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“Better Kill Me” or how Jesse Feliciano beat Rafael Ortiz
Many of us escape to TV reality shows and boxing matches. Such was the case on Saturday night, when the ten year old Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington enjoyed a packed house for what the popular gaming destination termed Fight Night 51. The venue was overfilled, even though it takes two hours to drive down from Seattle. The casino allows youth to attend the fights and it was nice to see families in the audience.
Nobody in the audience loved Jesse Feliciano from Las Vegas. When Rafael Ortiz, 11-7-1 (11), jumped into the ring, the crowd cheered their Oregon based local fighter. All eleven of his victories had come by knockout and everyone there wanted a local boy to win. Jesse, 12-4-2 (7), had lost his previous three fights but his eyes sparked determination and a “better kill me” attitude. Jesse’s father and corner man believed in his son while Pat Doljanin, his manager, hoped that his 23-year-old fighter could win. Feliciano’s team needed a win, bad. If not for boxing, Jesse might turn back to a street life.
This main event might go down as the fight of the century, even topping the Gatti – Ward wars. Feliciano ran into immediate trouble during the first two rounds and almost hit the canvas in the second. But Jesse moved from side to side and landed hard shots to the liver, his money punch sapping the strength out of Ortiz who began to wilt. The war of punches rained back and forth before Feliciano was staggered by the blows from Ortiz, and looked ready to go down a few times. Jesse reached deep down and came back banging the body. In the seventh round, the Puerto Rican born fighter yelled a warrior’s cry during a break and knew that the fight had turned in his favor. Feliciano reached out with his seventy inch wingspan and popped Ortiz over and over again. The slugging hammer blows could be heard around the room. Ortiz failed to answer the bell in the tenth and Jesse won by TKO. The two of them had shared something that only they will understand.
“Better kill me, cause I got a lot of heart,” boomed out Jesse in the locker-room after the fight He shoved his left hand into ice water and smiled as he stirring the ice over his bruised knuckles. Only his heart had sheer will kept him in the fight to win. His dad smiled too.
In other action, local light heavyweight Wayne Tyler from Everett, Washington fought
Vancouver cruiserweight Brad McPeake in a four rounder. Wayne launched a bombardment but Brad showed a Marciano style crab-like defense and picked off the long reaching Tyler to win a split decision and improve to 2-8-2 (1).
A light heavyweight fight matched Richard Langley and Ray Perales at 175 pounds. The vote went to Ray from Napa, Idaho, as he beat out Tacoma local boy Langley. This moved Ray to 1-1 (0). Perales might lean too far forward when throwing a punch but he spun away from trouble and won a unanimous decision in the four round contest.
Heavyweights banged each other leading to Eric “Nitrate” Boose from Puyallup Washington defeating Bridger Brecier from Montana. These water buffaloes butted heads and launched cannon shots during their four-round-fight. Brecier showed speed and movement, but failed to connect well in the fight. Eric won the unanimous decision and went to 5-0 (3)
Local boy Elroy Perez beat challenger T.J. Jooya and went to 2-0 (1) in a lightweight bout. The fighters flew fast and buzzed each other like angry bees. The locals jumped and rooted for Elroy with his lighting moves. Perez won the fighter of the evening judging by crowd reaction and the 135 pounder had some very good moves.
In the main co-feature, Sean “Pitbull” Plessis went to 14-2 (3) with a win over Angelo Torres to retain his NWBA title. The Pitbull came down from Vancouver, Canada to fight with the Lakewood, Washington boxer and Angelo tasted the mat in the sixth round and took the 10 count. This clipped his chances in the fight as the Pitbull won a clear decision.
