Minnesota Fight Night

In this episode of the Minnesota Fight Night podcast, Minneapolis welterweight Jamal "Shango" James discusses his Oct. 30 world title defense against unbeaten Radzhab Butaev of Russia. Fighting out of the Circle of Discipline, James lost his WBA welterweight title by ninth round TKO. Though the fight didn't go as planned, the Minneapolis boxer vows to come back stronger than ever. Also in the inte...

In this episode of the Minnesota Fight Night podcast, Minnesota-based super middleweight boxer Tony Woods returns to the show to preview his October 22 fight in Hinckley. A member of the One-Two Boxing family of fighters, Woods will attempt to improve his pro record to 8-0. Standing in his way is Brandon Baue, a rugged veteran with 40 pro fights under his belt. Besides talking about his own fight,...

At age 52, Minnesota boxer Marty "The Wolfman" Lindquist shows no signs of slowing down. A popular combat sports veteran with a pro boxing record of 14-12, Lindquist returns to the squared circle on Saturday, Oct. 2, as part of a Valhalla Combat Sports event at Element Gym in St. Paul. His opponent, making his pro boxing debut, is Victor Josef Temnograd of Minneapolis. In the following interview,...

In this episode of the Minnesota Fight Night podcast, we take a look back at the September 5 PBC on FOX card at The Armory. The episode features post-fight interviews with Jesus Ramos Jr., Marcos Hernandez and Starling Castillo. Intro music: “Ali Shuffle,” by the Toler/Townsend Band. Special thanks to Deb Toler. The full instrumental is available for purchase: music.apple.com/us/album/ali-shuffle/...

In this episode of the Minnesota Fight Night podcast, we glance back at the nationally televised Aug. 7 card at the Minneapolis Armory. On that card, Mykal Fox came in on short notice to fight Gabriel Maestre for an interim WBA welterweight title. Most observers believe Fox won the fight, but the judges gave it to Maestre, a two-time Olympian. We interviewed Fox mere minutes after the fight, and y...

Minnesota boxing fans will get a chance to see one of the sport's best young prospects in action this Sunday night at the Armory as unbeaten rising star Jesus Ramos Jr. of Arizona tries to move a step closer to a world title shot. But he faces a tough test in veteran Brian Mendoza, a native of New Mexico now fighting out of Las Vegas. Mendoza has won 19 of 20 professional bouts. This episode of th...

For the second time this summer, the eyes of the boxing world will be on Minneapolis as the historic Armory hosts a nationally televised boxing event this Saturday night, August 7. Some of the top welterweights in the world will be featured on the card, which will be shown live on FOX. Headlining the card is a WBA title eliminator pitting hard-hitting rising welterweight contender Eimantas Stanion...

The Minnesota Fight Night podcast has introduced listeners to multiple world champions, former champions, contenders and promoters. At the same time, we strive to shine a light on beginners and aspiring boxers. Among those just starting their boxing journey is Prescott Hutton, a 16-year-old former competitive swimmer from Maplewood. "I'm probably the last person you'd expect to be boxing," says Hu...

It's "Cuba vs. Mexico" as pro boxing returns to The Armory this Sunday, June 27, in a nationally televised fight card on FOX. In the main event, David Morrell Jr., a native of Cuba now fighting out of Minneapolis, defends his WBA Super Middleweight title against Mario Cazares of Mexico. Both fighters are unbeaten. Morrell and Cazares previewed the fight at a Friday morning press conference in Minn...

Nearly two years after his last official fight, Minnesota boxer Ve Shawn Owens returns to the ring on Sunday, June 27, at the Minneapolis Armory. Owens, who fights out of the Circle of Discipline in Minneapolis, takes on Joseph Francisco of Jacksboro, Tennessee, as part of a nationally televised card. A decorated amateur, Owens had more than 100 fights in the unpaid ranks before turning pro in 201...

For the first time since the COVID-19-induced hiatus, professional boxing returns to the Minneapolis Armory on Sunday, June 27. Headlining the nationally televised card is today's guest on the podcast, David Morrell Jr. A native of Cuba now fighting out of the Circle of Discipline gym in Minneapolis, Morrell turned pro in 2019 after a stellar amateur career. Fighting on the iconic Cuban national t...

In this episode of the Minnesota Fight Night podcast, hosts Sean Strauss and Brian Johnson catch up with Dalton and Lacee Outlaw of Element Gym in St. Paul. Element Gym, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, offers programs for competitive boxers and those who simply want to train like a boxer, among other offerings. Dalton had a stellar amateur boxing career and was unbeaten in two prof...

Local boxing gym owner Michael Lewis has worked with former world champion Rob Brant and other notable professional boxers, but he's not necessarily out to discover the next Canelo Alvarez or Manny Pacquiao. Rather, at his 3PBoxing 24/7 gym in Woodbury, Lewis is dedicated to teaching boxing as a martial art, a form of self-defense and a great workout routine. As noted on the gym's website, 3PBoxin...

The Minnesota Fight Night podcast has featured interviews with past and current world champions, Minnesota boxing hall-of-famers, promoters and managers, media personalities, historians and up-and-coming fighters. Tony Woods, a 26-year-old super middleweight, fits in that last category. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Woods is in the Twin Cities-based One-Two Boxing LLC stable of fighters. Before...

During a long and successful career in the squared circle, Minnesota boxing Hall-of-Famer Anthony Bonsante established himself as a blue collar hero in the world of combat sports. Most famously, in 2005, Bonsante took his working man/family man persona to The Contender, an NBC TV reality series featuring 16 boxers fighting for a chance to win $1 million. Though the "No. 1 Daddy," as Bonsante was k...

Sean Clerkin is a legendary figure in the world of Minnesota amateur boxing. Sean did some amateur boxing as a young man in Ireland before making his way to the U.S. in 1963. For nearly a half-century, he has held leadership positions with the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves. He is the longtime president of the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Board of Directors and he also serves on the national board. Cl...

In this belated St. Patrick's Day edition of the Minnesota Fight Night Podcast, Sean Strauss visits the Rice Street Old School Boxing Gym in St. Paul. At the gym, Sean catches up with Ben Pelzer, an up-and-coming amateur boxer with deep roots in Ireland and Minnesota. Ben talks about his Irish upbringing, his family ties to boxing, and much more.  

"Sir" Cerresso Fort is a big name in recent Minnesota boxing history. As an amateur, Cerresso took on all comers and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation among middleweights. He went on to post an impressive 18-4-1 record in the professional ranks. As a pro, he scored big wins over the likes of Andy Kolle, Dave Peterson and Lamar Harris. In his capacity as owner and operator of Sir Boxing Clu...

Robb Leer was a broadcast journalist at KSTP-TV for more than 23 years. During that time, Robb covered all the major league sports in town, plus special events such as the 1980, 1984, and 1988 Olympic Games. As a young reporter in 1980, Robb had a front row seat for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team's improbable "Miracle On Ice" gold medal run.  Robb, who also had a 10-year run as a senior investigativ...

Minnesota boxer Caleb Truax shocked the boxing world in December 2017 when he defeated James DeGale for the IBF world super middleweight championship. He lost the title back to DeGale in a tightly contested rematch. On Jan. 30, Truax will attempt to regain his old title -- and pull off another upset -- when he challenges current champion Caleb Plant, a native of Tennessee now fighting out of Las V...

Another hot prospect is making his boxing home in Minneapolis and the Minnesota Fight Night podcast is all over it. In this episode, we're pleased to be joined by Armando "Toro" Resendiz, an unbeaten star from Mexico. Resendiz was 71-2 as an amateur and is 11-0 as a pro. Under a new promotional contract, Resendiz plans to fight out of the Circle of Discipline Gym in Minneapolis alongside world cha...

In this episode, we're pleased to be joined by Minneapolis boxer Jamal "Shango" James, the recently crowned WBA interim world welterweight champion. On August 8, James won the belt in an exciting nationally televised fight against tough ring veteran Thomas Dulorme. Since that big win, James has been keeping busy and staying in shape for whatever comes next. In this interview, James talks about his...

In this episode, we're pleased to be joined again by local boxing manager and promoter Eric Hinderaker, owner of One-Two Boxing LLC. Eric's stable of fighters includes Rayshaun Thomas and Tony Woods, both of whom have upcoming fights. Thomas, 1-0, is back in action tonight, October 30, in a step-up match. He will go south of the border to take on a tough opponent from Mexico. The fight can be stre...

James Clark has pretty much done it all in combat sports. As a competitor, his experience includes 12 amateur MMA cage fights, a Muay Thai kick boxing fight, 70 Brazilian jiu jitsu matches, 100 judo fights, and more than 800 wrestling matches. James' father, Irish Johnny Clark, had 100 boxing matches.  James grew up in his father's boxing gym and has been around boxing his whole life. In this inte...

In this episode, I'm pleased to be joined by Luis DeCubas, a legendary boxing promotor, manager and partner in Warriors Boxing Promotions. In his four decades in the boxing business, DeCubas has worked with numerous world champions and top contenders, including the likes of Mike Tyson, Joel Casamayor and Roberto Duran. A native of Cuba, Luis defected to the U.S. with his family as a young boy. He...