Frank Horsey, 27, from Kaiserslautern, throws a right hand at Anthony Jones, 30, from Lajes, during a U.S. Forces Europe championship bout Saturday at Miesau, Germany. Horsey defeated Jones in the second round after the referee stopped the fight. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
MIESAU, Germany – If nothing else, Saturday night’s U.S. Forces Europe boxing championships set a record for efficiency. All six gold medals awarded in 2009 were decided in the span of 3 minutes, 42 seconds.
That’s how long the novice light-heavyweight championship bout won by Kaiserslautern’s Frank Horsey lasted. He stopped Air Force boxer Anthony Jones 42 seconds into Round 2 of the only contested bout Saturday night.
Horsey said he had mixed feelings about being one of just two boxers who saw action on Saturday.
"I feel excited at one point but disappointed on the other," said Horsey, 27, assigned to the 406th Human Relations Command. "I wanted to see my teammates fight."
The five other crowns were awarded unopposed, IMCOM-Europe MWR official Tom Hlavacek reported. Novices John Terales of Baumholder at 125 pounds, Diego Moya of Ansbach at 152, John Tice of Sembach at 178 and David Meredith at over-201, along with over-201 open boxer Antonio Feagins of Kaiserslautern, grabbed gold medals and the silken jackets that accompanied them in their street clothes.
"Military commitments and deployments make it hard to hold these events," Hlavacek explained of the low turnout.
Horsey agreed, but indicated he’s hopeful about the future.
"When soldiers come back from deployment," Horsey said, "those that want to box are ready to box."
Horsey and Jones were ready right away.
"Both started out aggressively," Hlavacek said by telephone on Saturday night. "Both men were pressing, throwing lefts and rights to the head. Horsey won the round, but Jones, a southpaw whose record is 1-1, landed a hard left cross to Horsey’s head to score at the end of the round."
Between rounds, Hlavacek said, Horsey’s coach, U.S. Military Academy graduate Jerry Hart, advised his boxer to give Jones some space whenever the airman applied pressure.
The advice, Hlavacek said, paid almost instant dividends. When Jones bore in toward Horsey 25 seconds into Round 2, Horsey stepped back and broke Jones’ nose with a hard left hook. Ring medics stopped the bleeding, but Horsey connected to Jones’ nose again 18 seconds after the bout resumed. There was no staunching the flow this time, and referee Chris Cornelison of Hohenfels stopped the contest. All that remained thereafter was to hand out the medals and wait for the boxers to come back from deployment.
Stars and Stripes photographer Ben Bloker contributed to this report.
