Fight Report: Sumya Anani vs. Britt VanBuskirk

Fight Night at the Seven Feathers with Sumya “Island Girl” Anani Facing Britt VanBuskirk for a GBU World Title – By Sue TL Fox – Photo credit – Sandy Goldberg

CANYONVILLE (OCT 21, 2001) Last night at the Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort, held an action-packed night of boxing. The house was nearly packed as they featured six men’s matches on the undercard, and one female bout featured in the mainliner between  Sumya Anani, 142 ½, vs. Britt VanBuskirk, 141 in a 143-lb., in a  10-round world GBU championship that was featured as the main event.

With the main event being the finale of the evening Anani fought  VanBuskirk in a solid action bout.   In the first two rounds, both fighters kept their distance.  They would throw combinations, but were too far from each other to really connect.  The action began to pick up in the third round.  Throughout the fight though…Anani continued to be the aggressor throwing more combinations, and put VanBuskirk in a more defensive position. There were no knockdowns, and the fight went to the decision of the judges. Final judging was 100-90, 100-91, and 100-90. After the fight in the post-interview, VanBuskirk said that she felt Sumya was a very tough opponent and was a good boxer. Anani, showing equal respect for VanBuskirk said that she was nervous coming into the fight, after experiencing her only loss to VanBuskirk as a professional.

In an extra plus feature on this card, I was able to meet up with pioneer boxer from the 50s-60s Barbara Buttrick.  Buttrick was the acting supervisor and president of the GBU and was there to present this belt to the winner of Anani vs. VanBuskirk.

On the undercard, the night began with a four-round 150-lb middleweight bout, Sinan Kuch, 158, KO1 Raymond “Boom Boom” Brady, 160 ½, both from Portland, Oregon, and who was making his pro debut. It only took Kuch 2:50 seconds of the first round to deliver Brady his fourth loss as a professional. Brady was clipped with a clear right hand that landed him on the canvass for a couple of minutes.

The second match of the evening lasted even less time than the first, when Featherweight Greg Piper, 123 ¼, TKO1 Scott Smith, 123 lbs. In 1:26 of the first round. Piper came out immediately and began to throw a barrage of punches that Smith could not answer to.

What WBAN considered the “best fight of the night” on the undercard, was the third bout of the evening. It featured Victor “Bam Bam” Barnson, 168 ¼, Willamina, Oregon, facing Luis Lopez, 168 ¼, Othello, Washington, in a 170-lb four-round Light-heavyweight competition. Barnson was 1-0, and Lopez was making his pro debut. Barnson and Lopez fought toe-to-toe with many exciting exchanges during the four-rounder. There was one knockdown in the fight with Lopez taking an eight-count. Barnson won by a unanimous decision. Final scoring by the judges 40-36, 39-37, 39-37. Barnson improved his record to 2-0, and Lopez is now 0-1. (Lopez in black shorts, Barnson in blue/white shorts)

In another exciting matchup, the fourth fight of the night was between Paul Mpendo, 153, who is originally from Kampala, Uganda, but fights out of Eugene, Oregon, and Dominic “Doing All With God” Rivera,157, of Portland Oregon. Mpendo stalked Rivera through most of the fight and was more of the aggressor as Rivera had to move from side to side to force Mpendo to reset himself. Another action-filled four round fight, that ended with Mpendo earning a unanimous decision. Final scoring by the judges was 37-36, 38-37, and 38-35. Mpendo improved his record to 3-1-2 (2KO), and Rivera fell to 3-10-0 (2KO). (Rivera in black shorts, Mpendo in white shorts)

Then there was the heavyweights for the evening…. Ruben Torres, 217, Portland, Oregon, stopped Patrick Placentia, 220, Portland, Oregon, who was making his pro debut. Torres the more technically sound boxer against a harder-punching slugger.

All was going well for Placentia in the first round. Both boxers threw an equal exchange of combinations, but by the latter part of the second round, Placentia was out of gas. Breathing out of his mouth, he began to drop his hands, and he was starting to get nailed more at will by his opponent. In the third round, Torres threw a straight punch to Placentia, and all of a sudden Placentia just turned his back to his opponent walking toward the ropes. The ref stopped the fight. Torres and Placentia hugged each other with respect at the end of the match. Torres remaines undefeated with a 3-0 (1KO), and Placentia is now 0-1. (Placentia in black trunks, Torres in white trunks)

In a six-rounder, there was a 172-lb Light-Heavyweight match, between house favorite Kip Triplett, 174, Eugene, Oregon and Scott Lansdon,175 ½, Baker, Oregon. A very evenly-matched bout, that provided boxing fans with some action-packed moments. Unexpectedly, 26 seconds in the sixth round, Tripplett stopped (TKO6) Lansdon. (Triplett in all-black trunks, Lansdon in black/yellow trunks)

Judges for the event were Greg Baker, Robert Flamme, James Howards, and Paul Wetzel. Referees included, James Eriksen, Michael Fisher, David Hagen, and Daryl Lewis. The event was promoted by Patrick Ortiz of Ringside Inc. of California. A special thanks to Carl Salter, Executive Director of Cow Creek Indian Commissions for supporting women’s boxing, and putting on a great night of boxing!