Fighters let loose in cage no fluke

Of two amateur and seven professional bouts, only one went the distance.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Loud music, catchy nicknames and short but entertaining bouts made up the action at the Fightfest World Championships held Saturday night at the Chevrolet Center.
Fightfest is a fight show that has combatants using a combination of boxing, martial arts and wrestling to subdue an opponent in a caged ring. It is similar to the Ultimate Fighting Championships shown on cable television.
Eric "Butterbean" Esch was scheduled to fight in the main event but although he was in attendance at ringside he did not fight because of the death of his grandmother the night before.
"My head and heart would not have been into fighting today," said Esch who will fight in a Pay-Per-View event in June. "I still decided to stay and give my support to the show."
Three locals lose
Three local fighters didn't fare well in front of about 1,000 fans on the card that featured two amateur and 7 professional bouts following a concert by the rock group Tantric.
Jim "Perfect Storm" Bundy of Niles, Micah Bender of Hermitage, Pa., and Todd Seyler of Boardman all were defeated in their matches.
Bundy (1-1), who fights at 205 pounds, is also the manager and trainer for Team Bundy. Bundy was cautious in the opening moments of his bout with Sean Salmon of Cleveland but was eventually subdued by a choke hold and tapped out at 1:27 of the first round.
"I got involved with a big strong wrestler-type," Bundy said. "I knew that going in but I let him bull me around the ring and didn't perform the way I'm capable."
His teammate, Bender (1-2), was relatively new to the sport and was caught off guard by the quick strikes of Luke Zachrich (4-0) of Coldwater, Mich. in a 180-pound bout.
The referee stopped the fight at 32 seconds of the first round.
"He clocked me good," said Bender who was still sporting a huge cut on his nose after the fight. "Hopefully I'll learn from this fight and get better."
"The Hick" wins
The veteran Seyler (19-8) had no better outcome in his fight with Todd "The Hick from the Hills" Carney (15-14) in a 190-pound bout.
Carney said that despite being outweighed by Seyler, he fights with his heart and country-boy enthusiasm.
The Moundsville, W.Va., native got Seyler in a choke hold and the Boardman native tapped out at 2:03 of the first round.
In the first two amateur bouts, A.J. Aeschlimann defeated Jason Nickeson in the only decision of the night, while Cody Butzer of Canal Fulton took out Cody Carpenter of Morgantown, W.Va., in 38 seconds of the first round in a 170-pound bout.
The main event was the night's final fight between veteran heavyweight Dan "The Bull" Bobish (12-8), who has fought in many national events against Christopher "No Mercy" Clark (20-17).
The 36-year-old Cleveland fighter who has many ties to this area is making a comeback and made quick work of Clark by getting the 335-pounder is a submission choke hold at 1:00 of the first round.
"He's not even in my class," said Bobish of his opponent. "He was a piece of crap. This was a tuneup for a bigger fight coming up in July in Cleveland."
Others
Other fights saw Jorge Santiago (12-5) pulverize Thomas "The Speciman" Russell at 1:59 of the first round.
John Soeder (3-0), of Cleveland was impressive in the most entertaining fight of the night as he caught B.J. "The Beast" Lacey, Minnesota, with a left hook and later got him in a choke submission hold that ended the bout at 2:55 of the first round.
Toby Grear of Columbus took out Wyatt Routon of Broadview Hts. at 1:34 of the first round.