MIAMI, Okla. — Theran Crouch needed less than two minutes to earn a crowd-pleasing victory in the main event of World Fighting Championships 138 on Saturday night at Buffalo Run Casino & Resort.
A Webb City High School graduate, Crouch hiked his professional boxing record to 3-0 by recording a dominant first-round technical knockout over Evian Rodriguez (0-3) in the super-middleweight clash inside the packed Peoria Showplace.
“I’m not too happy about my performance, but at the end of the day, a win is a win,” Crouch said. “That was a tough, seasoned opponent. When it comes down to it, they don’t pay me hourly. So if I can get in and get out, I’m doing it.”
The aggressor from the start in the one-sided affair, Crouch sent Rodriguez to the canvas early in the fight after connecting with a solid left.
Moments later, Crouch used a blistering combination to drop Rodriguez again. With that, referee Gerald Ritter waved off the fight at the 1 minute, 44 second mark of the opening round, much to the pleasure of the raucous crowd.
“Mosburg Boxing…we’re on the map and everyone needs to respect us,” said Crouch, a southpaw who weighed in at 165 pounds. “I stepped up three weight classes for this one. I’m usually at about 154 pounds. We were dealing with a pretty nasty injury. But moving up in weight actually favored me as far as having to cut weight. I was blessed there. I got to eat nice this week.”
Fighting out of Jay, Oklahoma, the “Midwest Maniac” has won all three of his pro bouts via knockout.
Crouch’s other two wins also came at Buffalo Run — a first-round TKO over Nikkolas Willyard last December and a second-round KO over Pablo Veloquio last September.
Crouch, who played baseball at Crowder College and trains at Southwest Missouri-based Mosburg Boxing, noted he may not be back in the ring for a while. Why? He’s got something meaningful on the horizon.
“I have a baby girl that’s going to be here in August,” Crouch said. “That’s my only concern at the moment. Fighting can wait.”
ZUMWALT WINS PRO DEBUT
It was hard to tell that Zerek Zumwalt was making his pro debut on Saturday night.
Fighting out of Anderson, Zumwalt looked like a ring veteran en route to recording a third-round TKO over Jalen Jordan of Little Rock, Arkansas, in a light-heavyweight co-feature.
“I feel good and I have to give all the glory to God,” said Zumwalt, who trains at Mosburg Boxing and has previous experience in MMA and kickboxing. “I’m glad I got the win and I’m glad everyone came out to see the fights. I’ve been training hard for this one.”
After a close first round, Zumwalt absorbed some punishment in Round 2. But Zumwalt weathered the storm and regrouped nicely in the third round, out-working his opponent.
The 179-pound Zumwalt finished strong, landing several shots on Jordan (0-1) up against the ropes before referee Gary Ritter waved it off at the 2:08 mark of the third round.
“For a guy without much experience, my opponent came to fight,” Zumwalt said. “All props to him. He hit me with some great shots. I walked into some shots that I shouldn’t have. But I figured out what he was doing in the second round. And I knew he was starting to wilt cardio-wise. I started putting it on him. He was riding the ropes and I just kept hitting him until I saw the ref step in.”
In the other pro bout, Steven Alexander of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, stopped Kyle Guenther of Webb City via fourth-round TKO.
Both heavyweights were making their pro debuts. Alexander knocked down Guenther twice in the fourth round for the stoppage.
AMATEUR BOUTS
The Joplin area was well-represented in the nine amateur fights.
In the lone women’s bout, Harley Lankford of Seneca earned a unanimous decision over Rhyan Akpan at 160 pounds.
Ramzee Howard (Miami) earned a second-round TKO over Joplin’s Mikey Crowe at 139 pounds. Lankford and Howard train with Dallas Cook at Heartland Boxing Gym in Galena.
In an entertaining heavyweight scrap between Joplin residents, Brian Jones earned a unanimous decision over Zach Dunaway. The judges scored it 30-25, 30-26, 29-28 in Jones’ favor.
Neosho’s Ben Massey defeated Joplin’s Chris Sullivan via unanimous decision at light-heavyweight. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Massey.
Webb City’s Bradley Coffey earned a win in heavyweight action when Kyler Haagensen couldn’t continue after the third round.
Amar Sangare (Webb City) defeated Francisco Gonzalez by TKO at 154 pounds.
Carlos Horcacitas (Commerce, Okla.) defeated Kendrick Brown (Joplin) at 157 pounds when the ref stopped the fight.
Buffalo Run is scheduled to host another World Fighting Championships event on Sept. 17.
