Fight Night at the HP Pavilion
Fight Night a team game
By Aron Glatzer
for the Mercury News
Leave it to promoter Roy Englebrecht to flip the conventional script for Thursday’s Fight Night at the Tank, during the seven-fight card into a team competition.
The 14 scheduled fighters were divided into blue and red teams. A $2,100 bonus, to be split by the winning team, made certain there was a bit more than camaraderie on the line.
“The fighters are so excited about having a chance to help their team,” Englebrecht said before Thursday’s action.
The format also provided a unique subplot for the fans, keeping track of which team was ahead going into each fight.
“You have to give fans reason to cheer, and not just sit and watch the fight,” Englebrecht said.
The announced crowd of 2,924 helped offset the empty seats by showering the six Bay Area fighters of the blue squad with applause and chants throughout the event.
It may have helped shift the advantage as the blue team took an early advantage with wins in three of the first four bouts, and failed to relinquish it in the end, winning 4-1 over the red.
It was a mixed bag for former Strikeforce mixed martial arts fighter Clint Coronel in his pro boxing debut against Ruben Rivera. Coronel had a hard time dealing with a major reach disadvantage, but landed some solid shots in close, resulting in a 38-38 draw.
Alex Paracha’s full zebra suit made for an entertaining entrance to the main event, but his matchup with Adrian Tait failed to keep pace. Paracha (3-0) won by majority decision in a lackluster bout.
San Jose’s Melissa McMorrow (2-0-1) rallied behind the crowd for a victory against Jolene Blackshear (4-2-1) by majority draw.
Miguel Lopez impressed in his pro debut by making short work of David Contreras (TKO, round 2). Lopez won $500 with the quickest KO of the night, and another $1,000 for most dominant performance voted by fans.
