McNeil, Moss beat out decisions

By By Jeff Byrd/staff writer
March 17, 2002
A night of boxing at the Frank Cochran Center saw hometown fighters Brad McNeil and Michael Moss pound out decisions over tough opponents on Saturday night.
In the main event, Aaron Norwood of Hattesburg won the Mississippi State Super-Middleweight belt by knocking out Robert Terrell of McComb in the third round.
McNeil, a rising Super-Middleweight, had one of his toughest fights of his career against Charles Ward of Jackson, Tenn. The fight was essentially even after the first three rounds.
McNeil, now 12-1-1, got the better of two exchanges in the fourth round to gain a narrow upperhand. In the fifth, McNeil threw his best punch of the fight, a hard body shot to Ward's ribs which was enough to give him the fifth round.
Both fighters pushed each other to the mat in the sixth drawing the biggest reaction from the near-capacity crowd. McNeil did enough to hold off Ward taking the decision to the cards.
McNeil won a unamious decision. One judge had it 4-1-1 in favor of McNeil.
McNeil said the quick and strong Ward gave him quite a challenge.
McNeil could go up in the boxing rankings. He is currently ranked 54th in the U.S. and 145th in the world.
Norwood took the state supermiddleweight belt by throwing a low-high combination against Terrell in the third round.
In another highly competitive bout, Meridian's Michael Moss won a unamious decision over Philadelphia's Phillip Hammac. The fight's third round was one of the best of the evening and Moss threw perhaps the single hardest blow of the night with a straight right that caught Hammac flush.
Hammac took a lot of punishment, but made it through all four rounds to take it to a decision.
Laurel's Bo Skipper knocked out Paul Blount of Bogalusa, La., at the 2:09 mark of the second round. Skipper hit Blount for a standing eight early in the second and then finished it off with a minute to go in the round. Skipper improved to 8-1-1.
The most skilled fighter on the night was Gentleman James Johnson of Shreveport, La. He knocked out a game Antonio Adams of Laurel at the 2:59 mark of the second round.
Johnson is 54-2 and holds the IBF Intercontinental Welterweight belt. His next scheduled bout will be on April 16 in Philadelphia, Pa., where he hopes to break into the IBF's Top 10.
In the sixth bout, Chad Lawshe of Mobile won a four-round decision over Reginald Adams of Hammond, La.
In the first bout of the evening, David Arthur of Pelahatchie stopped David Huckabee on a technical knockout at the 1:05 mark of the first round.