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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Welch Earns Decision In Hometown Debut

Mike Sando Staff Writer

Having gone nearly four years since his last professional fight, Rowdy Welch entered the ring Thursday night filled with anticipation and driven by adrenaline.

Neither would get the better of the 31-year-old Spokane welterweight, however, and Canadian Stan Cunningham didn’t fare much better. Fighting before an estimated 2,500 at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, Welch took a unanimous decision from Cunningham to up his professional record to 18-4-1.

It marked the first time Welch has fought professionally in his hometown.

“Cunningham was smart,” said Welch, who turned pro in 1988, then fought mostly in Northern California and Nevada. “I got him once, but I just couldn’t get my combinations going. I got the right hand in, but for the most part used the jab.”

Cunningham tried to lure Welch into getting careless, baiting the former junior-lightweight contender by lowering his gloves and, at times, throwing wildly. Cunningham’s strategy began to work late in the fourth round, when a frustrated Welch swung wildly, missing badly and falling onto the canvas.

But Welch managed to win the round, as he had the previous three, and seemed to get sharper after a sluggish fifth. He bullied the taller Cunningham in round six, throwing elbows and hitting low - enough to draw a pair of warnings from referee Kevin McCarl.

Welch went back to the jab to sweep the final three rounds.

Judges Dan Vasser and Darryl Van Note each scored it 99-92. Darren Van Orman saw it 98-94.

In the night’s most exciting fight, Spokane heavyweight Rick Welliver won an unpopular four-round majority decision over Shawn Elliott, a southpaw from Medford, Ore.

At 5-foot-10 and a slightly pudgy 202 pounds, Welliver rushed Elliott (6-1, 196) in the first round, landing a series of glancing uppercuts that seemed to take more out of Welliver than his scowling opponent.

Both men scored heavily over the final three rounds. Welliver survived a right uppercut midway through the fourth, then used his lower center of gravity to fight off Elliott’s charge. Welliver may have won the final round - and possibly the fight - with consecutive uppercuts in the last 10 seconds.

Ed Dalton, the Albertson’s produce worker from Emmett, Idaho, dominated flabby Ernie Valentine before finishing the Sacramento, Calif., cruiserweight with a series of punishing body shots in the second round.

“Going to the body makes it a lot easier in the later rounds,” said Dalton, who won a 10-round decision from Valentine on a Nov. 25 Spokane card. “He’s a tough, seasoned fighter, but I’m up and coming.”

Jovial Spokane lightweight Mario Martinez was outgunned against Reno’s Martin Franco, who knocked Martinez out at 1:11 of the second round, but couldn’t knock the smirk from his overmatched opponent’s face.

In a four-rounder, Canada’s Kip Munro earned a unanimous decision against Doug Holiman, who was forced to take the bus from Portland when he couldn’t produce identification adequate enough to satisfy airport officials.

, DataTimes