Sanctioned boxing returns to Havre after 2 decades

The Eagles' Club Saturday hosted the return of boxing to Havre on, the first officially sanctioned boxing event in town since 1999.

    The event, the Inaugural Railtown Smackdown, was organized by the Rock Hound Boxing Team out of Havre, and the Hays Amateur Boxing Gym. It was sanctioned by USA Boxing and featured young boxers ages 8 and up from teams throughout Montana and Canada.

    It was sponsored by Little Monkeys Daycare, BNSF Railway, Tilleman Motor Company and Hi-Line Rental.

    Ted Reiter of Rock Hound Boxing said he and Hays Amateur Boxing Chief Trainer Jon Jay Mount had been working on this event since mid-August and it's an attempt to bring the sport back to Havre, an event that will hopefully be the first of many.

    "That's the plan," Reiter said.

    He said, before the event, people would see a lot of skill that night, even from the novices and he's excited to see how far many of them have come."

    "It's good to see how much they've grown," he said.

    Mount said he likes the fact that this is a USA Boxing event, an organization that emphasizes meticulously following the law and regulations around boxing, which many events don't unfortunately.

    He said the challenging part is finding an osteopathic or medical doctor, which all events like this are required to have on hand.

    He said none of the local doctors they talked to would attend the event so they had to fly someone in from Arizona.

    Regardless of the difficulty, Mount and Reiter said they hope the legitimacy of the event will open the door to more.

Todd Foster, a former Olympic boxer and one of the most decorated athletes in the state's history attended the event, saying it was a great place for young people to show their skills.

    Foster said he's had plenty of fights in Havre, both amateur and professional, but he hadn't been here since 1993.

    "It's always good to be back in Havre," he said.

    Another member of the audience was professional Great Falls boxer Billy Wagner who was in town for the first time to watch the event with his children.

    "I like it (here)," Wagner said. "Pretty cool atmosphere."

    He said he anticipated there would be a lot of talent on display that night.

    Indeed the night held many fights between young fighters male and female, with a series of highly competitive bouts.

Early in the night, Olivia Owen of HardKnocks Boxing won in a split decision over Elijah Hicks of Electric City Boxing, and Nate Vossler of Medicine Hat Boxing won a unanimous decision over Wendell Haakanson Jr. of Nakoda Fight Team, while Kendyl Jensen of Rock Hound Boxing won another unanimous decision over Melanie Green of Championship Boxing Missoula.

Later, Jay W. Mount II of Hays Amateur Boxing won a unanimous decision over Lowe Connelly of Moccasin Flats Boxing, while Bryan Dupuis of Championship Boxing Missoula won unanimously over Adriel Beardontwalk of  Billings Elite Boxing.

Billings Elite Boxing, however, took a victory in a unanimous decision for a fight between their own Kalio Brightwings over Colt Rose of Moccasin Flats Boxing, and J.J. Delmonico of HardKnocks Boxing won a tough fight in a split decision over Cruz Rodarte of Billings Elite Amateur Boxing.

Kileanah Healy another Hays Amateur Boxing fighter won in a unanimous decision over Emma King of HardKnocks Boxing, while Kaden Allderdice of Electric City Boxing also won a unanimous decision over Billings Elite Amateur Boxing fighter Donald Haseagle.

Hays Amateur Boxing fighter Willow Cochran, in a split decision, emerged victorious over Cecelia Pineda of H-Town Boxing. and Roman Love of Billings Elite Amateur Boxing,  also won in a split decision over Jacob Walne of Medicine Hat Boxing.

Later that night, Anthony Delmonico of HardKnocks Boxing unanimously won against Blackfeet Boxing Nation fighter Dante SureChief, while Joe Eagleman of Electric City Boxing won in a split decision over Alonzo Barron of Bam Bam Boxing, with H-Town Boxing fighter Anthony Espino winning via referee stopped contests over Santino Martinez Billings Elite Amateur Boxing, and Ny'syre Dickinson of Championship Boxing Missoula won via unanimous decision over Mason Hoops of Billings Elite Amateur Boxing.

As the night wound down Billings Elite Amateur Boxing fighter Chase Strike Jr. won via another RSC over Chevy Stump of Electric City Boxing, while Buster Caferro of Championship Boxing Missoula won in a unanimous decision over Sam Schick of  Medicine Hat Boxing.

Finally, Magnus Wagner of Electric City Boxing won via RSC, due to any injury over Hays Amateur Boxing fighter Kyler Mount, while Casey Mariani of Rock Hound Boxing won a unanimous decision over HarkKnocks Boxing fighter Abe Johnson, and Sam Hale of 3-Nations Boxing won via a split decision over Championship Boxing Missoula fighter Andres Beck.