By Staff
OUCH Billy Outley, left, recoils after taking a hard right from Meridian's Brad McNeil during their junior middleweight fight on Friday night at the Frank Cochran Center. McNeil won the fight with a fourth-round TKO. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
By Austin Bishop/The Meridian Star
Nov. 9, 2001
Brad McNeil jumped into the boxing ring at the Frank Cochran Center wearing the Red, White and Blue and four rounds later left opponent Billy Outley black and blue all over.
McNeil, fighting in his home town, pounded the outmatched Outley throughout the fight, with the referee stopping the bout before the fifth round could begin. The match was set for eight rounds.
McNeil, obviously the crowd favorite, entered the ring to begin the night's final bout while wearing an American flag in the style of a cape. After taking it off, he waved it over his head.
For the rest of the night it was Outley waving his fists at a dodging McNeil, and McNeil connecting with thundering rights to the kidney and sharp lefts to the body and head.
In fact, it was a left that caught a ducking Outley in the middle of the third round that put Outley on his way out.
But Outley didn't go easy.
The veteran junior middleweight from Shreveport, La., took two standing eight counts in the third round and another in the fourth. After the fourth round had closed, the referee followed Outley to his corner and then stopped the fight.
Outley agreed.
McNeil moves his record to 10-1-1 with the win, retaining his SEBF Jr. Middleweight title.
McNeil says he is looking to step up his boxing career from this point.
There were four other fights on the card, with the perhaps the most entertaining being a six-round welterweight bout between Michael Moss of Meridian and Abel Hernandez of Forest.
Hernandez won the bout in a unanimous decision, but it was still a close and controversial one. Two judges had Hernandez winning 57-56, while the third card was 58-56.
Hernandez seemed to dominate the early rounds, including the third round where he had Moss in trouble. But then the veteran Moss began his comeback.
He seemingly had Hernandez in trouble in the fifth round, knocking him down early in the round. But Hernandez fought back and nearly took the round away from Moss.
Jessie Marsh of Canada took a split-decision over T.C. James of Mobile in a six-round Super Middleweight bout, while Meridian's J.D. Young won over Phillip Hammac by TKO in the fourth round of their welterweight bout.
The other fight on the card saw Bo Skipper of Laurel move his light heavyweight record to 6-0-1 with a fourth round TKO of Arnell Lowe of Memphis.