First time fighter entertain crowd at indoor arena

Catherine Hancock celebrates her victory over Emily Downs this past Saturday at Tallahassee Indoor Sports arena.
Photos by St. Clair Murraine

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer

With the exception of the winner of a super middleweight boxing match, each of the fighters who competed on Saturday nights Xtreme Championship card entered a place they’d never been.
Each of them were first-timers, each coming away with one thing in common – they have plenty of work to do to get better at their game. Some competed in boxing, while others fought as kick-boxers and mixed martial art competitors.
“It feels good,” said Arious Caudell after he defeated Logan Schiefelbein in a MMA fight. “I just want to get better and sharpen my skills to prepare for the next fight.”
That was a resounding theme, even for Schiefelbein, who tapped out midway through the first round. He sat in the dressing are afterward, disappointed that he made the trip from Auburn, Ind., and couldn’t finish the fight.
Tallahassee Indoor Sports arena became deafening throughout a three-round kickboxing match between Catherine Hancock and Emily Down. Early on it seemed the younger Downs would have her way with Hancock, a 42-year-old mother.

Jeremiah Marschka pulled out a close split decision victory over Chris Baez in a super middleweight bout.

But the tides turned quickly in the second round, as Downs appeared to run out of gas. Hancock said she was just as tired as both fighters took turns landing heavy punches.
Hancock took control in final round, keeping the estimated 300 spectators on their feet. She took a unanimous decision.
“I went in there to fight with no expectations of what I was going to meet,” said Hancock, a researcher at FSU. “I got to that second round and I just felt so tired.”
The second was especially challenging, she said, because letting her hands go was becoming tiresome.
“I just had to bring as much as I could,” she said. “I had to convince myself to do it because my body didn’t want to.”
Prior to the fight, Hancock said it would be her only bout. She didn’t appear to be too sure afterward.
“At least I did it,” she said. “I will have to see what happens.”
Jeremiah Marschka had a much different reaction after he beat Chris Baez over three rounds in a boxing bout. For most of the fight it was a matchup of Marschka’s power punches against the outside fighting of Baez from behind a stiff jab.
The match against the 28-year-old Baez, who was making his debut, was the third for Marschka, 36.
“I’ll keep doing it until somebody calls me,” he said. “It’s fun for me. I’m not trying to launch a (pro) career by any means. I just happen to be in (good) enough physical shape that I can do it. It’s hard but it’s fun.”