The pairs slugged, whomped, whiffed and spat through the three one-minute rounds with little-to-no defense and targets rarely falling below the chin. All good sports, many exited the ring with grins of pleasure. The most consistent style was a fiery blend of street fighting, freestyle wrestling and boxing.
Shawn Wentz and Ronnie Cox kick-started the event in round one, fight one — liberating their hard-trained fists into each others skulls until alas Cox’s nose busted.
  
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He orchestrated the event as a fundraiser for the team. It drew a crowd that filled in excess of 160 ringside, 120 reserved and a couple hundred general admission seats. They erupted often and with positive intensity.
The 10-foot by 10-foot ring, built shortly before the fight, included corners wrapped in packaging tape and foam-wrapped ropes. It took a whooping through the rounds.
“I wanted a small ring to make ‘em fight instead of run,” Garrison said.
The fighters came from a variety of backgrounds. Many were former MHS wrestlers. Others are on the Western State College wrestling team.
“To be honest some of these guys just came in and signed up,” Garrison said.
Mike Garcia, 29, was one of the event’s three judges. He graduated from MHS in 1998 and is a mixed martial arts fighter.
“It’s not about hurting people. It’s about discipline,” he said. “This town needs more role models.”
He said humanity’s “oldest sport” helps the young learn self-discipline and keep off drugs.
“It’s for a charity, so there’s a lot of heart,” Garcia said of Fight Night.
None of the contenders were paid. All the glory, all the rewards were intangible.
Garcia said some Toughman Competitions and boxing matches had been held in the Montrose area in the past. But because alcohol had been served, the vibe was a bit to the contrary of what transpired Tuesday.
“There were a couple more fights out of the ring than in it. The last one was probably three years ago,” he said.
Following blood timeout in fight one, Wentz came out in round two with a target painted on Cox’s nose — and laid a few good licks. Cox landed some jabs and they hit the mats, Wentz on top. They were reset and Cox came back with some hard swings.
By round three the two were clearly tired, but Wentz had enough sloshing around in the tank to pop a few more to Cox’s mug. Cox lumbered toward Wentz like a dizzy bear and only landed a couple more before the conclusion.
Several of the fights made it to the ground a time or two, with the wrestler instincts springing forth. There were rams, tackles and jabs; often there were extended embraces in the third round. But if the ring is activated for another Fight Night, Montrose can count on a fine showing.
Contact Robert Allen via e-mail at roberta@montrosepress.com
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