By Bob Sims

Vincent Thompson is sitting alone, weary, in the corner of the dressing room. His arms are draped over his knees and beads of sweat are dripping off his brow. He has a look of quiet solitude, eyes staring ahead.
Thompson's work day is over. He has endured his first loss as a professional heavyweight fighter.

It took Charles Martin of St. Louis, Mo., a worthy, undefeated opponent and a southpaw like himself, to beat him.

Martin, who is 6-foot-5 and has a wide 82-inch reach, overpowered Thompson with a punishing jab and jarring left hand to win the six-round bout on a unanimous decision Saturday at Skookum Events Center in Shelton.

"He couldn't get to me," said Martin, who forced the action from the start. "He's got good defense on the inside. He had heart to stand in there."

It was an explosive straight left hand by Martin in the first round that dropped Thompson for the first time in his career, and it was the first time Thompson (13-1, 2 KOs) had ever faced another southpaw in a pro bout.
"Martin had his fight game down, trying to keep me long (within striking distance) and hit me," the Federal Way fighter said. "One time he got me. I didn't even see that punch coming. It was my first time down, and I was like 'wow,' let me get up."

Thompson's coach, Sam Ditusa of Normandy Park, said the punch was a game-changer.

"Unfortunately, he was winning the first round when he got dropped," Ditusa said. "It changed a 10-9 (score for the round) in his favor to a 10-8 round for Martin. He never really recovered momentum."

In addition, Thompson was bothered by a sprained ankle suffered in the second round and was unable to find any kind of rhythm or offense through the fight's course.

"My adrenaline was keeping me right, but I just couldn't move the way I wanted to," Thompson said. "It was a learning experience. I'm getting back at it, hard as ever."

The bout was among four other action-packed fights at the sold-out Little Creek Casino Resort venue, three of them knockouts.

In the main event, Mike Gavronski knocked out Tristan Todd of Memphis, Tenn., with a powerful right hand at 2:26 of the eighth round to claim the Global Boxing Organization (GBO) Super Middleweight Championship.
"It's terrific, absolutely wonderful," said the 27-year-old Gavronski of winning the title, his speech muffled by a broken jaw suffered in the first round. "I'm very thankful to my friends, family, teammates and fans."

The smooth, hard-punching Gavronski, a three-time Tacoma Golden Gloves champion, notched his 13th win and ninth knock-out.

"He showed intestinal fortitude beyond what we usually expect from him," said his trainer (and Vince Thompson's coach) Sam Ditusa. He said Gavronski also swallowed two teeth after Todd broke his jaw. "He knocked out a guy who had never been down in his career."

Ditusa said Todd (8-4, 5 KOs) "went unconscious" after the fight and was rushed to Harborview Medical Center by medevac where he underwent brain surgery. "He is doing well today," Ditusa said on Sunday.

Unlike Gavronski, Thompson has taken a step back in his career with his loss to Charles Martin, who is trained by former Olympic Gold boxing medalist and ex-pro boxer Henry Tillman in Carson, Calif.

If Martin (10-0, 9 KOs) keeps winning, he could become part of a young elite group of undefeated heavyweight fighters presently challenging for the world title, which is trending toward unification these days. Deontay Wilder is the leader of the pack. The 27-year-old fighter has 29 knockouts in his 29 fights. Others include 23-year-old Andy Ruiz, who like Thompson, is signed with Roy Englebrecht Productions, is undefeated in 20 fights and Bryant Jennings, 28, is 17-0.

"Let's bring the heavyweight championship to America, let's bring the belts back here," said Martin, who has a similar dreadlock hairstyle as Shannon Briggs. "I got the goods to do it. Just give me a chance."

Tillman, who beat Mike Tyson in the Olympics and lost to him once as a pro, said Thompson was an opponent Martin needed to face at this time in his career.

"My man Vince was a very, very good opponent for Charles," said Tillman, who like Thompson has done time. "Vince made him get in the clinches and that's what he needs. We were prepared for that. We also knew that this is his country, his vicinity, and we had fight him better than he fought us. Charles stepped up."

Martin works out at his trainer's gym, Henry Tillman Boxing Club, in Carson, Calif. The club opened this year, hoping to attract young people in the community. The mayor was there for the ceremony.

At that time, Tillman was quoted in the Daily Breeze in Torrance, Calif., saying, "The game humbles you and teaches you to get along with people. It has no race or color," he said. "If you don't block the punch, you're gonna get hit, that's all there is to it.

"That's why boxing and life go right next to each other; exactly what you put in is what you get out. If you don't train and work in life, you're not going to win -- I try to relay that to children. You have to start playing and studying the sport to be a champion of it."

In other fights on the Little Creek Casino card, meanwhile, Yohan Banks knocked out Tim Puller at 2:59 of the 4th round in a heavyweight match; Seattle's Eric Dahlberg (3-0, 1 KO) won by unanimous decision over Josh Davis of Olympia in a light heavyweight match; and four-time Tacoma Golden Gloves champion Marquise Weston (2-0) stunned Richard Ballard of Los Angeles with a big knockout punch with a straight left at 2:04 of the first round to the delight of a boisterous crowd.

Guest of honor was Joe Hipp, a former Federal Way resident, who was the first Native American to challenge for the world heavyweight title. He had 43-7 pro record that included 29 knockouts.

The ring announcer was Lorin "Big Lo" Sandretzky, who is well-known in the area as Seattle's biggest sports fan.

The boxing event was put together by Roy Englebrecht Productions.