Munsen tops boxing card at CdA Casino

The last time Luke Munsen of Spokane headlined a boxing card at the Coeur d’ Alene Casino’s House of Fury in Worley, he went toe-to-toe with former world cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov.

He lost a unanimous 10-round decision but earned a great deal of respect for his performance against a high-caliber opponent.

This time, it’s personal.

Munsen, 18-5-0 with 13 wins by knockout, will face Seattle’s Tim Shocks, 26-22-4 with 15 knockouts, in the tonight’s main event.

The action begins at 7.

The first time the fighters met, in February 2005 at Ocean Shores, Wash., Shocks scored a seventh-round knockout – Munsen’s third loss in four fights and his second knockout in three bouts.

Since that first meeting, the two fighters have gone in different directions.

Munsen, 25, took almost a year off, returning to the ring in January to score a first-round TKO over Eric Swensen, then going 10 rounds with Jirov.

Shocks, 35, known as “The Evangelist,” won his next fight, a four-round unanimous decision over James Brock in Temecula, Calif., in March 2005.

Since then, however, Shocks has lost five times, retiring in the third round against Yusaf Mack on Feb. 11 at Philadelphia and dropping a four-round unanimous decision to Gary Gomez on April 21 at Salt Lake City in is most recent outing.

Tonight’s co-feature pits Sandpoint light middleweight Favio Medina, 10-1-2, against Rudy Lovato, 21-34-4.

Medina, 25, has won his past 10 fights, including an eight-round unanimous decision over Danny Brownson at Worley on April 20.

Lovato is 4-15-1 in his past 20 fights, dating back to 2001.

Spokane Valley heavyweight Skylar “Baby Boy” Anderson, 3-1, faces Jerry “Ruffhouse” Simpson, 1-4-1, from Tallahassee, Fla., in a four-round bout. Anderson, 19, is 16 years Simpson’s junior.

Anderson is trained by his father, Clint Anderson, who owns and operates AAA Boxing in Spokane Valley.

Simpson is trained by former WBA heavyweight champion Tony Tubbs.

Frank “The Worley Warrior” Bybee, 4-7-0, fights Post Falls light middleweight Raphael Cansino, 0-2-1, in the opening bout.