PUBLISHING EDITOR
David Baggs

Jason "Notorious" Naugler thrilled his hometown fans once more, this time scoring a 2nd round KO over the usually durable Martin Desjardins last night at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Time of the knockout was 2:46. Naugler (16-6-1, 11 KO's) had recently pulled out of title bouts against Larry Sharpe and Sebastien Demers, looked very comfortable back in the confines of the ring, stopping a fighter who's chin has been checked and approved by many. While Dejardins (6-12-3, 3 KO's) doesn't own a perfect record, his career has been built on taking many to deliver one. He makes every opponent he faces fight for the win. He goes rounds. Over the course of 22 professional bouts, only Jean Pascal was able to end a Desjardin fight early, accomplishing that back in 2005. Pascal would require 7 rounds while Naugler needed less than 6 minutes. Impressive indeed.

Canadian Super Bantamweight champion Jason Hayward (4-3, 2 KO's) saw his 3 fight winning streak halted as he was upset by import Julio C. Alfaro over 8 rounds. Alfaro (9-11, 3 KO's), from Mexico City, Mexico, enjoyed his second return to Canadian soil having fallen to Sebastien Gauthier in 8 round last November. This time he was able to leave the country victorious, taking the split decision by scores of 77-74, 78-73, and 73-78. Tyson Cave moved to 2-0 by defeating Bobby Rishea by unanimous decision over 6. Winnipeg's Bill Arnott took a 6 round split decision win over Aaron Kinch. Orangeville, Ontario's Buzz Grant stopped Martin Huppe in 4 while Brad Elslinger handed Tristian Johnson his first professional defeat by way of a 4 round majority decision.

Billy Arnott Ws6 Aaron Kinch
The first round started good for Kinch with a few good punches landing but by the two minute mark Arnott had begun to land more, including a powerful uppercut. Round two saw the fight turn into more of a wrestling and pushing match drawing boos from the crowd. Kinch did manage to throw some good punches but most of these landed on gloves and elbows. In the last few seconds Arnott rattled Kinch with a good body blow. The third and fourth rounds had both fighters grappling and holding with Arnott being much the aggressor and Kinch constantly confused and on the defense. His corner began to yell their displeasure at the ref for allowing the match to go on that way it was to no avail. In the end Arnott was the more aggressive fighter and had landed more punches against the confused and angry Kinch. Arnott walked away with a 58-56, 58-56, 56-58 split decision.

Brad Elslinger Wm4 Tristan Johnson
Fight started off slow with both fighters feeling out their opponents. By the second round Elsliger had found his grove and began to throw and land more punches. Elsliger threw what appeared to be an intentional head butt in the third round and the round was stopped by the ref who spoke to Elsliger and the fight continued after checking Johnson. By the end of the third Johnson had bloodied Elsliger and had the crowd roaring with a powerful right hand punch to the head. Round four was the most exciting round of all with both fighters standing toe to toe and getting in some great shots. In the end Elsliger walked away with a 39-37, 38-38, 39-37 split decision over a local favorite.

Buzz Grant TKO4 Martin Huppe
A slow starting fight with both fighters showing a lot of caution and respect. Round two began to see more action and by round three Grant was clearly in control. At the 2 minute mark of the fourth round Grant landed a powerful body blow that sent Huppe sprawling to the canvas in obvious pain. The fight was stopped when Huppe was slow to get up and obviously in no condition to continue. Grant won by TKO.

Tyson Cave Wu6 Bobby Rishea
Tyson Cave is a home crowd favorite and it showed. He controlled the fight from the start and was given a unanimous four round decision win over a spirited but overmatched Bobby Rishea. Cave was true to form with the ring antics. Rishea was pegged by the local media as not much of an opponent against Cave but he gave the fans a good fight against a more talented and quicker opponent. Cave quickly headed for the mic to thank his fans and make promises of bigger things to come.

Julio Alfaro Ws8 Jason Hayward
This was the fight of the night with Alfaro coming out strong in the first round and knocking down Hayward , the Canadian super bantamweight champion, with a stunning right hook. Hayward took a good licking for the next seven rounds from a determined Alfaro with Alfaro the more aggressive and harder hitting fighter. In the closing seconds of the sixth round Hayward gave out a noticeable cry after Alfaro landed a crushing body shot. In the end Alfaro won a split decision in the non-title encounter by winning two cards 78-73 and 77-74 with Hayward winning the third 78-73.

Jason Naugler KO2 Martin Desjardins
Jason Naugler either put his troubles aside or blamed them all on Desjardins. At 2:46 into the second round Desjardins was sent to the canvas for a third and final time to give Naugler a much needed KO victory. It was clear from the opening bell Naugler was in his element and he quickly began to taunt Desjardins to come in close and play. Desjardins did, big mistake. Naugler was back and the crowd loved him for it.

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