’m not prepared,” Kerr said.
By the bout’s third minute, Kerr was running and covering. Three crisp Whitehead punches sent Kerr into a purely defensive mode. “The Smashing Machine” protected himself on the canvas as Whitehead pounded away with punch after punch. At the 2:40 mark of the first referee Dave Hagan had seen enough and moved in to protect Kerr from further punishment.
“I guess I’m gonna keep fighting until I win one,” Kerr quipped.
Goes has easy time with Gracie
Allan Goes (Pictures) looked incredibly sure of himself during his time in the ring with Daniel Gracie (Pictures). Walking through Gracie’s punches, Goes never even sniffed a takedown, opting instead to land punches at his leisure on the wide-open Gracie.
It wasn’t long before Goes, who doubled up on jabs and smiled away much of Gracie’s offense, created a mouse under his fellow Brazilian’s left eye. By the end of the bout, Gracie would sport an ugly black semi-circle beneath his left eye as well.
“I developed my striking,” Goes said after the fight. “I just came to prove that I can strike, punch, whatever.”
With Maurice Smith (Pictures) shouting instructions from his corner, Goes peppered Gracie with strikes before scoring on consecutive right hands, the second an uppercut, dropping Gracie to the canvas along the ropes. “He drives me crazy but he’s the best,” Goes said of Smith. “It’s for my best.”
“My focus is to make grapplers strikers,” Smith said.
Goes followed Gracie down and pounded away until referee Sean Gregory called a halt to the contest at 1:03 of the second.
