119-pound champ repeats/ After walkover victory last year, Smith

Last year, Darren Smith won the 119-pound title at the Air Force Wing Open Boxing Championships without throwing a punch.

On Sunday, Smith's fists flew, bringing the Clune Arena crowd to its feet as he beat freshman Roy Cho in a unanimous decision to successfully defend his title.

Smith won the 2002 championship in a walkover, meaning there was no competitor in his weight class for him to fight in the final. But watching him snap off a flurry of punches that pinned Cho to the ropes, spectators were left with little doubt that Smith is the best 119-pound boxer at the academy.

"It felt a thousand times better to win this way," Smith said. "The first two rounds were pretty even, but the third I just let loose."

Smith went on to a runner-up finish at the 2002 national team tournament, which Air Force won.

It was quite an accomplishment since he'd only taken up the sport a few months earlier.

Smith's introduction to boxing came when he was stopped on his way to play basketball by coach Eddie Weichers, who told him the team needed boxers at the lower weight classes and asked him step into the ring.

He was one of 11 underclassmen who boxed in this year's Wing Open. Their development will be key if Air Force is to stretch its string of national team titles to six later this spring in Las Vegas.

Senior Frankie Woods was also impressive on his way to the 147- pound title. Woods won his fight when it was stopped by the referee with 13 seconds left in the second round. His was the only bout that was stopped by the referee, and Woods was named the outstanding boxer of the tournament.

The most eagerly anticipated fight took place at 165 pounds between senior Joey Plank and junior Clell Knight. Knight was also a runner-up at nationals his freshman year, losing a split decision to a fighter from Army. Last year he lost in the Wing Open as a sophomore, but Knight earned another shot at the national title with a unanimous decision victory Sunday.

"Plank gave me a little more trouble than I expected. He was trying to get inside on me, but I wanted to stay on the outside," Knight said.

Knight used his longer arms to his advantage, throwing enough jabs to keep Plank at arm's length for most of the fight, and peppering him with shots when he had the chance. Sunday's winners will constitute the bulk of the team that competes for Air Force in the West Regionals in Reno, Nev., in two weeks. Boxers who finish in the top two of their respective weight classes advance to nationals.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0250 or sports@gazette.com

WING OPEN

119 - Darren Smith dec. Roy Cho

125 - Brett Hadley dec. Francisco Gonzalez

132 - Geoff Woolf dec. Luis Pena

139 - Thomas Parker dec. Ryan Dorsey-Spitz

147- Frankie Woods TKO Marcos Gonzales in second round

156 - Jake Hostetler dec. Adam Vance.

165 - Clell Knight dec. Joey Plank

175 - Leif Nordhagen def. Augustin Kamdem

185 - Ryan Coates dec. Nick Haussler

195 - Ethan Sabin dec. Oscar Casillias

Hwt - Brian Trumble dec. Chad Everson

Outstanding boxer: Frankie Woods

Copyright 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.