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e Blow-by-Blow Recapping the bouts of the 2016 Battle of the Badges boxing competition
Bout 1
Salvador Cano (CPD) vs. Ceasar Rodriguez (CFD)
Cano, who has been on the job for three years, never boxed prior to the event. He said his father is a big boxing fan, so he gave it a shot. And he got in a good shot right at the start of this fight.
“I was able to knock him down with a punch early on,” he said. “And from then on, everything I had been having trouble with in training was suddenly working.”
That punch scores a standing-eight count in the first round. Cano scores another eight-count in the second round, and when he struck with a punch that forces a third eight-count, the fight is stopped in the third round.
Bout 5
Erich Bianchini (CPD) vs. Eli Alcanter (CFD)
In a match of 190-pounders, Bi- anchini fights with the heart and courage it takes to even get in the ring for this event. He takes a shot early, but keeps on coming.
The first round goes to Alcanter, but that does nothing to stop Bi- anchini’s determination. He has the heart, but the endurance needed to win a bout like this is a bit beyond him. CFD wins, but this is the last time on this night the firefighters would have any overall advantage.
n PHOTOS BY JAMES PINTO Bout 2
Tony Morales (CPD) vs. Amoni Mathews (CFD)
The resiliency and don’t-quit at- titude of the police came through from the start of this match when Morales gets hit with the first punch and endures two eight-counts in the first round.
He starts the second round by hitting Mathews with a flurry, but that doesn’t last. Another eight- count in the second round causes the fight to be stopped.
Bout 4
Bout 3
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Lydia Cruz (CPD) vs. Angela Banostra (CFD)
The most anticipated match of the evening isn’t the result of being the only bout pitting two women. This is the rematch of a 2014 BOTB show- down when Cruz had to stop when she dislocated her shoulder in the second round.
Robert Spiegel (CPD) vs. Tom Schwatzer (CFD)
Spiegel comes out firing and traps his foe in the corner, scoring with a series of right hands in the first round. He continues to land the right hand, but the judges give the round to Schwatzer.
Spiegel comes back ever stron- ger in the second round to even the fight. It’s anybody’s match in the third round, but Spiegel takes a punch, stumbles, goes down and the decision goes against him.
motivates Cruz to not back down to the taller firefighter in the third round and start throwing combinations. A hook to the body, a hook to the head and Cruz appears to take control. A
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Cruz uses her athleticism and nervous crowd rumbles until the ref-
speed to dodge punches and block eree raises Cruz’s hand in the end.
shots that give her the edge in the first round. More defense in the second round makes it seem like the fight can go either way in the third round.
CPD boxing coach Thomas Hayes
And then the CPD fans erupt.
“She actually could have knocked that girl out,” Hayes said about Cruz. “I’m already looking forward to the re-
match next year.”
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2016 435