By By Austin Bishop/EMG Regional Sports Director
May 19, 2002
PHILADELPHIA While Tim Witherspoon may have been the big name on Saturday night's boxing card at the Silver Star Resort &Casino, two earlier bouts stole the show.
Witherspoon did enough to take a unanimous decision over Ahmad Abdin of Houston, Texas in the night's 10-round heavyweight main event.
But an early heavyweight fight featured explosive rights and lefts from both fighters as Otis Tisdale of Charlotte, N.C. took a unanimous decision over a much larger Chester Hughes of Houston Texas by a slim one-point margin on two of the judges scorecards.
In a four-round women's lightweight bout, Mia St. John took a very unpopular decision over Kristy Follmar, as the fans pelted the ring with heavy boos following the decision. St. John won 39-37 on two scorecards, while the third judge ruled it a draw.
Meridian's Brad McNeil fought to a majority draw against Kerry Parks in the night's opening bout.
While former two-time World Heavyweight Champion Witherspoon pounded Abdin's body throughout the fight with rights and lefts, Abdin said he felt he did enough to come away with the win.
Abdin said he got stronger as the night went on.
Witherspoon said a back injury kept him from performing up to his top potential and that he had wanted to give the fans a little more for their money.
While the most controversial fight of the night was St. John's win over Follmar, perhaps the most exciting was the double-pounding that Hughes and Tisdale put on each other.
Hughes appeared to dominate the fight early, using his superior reach to keep Tisdale at bay, but the tide turned in the sixth round.
Tisdale came at Hughes hard, landing a shot that knocked Hughes off balance and through the ropes. That is where Tisdale almost made a mistake that cost him the fight. He reached through the ropes and pounded the bloody-faced Hughes at least twice hard on the head. The referee deducted two points from the scorecards of each judge.
Tisdale wound up winning by one point on two scorecards and three on the other.
Tisdale has now won 10 fights in a row to move his record to 18-6-1 on the year. Hughes fell to 16-2.
St. John came into her fight as the crowd favorite, but after the decision the fans in attendance showed their favor for the effort of Kristy Follmar by chanting her name over and over.
When Follmar returned to the ring at the urging of the crowd she received a rousing ovation, as St. John was booed as she left the ring.
The win pushes St. John to 25-1-1 on the year, while Follmar falls to 2-1.
In other bouts Donnell Wiggins took a six-round decision over Norman Jones in a light heavyweight bout, while Philadelphia's Phillip Hammac took a split decision over Meridian's Michael Moss in a welterweight fight.