“Time For Truth”: Trupish Needs Less Than a Round to Defeat Trotter; Claggett Stops Wagner in Six
By: GM Ross
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On Friday, January 13, Desperados Night Club was packed to capacity for FanBase Promotion’s four fight evening of boxing dubbed “Time for Truth.” This was easily one of the most hyped shows in recent Calgarian boxing history, featuring Adam ‘A-Bomb’ Trupish (9-0-0) of Windsor, Ontario, via Edmonton, Alberta, putting his NABA light middleweight championship on the line against Janks Trotter (7-0-1) of Calgary, Alberta. There was some bad blood brewing prior to the fight, with Trupish stating he was hesitant to face Trotter because, “it wouldn’t be much of a fight,” assuring his fans that, if and when the fight happened, he would “gladly whoop his ass.” The NABA champ took some heat for his brash comments but, after last night, few can question their validity.
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As Trupish and Trotter went through their pre-fight routines in their respective corners, they looked roughly equal in physical stature. Trupish came in the taller man by two inches at 5’11”, but looked to have an even more significant reach advantage than his height would suggest. Trotter was in trouble almost immediately, being promptly dropped to the canvas by the champion. The Calgarian staggered to his feat, clearly in serious trouble, but was permitted to continue by the referee. With his man hurt, Trupish moved in to finish, forcing Trotter to hold on as best he could. Eventually, the referee was forced to separate the two, leading the weary Trotter to stagger the length of the ring. Moments later, the fight was over. Trupish floored Trotter for a second time, forcing the referee to call a halt to the contest at 1:12 of the first round. With the win, Trupish moves to a perfect 10-0-0, putting him hot on the heels of some international prospects and/or champions in the division.
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On the undercard, things looked pretty grim for Orangeville, Ontario’s Steve Franjic (7-0-0) early in his light heavyweight contest with Arizona’s Andrew Hernandez (3-0-0). Franjic was down twice in the first, but managed to regain his composure and make it to the bell. ‘Silent’ Steve showed championship caliber heart by battling back in the second round, pushing Hernandez around the ring with near constant pressure. Early in the third Franjic snapped back his opponent’s head with a vicious uppercut, prompting a roar of approval from the crowd. In the fourth, Franjic committed to a body attack, slugging away at Hernandez, forcing him backwards time and time again. In round five, Franjic took his attack upstairs, landing with both hands around Hernandez’s guard. The centre of the ring belonged to the Ontario fighter in every round but the first and after significantly outpunching his opponent in the sixth and final round the comeback looked complete. In the end, the judges rendered a majority draw – not a bad outcome for Franjic, considering his early troubles! With the draw, both men remain undefeated. With any luck we’ll see a rematch between these two in the near future.
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In a super middleweight eight rounder, former Canadian light heavyweight champion Jason Naugler (18-14-1) of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, took on Albert Onolunose (19-1-0) of Nigeria via Calgary. The former champ came out firing power punches, but missed his target. Naugler then established a jab, controlling Onolunose for much of the first round. Near the end of the opening round Onolunose fired a jab-right in combination, finding the mark. Neither man took control early in round two. Eager for action, Naugler taunted his opponent near the end of the second, urging Onolunose to let his hands go. The latter obliged and both fighters exchanged blows, going toe to toe for the remainder of the stanza. Rounds four through six were all Onolunose, who simply outworked Naugler, racking up points and taking control. In rounds seven and eight neither man seemed willing to risk anything, but Onolunose clearly outworked his opponent, maintaining an active jab. The fight went to the scorecards, Onolunose receiving the unanimous decision 80-72, 80-72, 79-73.
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In the co-feature of the evening, WBC youth intercontinental light welterweight champion and hometown hero Steve ‘the Dragon’ Claggett (12-1-1) took on the extremely tough and unorthodox Ryan ‘the Nightmare’ Wagner (4-1-0) of Orangeville, Ontario, in an eight round welterweight bout. Wagner recently scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over Rory Coveney (7-0-0) of Edmonton, Alberta – the man Claggett initially called out for an early 2012 match up. Coveney’s conqueror used his size to push the smaller Claggett around the ring in the early going, but the latter fought back sufficiently to make things close. By the third round both men were slugging away and a toe-to-toe war unfolded. In the fourth, Claggett rocked Wagner with a flush left hook/right uppercut combination, but Wagner came storming back with flurries of his own, forcing Claggett back as the round closed. In the fifth, however, Claggett’s cleaner punching began to pay dividends, ‘the Dragon’ stunning his opponent with big, well-timed right hands on two occasions. In the sixth, Claggett overwhelmed his man, dropping him along the ropes following a flurry of punches. Wagner rose valiantly, coming forward and exchanging, only to be dropped a second time. “The Nightmare” rose once more and was sent back to the canvas, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award the laurels to Claggett via TKO at 1:25 of the sixth round.
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