St. Louis boxer is new WBA champion

March 28, 2008

Devon Alexander lived up to his nickname Thursday at the Scottrade Center.

Thrilling his hometown fans with 12 rounds of pure power, Devon Alexander 'The Great' was truly that as he scored a unanimous decision over Miguel Callist, wresting the WBA Federation super lightweight championship of the world from 33-year-old Panamanian's grasp.

Now 15-0, the 21-year-old Alexander, the WBC Continental America Champion, hurt Callist with a flurry of punches in the seventh round then dominated the rest of the fight as he thrilled his hometown crowd.

The main attraction of the night featuring St. Louis native Cory Spinks and three-time World champion Verno Phillips for the IBF junior middleweight championship of the world, had not begun at press time.

Spinks, who entered the fight with a 36-4 mark and 11 knockouts was fighting with his dad, former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, and his uncle, former world champion Michael Spinks in his corner for the first time.

Spinks last fought in May 2007, losing a split decision to Jermain Taylor in Memphis.

In the preliminary fights Thursday:

** In the first bout of the day, undefeated prospect Kertson Manswell scored a first round TKO of journeyman Cherone Fox in a heavyweight bout.

Manswell, fighting out of Trinidad and Tobago, landed several good shots to the midsection of Fox early, then caught the Michigan native with two sharp blows to the head before the fight was stopped with seven seconds left in round one.

Manswell improved to 15-0 with the win.

** Bermane Stiverne ended the night of Jimmy Haynes in a hurry, knocking down the Corbin, Ky., native twice in the first minute before scoring a TKO of his heavyweight bout in 2 minutes, 8 seconds of round one.

Stiverne ended the fight with a hard blow to the right temple of Haynes, causing the third and final knockdown of the night.

Stiverne, now 14-1, has 14 knockouts.

** In perhaps the most impressive performance of the preliminary bouts, Cuban Angelo Santana came out swinging and didn't stop until he scored a knockout of Rasool Shakoor in 28 seconds of the first round.

Santana, a free-swinging southpaw, making just his second professional fight, stunned Shakoor with his aggressive approach then appeared to land a left uppercut to end the fight early.

** Francisco Palacios got a scare from journeyman Zack Page but went on to score a unanimous decision in their eight-round cruiserweight bout.

Page, just 14-19-1, opened a cut over the right eye of the undefeated Palacios early in the second round but was never able to take full advantage over of his early edge.

Palacios improved to 14-0 with the win.

** Marcus 'Too Much' Johnson proved to be just that as he scored a first-round knockout of Jose Medina in their super middleweight bout.

Johnson landed a powerful right hand shot to the ribs of Medina, flooring the Miami-based fighter.

Johnson improved to 13-0 with the win.

** In the biggest mismatch of the night, John 'Action' Jackson had his way with veteran Leroy Newton to score a first round TKO.

Jackson (11-1) knocked down Newton four times in the first two minutes before the fight was stopped.

Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2665 or dcriddle@bnd.com.

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