Brigade bouts draw big crowd, good efforts

Fight night at the Naval Academy was another smashing success. More than 1,000 fans turned out at Halsey Field House for the 58 th annual Brigade Boxing Championships, clearly entertained as 20 fighters punched and jabbed for spots on Navy’s three-time defending national club champioship.

Veterans Ty Biggs(139 pounds) Mike Francis(165) and Nic Wisecarver(175) stayed on track to win titles for the second straight year, while a few surprises testified to the depth of one of the best collegiate boxing programs in the United States. Francis earned a handful of trophies and accolades for becoming only the seventh four-time champion in 58 years, which earned him the Tony Rubino Award. Not surprisingly, he also took the Spike Webb Outstanding Boxer Award.

Biggs overcame a first-round standing eight count by knocking Steve Cobos into the ropes with a withering combination of third-round punches that left his mouth bloody and rendered Cobos unable to continue. It was Biggs’ third straight Brigade title, and earned him the Emerson Smith Sportsmanship Award named for the longtime Navy coach. “This is special because you’re fighting at home in front of friends and family,” Biggs said. “Plus, the guy you fight has been our training partner for the past year or so. Afterward, you feel like giving him a hug for the teamwork it took to get to this night.”

Starting with a fast-moving fistfight between Arthur Ball and T. Alford in the opening 125-pound bout, the matches continued to bring out fight after competitive fight. Alford prevailed in the slugfest when the referee stopped the contest in the third round. The stage was set for some great bouts.

Daryl Horton won his second Brigade title at 147, but had to battle past hard-hitting Eddie O’Neal in possibly the best matchup of the night.

More than 150 Midshipmen – an all time high – went through box-offs for the 10 championship slots that were decided last night. Last night’s winners will be Navy’s representatives for the national tournament to be held March 24-26 in Reno, NV. Other top team contenders include service academy rival Air Force, Penn State, Lock Haven, Michigan, Kentucky and host Nevada-Reno.

“This is one of the youngest squads we’ve ever had and winning a national title again won’t be as easy,” Navy coach Jim McNally said. “It’s nice to know, though, that the future foundation is well in place.”

Midshipmen dressed mainly in blue and gold sweatsuits arrived en masse to cheer on their company members in the ring. The 28 th Company spelled out “Go Beer” on its bare chests and circled the ring trying to stir up excitement, though their hero Brendan Beer lost a 5-0 decision to A.J. Washington in 185-pound fight. Andy Haffele had several bare-chested supporters from the 15 th company spelling his name and circling the ring as well, and he came through with a 5-0 decision over Art Terry at 195.

Other Brigade champions include Ted Lavarias(132), Dustin Lonero(156) and Mark Hermanson(heavyweight).