NAVAL WARFARE

The Capital – Sports by Joe Gross February 24, 2001

Mids stage classic battle at Brigade Boxing.

Nobody had ever seen anything like last night’s bout between Dustin Lonero and Tommy Clarke. A toe-to-toe battle from start to finish had the capacity crowd standing, applauding and cheering at the tops of their lungs until a bloody, bruised and exhausted Lonero was announced as the winner of the 165-pund Brigade Boxing championship match, making him a shoo-in for the Outstanding Boxer Award.

“I have never seen anything like that in my 15 years as coach here,” said an amazed Jim McNally. “It was the best bout I’ve ever seen here. The best. Look up the word arrior in the dictionary and it should show those two guys.” “Great fight,” said an excited Admiral Lowell Stockdale, who had won Brigade Boxing championships in 1948 and ’49. “I had a go almost like that against my roommate in 1948.”

Crowds of friends and classmates gathered around Lonero, who had won a championship in 1999, but was beaten last year. That was a hugh incentive, he said. “Tommy surprised me the way he came out and I finally said to myself, “There’s no way I’m going to lose this fight,” I told myself that this is my last year. It’s my third Brigade final. I didn’t get to make it this far last year and there was no way I was going to go home without a win,” said the sweaty, pained and drained Lonero. “Tommy came out to fight and kind of surprised me. That’s not his usual style,” he said. “I was expecting him to skate, use the ring, jab and keep away from me, who would be the aggressor. But he came out aggressive with left hooks, I knew then we would have to trade punches. That’s what we did and fortunately it came out on my side.” That is exactly what they did for more than a minute of the first round, and from bell to bell in the second and third rounds. So intense was the battle in the ring that even the fans were emotionally exhausted when it was finally over.

“I have never been through anything like this. Never,” Lonero said licking the blood from his cut lip while wiping more of the red stuff from his nasty abrasion on his chin, “This was awesome. Nobody could have asked for a better fight. I’m a senior. I’ve boxed more that 50 matches and I have never had a war like that before,” said the San Jose, California resident. “I’ve never really been beat up like this before. I had two younger brothers so I always did the bearing up.” Lonero actually did the beating up last night too, but he came out as a victor in what many were calling the greatest match in the 60-year history of the event.

Referee Bill Holmes of Cape St. Clair let the two young men battle, while watching closely to be sure neither was really hurt. His effort was noticed and lauded by the fans who were thrilled by the exciting competition. “Clarke has really been coming on strong and I’m sure he thought that he won the bout. It was close,” McNally said. “I thought Clarke won the first round, the second round was close and Lonero came on in the third round. He just doesn’t quit. Lonero has been like that in every bout I’ve ever seen him in, but he hasn’t had many guys like Clarke going against him.”

It isn’t that there were no other superb battles. Pat McCauley of Dallas won the heavyweight title by putting down Jeff Watkins of Bronx, NY. The latter was ahead on the judges’ cards, but when he momentarily dropped his left hand, McCauley jumped at the opportunity. A hard right hand staggered Watkins and within a split second another shot to the jaw put him down again and the bout was stopped. Watkins argued with referee Jack Haggerty, but to no avail. He assured he was not hurt and begged to continue, but the RSC – the amateur version of a TKO – had been called. “Sometimes you sneak one in there and get lucky,” McCauley said. “Jeff was a great opponent and he was winning the fight. I saw my one opening; I was sitting down on it and I put all I had behind that punch and I caught him just right.”

Haggerty also stopped the first bout of the night as T. Alford, one of the seven defending Brigade champions – all of whom won last night – captured his match. Alford is the defending 125-pound National Champion.

The other defending champions who won last night were Steve Cobos at 139-pounds, Rick Weil at 156-pounds, Ben Zuber at 175, A.J. Washington at 185, Andy Haffele at 195 and McCauley.

In addition to Stockdale, the former POW who was also a vice-presidential candidate, there were several former champions from 1948 through last year sitting together in the audience. “We are fighting collegiate competition(today), something I planned to help get the guys ready for the nationals when they have to fight one day after another,” McNally explained. “But I’m going to have to hold a lot of guys out because they worked so hard and might be too beat up to go again so soon.”

But everyone on hand last night knew they had seen one of the greatest fights they could ever hope to see in the Naval Academy spectacle known as the Brigade Boxing Championships.