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| On Saturday night at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Cricket Center, Main Events staged a homecoming of sorts as the southern city’s favorite son and surging heavyweight contender Calvin Brock put his undefeated record on the line against well respected journeyman David Bostice. Coming into this fight, many observers agreed that Bostice, 35-9-1 (15), didn’t have much of a chance to beat Brock, 26-0 (21) coming into the contest. |  Click for larger image © Michael Jarvis SaddoBoxing.com |
As the fight progressed, it developed into twelve rounds of give and take action but with more of the giving done by Brock. Most of the early rounds were back and forth, featuring a few hard shots that rocked the likely future champion Brock, but the crowd favorite was determined that by the end of the fight he would strap on the IBA Continental Americas belt. And that’s just what he did at the end of the night.
Brock opened the first round with a few double jabs, two straight rights and a left hook that made quite a statement early on. It was that left hook that would control Bostice throughout the remainder of the night. Brock was calm and collected, even after a head butt cut him at the end of the second round. Brock’s constant body work early on in the fight was another factor in giving him the upper hand as Bostice clearly appeared winded from about the eighth round onwards.
Brock basically controlled the pace but there were spots of action from the center of the ring that made the crowd and cornermen nervous. Once he had Bostice on the ropes however, Brock dominated the fight with blistering double left hooks and vicious combinations. Oddly it seemed that while pressing Bostice to the ropes, Brock was the most effective. The Charlotte man can punch and he can punch in bunches, all the while remaining focused throughout the fight without letting his defense slip.
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In the past, Brock has generally been open to wide looping hooks such as the punch that Jameel McCline dropped him with but the undefeated contender avoided that failing against Bostice. As Bostice dug deep, the Los Angeles native began really searching for that type of openings in the seventh or eighth round. Brock just remained calm and began dialing in his shots. Landing two straight rights then a left hook, Brock marked Bostice’s face and basically stopped the visiting fighter in his tracks.
Onto to the ropes they go and Brock digs to his rival’s body. Bostice retaliates with an uppercut and a body shot but Brock just pressed through until the bell rang. While Bostice had been searching for his second wind, Brock was just stacking up the points with his jab and left hook. Over the next four rounds, Brock pretty much just dominates Bostice and pushes him back shoulder to shoulder.
Brock came out the fresher fighter in the closing rounds, working Bostice to the body and brawling toe to toe. At one point during the ninth round, Brock got a bit overanxious in trying to close the show and almost pushed Bostice through the ropes with a set of blazing combos. Bostice spun out of it and Brock’s head slipped right through over thejudge’s table. Unbothered, Brock comes right back in and goes straight back to the body work and that left hook that Bostice just remained wide open for.
The tenth round showed how much Bostice was worn down as he began plodding in and looping his punches. As Brock went back to the body, Bostice finally catches his foe with a left hook up top but Brock clearly is the more dominant figure in the fight. Straight left by Brock knocks Bostice’s head back and they immediately clinch. After being separated, Brock shows his focus yet again by working the body.
Round eleven was Brock’s best in regards to his energy level and output are concerned; the man just kept getting stronger and stronger down the stretch, even as Bostice battered him with uppercuts. Brock forced Bostice to the ropes and dug deep, while incredibly, the force of Brock’s punches could be felt from ringside. Brock swings wild in excitement, trying to knock Bostice out, but the veteran slips and answers back with a big right. As Bostice fights back, Brock rocks him again in defiance.
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As round twelve began, Bostice seemed almost out on his feet. Brock continued domination, as nearly everything he fired hit the target. Brock stunned Bostice several times throughout the fight but the closing seconds became a slugfest once more. Both fighters went toe to toe in the corner as the last bell rang and it was obvious that Bostice had had enough. From ringside, Brock’s punches sounded like a sledgehammer hitting a brick wall all the way to the final round. By the time the fight was over, many of the press at ringside had to cleanse themselves and their equipment of both the blood and sweat that had flown off the combatants.
As the ring announcer read what was expected to be a much deserved and well earned unanimous decision for the hometown hero, Brock walked from corner to corner with his hands in the air like a gladiator while his fans cheered him on. Two judges had the score 118-110 while the other tallied 116-112 and Brock suddenly wasn’t just a hometown hero but a titleholder instead.
Regardless of the relative merits of the dizzying array of title belts floating around in the world of boxing today, it was a welcoming sight to have the green and gold belt buckle strapped to Brock’s waist; Calvin Brock has come along way since the 2000 Sydney Olympics to become the IBA’s Continental Americas Champion.
As a reward for defeating David Bostice, Brock, now 27-0 (21), will get the opportunity to try and work through the crippling power shots of former world title challenger David Tua at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall early next year.
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