Smoker kicks off fitness month Published May 19, 2009 By John E. Banks Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The stage was set. The ring was assembled. The boxers laced up their gloves and boots and were ready to rumble. Part of the base's May Fitness Month, the Boxing Smoker at the Gerrity Fitness and Sports Center on May 8 hosted 10 fights wile more than 500 fans cheered on their favorite combatant. "This is going to be a great evening of boxing for the fans. We have 10 evenly matched fights. We have fighters from the Tinker Boxing Club, Sims Boxing Club, and a few fighters from Fort Sill, which should make for some interesting competition," said Steve Thomasson, Gerrity Fitness and Sports Center operations director. Gilberto Suarez, Tinker Boxing Club head coach said the spectators were in for a good night as they would see a bunch of talented young fighters. "It will pit the best from the Army, Navy and Air Force at Tinker and from Fort Sill," said Suarez. The evening's boxing exhibition was highlighted by three fights. These three fights captured the attention of the audience and all of the fighters received standing ovations after the fights concluded. The first of the three fights pitted Air Force's Lisandra D'Augustino against Fort Sill's Baily Lane. This fight was a back and forth affair with each fighter going on the offensive. The fight was determined by a flurry by D'Augustino at the end of round three. "I was very pleased with my performance and was happy to hear the reaction from the fans," said D'Augustino. The second top-flight fight of the evening pitted Shawn Thurman against defending Smoker champion Roderick Ivory. Thurman was the aggressor from the outset, landing punches with regular consistency, making his opponent back up. The key to the fight was that Thurman had more strength and agility than his opponent. A flurry in round two paved the way for Thurman to score a knockout over Ivory. "I was pleased with my effort. I had put in a lot of hard work for this fight and the results were what I was looking for," said Thurman. The main attraction of the evening was the defense of the Tinker and Oklahoma heavyweight title. This fight pitted challenger David Benner against champion Theo Morse. Benner took advantage of his quickness in the first round, landing numerous punches and putting Morse on the defensive. In the second and third rounds, Morse was the aggressor and landed punch after punch in a flurry of activity. In a close decision, Morse retained his title. At the close of the evening, each boxer received a medal for their efforts. Additionally, the Sims Boxing Club was honored as the best team as they captured all four of their fights. D'Augustino was recognized having won the best fight of the evening. "All the fighters put in maximum effort. Some fighters performed better than other, however, I think it was a great night of boxing," said Sims.