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

Welliver falls short again while stepping up in class

Steve Christilaw Correspondent

WORLEY, Idaho – The higher you go, the tougher it gets.

Spokane’s Chauncey Welliver, looking to step up against the top fighters in the heavyweight division, found the going rough Thursday at the Coeur d’Alene Casino’s House of Fury, losing his second straight fight by unanimous decision.

Welliver, 21, hung tough with seasoned pro David Bostice, 32-8-1, a former casino regular—drawing encouragement from two world champions working his corner, Cornelius Boza Edwards and Tacoma’s Greg Haugen.

But hanging tough and beating an opponent are two different things.

Looking faster and stronger than in previous fights, Welliver still was hurt by the taller Bostice, who bloodied the hometown favorite early and used the savvy gleaned from more than 40 professional fights in the heavyweight division.

“That is a tough man,” Welliver told the crowd after the bell to end the tenth and final round. “That is one tough man.”

The loss was the second in a row for Welliver, now 16-3-3, who lost to John Sargent last month in Billings, Mont.

“I fought a tough fighter and now I know what its like to fight one.”

Luke Munsen picked up his 16th professional win and avenged his only loss when he scored a seventh-round knockout of Marcus Harvey.

Harvey dislocated his right shoulder throwing a punch late in the seventh round, then landed on the injured joint when he fell to the canvas.

The same injury cost Harvey his last fight.

“It was the same shoulder,” his manager, Boza Edwards said. “He’s not going to fight anymore.”

Munsen admitted being slightly intimidated going into the fight, and tried to learn from his earlier mistakes.

“You know, I lost to this guy last time,” he said. “But the last time I fought him I came out throwing bombs and wore myself out. This time I tried to set it up better. He’s a tough guy and he’s hard to hit.”

Christian Nava, from Park City, Utah, scored a majority decision over Airway Heights welterweight Nalo Leal in a rematch of his professional debut. Nava, now 1-1, came out confident in the six-round bout and earned the favor of two of the three judges ringside. The third judge scored the fight a draw.

Los Angeles’ Danny Zee scored a four-round split decision over Boise’s Byron Sutherland. Sutherland, now 1-1, finished the fight with cuts over both eyes, the first the result of an incidental head butt in the first round.

Iga Flapping Eagle, a standout amateur fighter from Caldwell, Idaho, made short work of his professional, heavyweight debut—storming across the ring to knock out Bud Stump in just 52 seconds of round one. Stump, from Kansas City, Mo., went down after the first flurry and spent a significant portion of the fight taking a standing eight count from referee Kevin McCarl.

Paul Mpendo scored a majority decision over hometown favorite Frank Bybee. Mpendo, from Eugene, Ore., billed as the Ugandan Warrior, scored consistently through all four rounds and won all four rounds on two of the three judges’ score cards. The third judge scored the fight a draw.

Boise’s Chris Lords knocked out Refugio Mendoza of Caldwell, Idaho, at 1:47 of the second round. Lords, who has three professional wins, all by knockout, floored Mendoza to start the second round, then connected with a solid right hand to end the bout.