McGee Stops Freeman!

October 23, 2007

On Friday night, Octavius James/One In A Million Inc. promoted their first event in Indy, "The Circle City Rumble," before an enthusiastic crowd at Adam’s Mark Hotel.

In the evening's main event, Gary, Indiana's "Merciless" Mary McGee (12-0-0, 7 KOs) won her first championship bout and the NABC Light Welterweight title with a fifth-round TKO over Tawnyah Freeman (8-5-0, 3 KOs).  

McGee dropped Freeman for the first time in round three and twice in the fourth. McGee, who got stronger and sharper as the fight went on, finished Freeman off at 1:12 of the fifth.

"At first, it was hard for me to settle down," McGee said after the victory. "But I looked to my corner and my trainer Carlos (Jones) told me to relax and do what we worked on in the gym. So that's what I did. When she threw her jab, I moved and then dropped her."

"I nailed her perfectly," McGee continued. "Now I want Amy Yuratovac. I'm tired of hearing her name."

In the Rumble's third bout, Indy's "Downtown" Louis Brown (15-4-0, 10 KOs), who rivaled Zepeda in fan support, was upset by GI Joseph Pujoe (7-5-1, 1 KO) in a welterweight bout. In what ringside locals referred to as "one of the best local fights they've ever seen," Brown dropped a unanimous decision (53-60, 54-59 twice) to the spoiler, Pujoe.

After a first round "feeling out" session, the two got down to action in the second. Pujoe, a southpaw, suffered a cut over his right eye due to an accidental head butt. There was nothing but back-and-forth, hard-punching action through the fifth round when Pujoe dropped Brown with a flurry. Brown rose easily with a "you didn't hurt me" motion and the brawl was back on. After six rounds, the crowd gave the two fighters a standing ovation for a bout exciting enough to call for a re-match.

Shelbyville's light welterweight Frankie "Panchito" Zepeda (16-5-0, 9 KOs) entered the ring to thunderous support supplied by a huge turn out of Indy's growing Mexican-American community. Zepeda faced Fort Wayne's Paul Reyes (2-7-0, 1 KO) in what was a typical Mexican-warrior bombs- away bout.

In the second round, Zepeda seemed to be breaking Reyes down with an assault of perfectly placed body shots resulting in an eight-count for Reyes. Zepeda, a southpaw, and Reyes had frequent inconsequential head butts that foreshadowed an early and bloody end.

In the third, Zepeda attacked again, but Reyes returned enough fire to keep the bout going. An accidental head butt cut caused an ugly gash above the right eye of Reyes and, much to the disappointment of Zepeda fans filling the house, the bout was ruled a No Contest after the third.

After the official result was announced, Zepeda asked announcer Joe York to make a special dedication on his behalf. York announced to the fans that Frankie dedicated this bout to his corner woman, Vicki Marconi, who was, as always, working Zepeda's corner. Marconi recently beat breast cancer and her own fight has been a great source of inspiration to Frankie. 

After York's moving tribute to Vicki, who is clearly loved and respected in Indy, Rodney Langel of Langel's Pizza announced that he would make a $1000 donation to Passionately Pink in her honor. One In A Million Inc. also made a donation to Passionately Pink campaign and encourages fans to go to www.passionatelypink.com to make a donation of their own during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In the first bout, Chicago super featherweight Yvette Collazo (2-0-0, 2 KOs), a former two-time Chicago Golden Gloves Champion, quickly overpowered Milwaukee's Kelah Pollari (0-4). At 1:51 of round one, Pollari told referee Tony Gray, "I'm done," and the bout went into the books as a TKO.