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Winsworth defeats Yusuf in three rounds
On August 19, 16-year-old Cole Winsworth from Ground Up Boxing Gym in Nevada matched up against 16-year-old Hudaifah Yusuf from Brass Boxing Gym in Kansas City, with the bout held at Larry Edgar’s Authentic Boxing gym in Kansas City. After three rounds, Winsworth walked away victorious.
“Cole did very well in his second fight,” said trainer Rick Culler. “Both were very hungry and looking for that win.”
Culler said both fighters were classed at 115 pounds and had the same amount of training.
“It was a very tough fight from the beginning and both fighters were coming forward trying to gain control of the fight,” Culler said. “Cole was slipping and weaving, utilizing his head movement which made the fight tougher for Yusuf, as the punches would go just to the side of Cole’s head and as soon as Cole made him miss, Cole would counter and land clean scoring shots.”
Culler explained that due to the number of matches, each round was shortened to only one minute (as opposed to the standard three minute rounds).
“These types of fights are action-packed with little to no time to figure out your opponent,” Culler said. “In order to get the win you got to show the judges very quickly who the better fighter is in the ring. Cole was on point with his punches and his defense and clearly showed the judges from round one that he was there to win the fight.”
Winsworth’s success continued into the second round, though Culler said victory was not yet certain.
“Yusef was still fighting hard and threw nearly as many punches as Cole in that round trying hard to win the second round to even out the score,” Culler said. “At the end of the second, the fight was very close but I thought Cole had done enough to win the round. We couldn’t take a chance — being from another city fighting a hometown guy, we knew we had to make it clear to the judges that the red corner was the winner.”
Between the second and third rounds, Culler instructed Winsworth to make several changes to exploit an opening in Yusuf’s defense.
“That was the defining round,” Culler said of the third round. “Cole went out and did the things his corner had requested of him and that led to the very first stoppage of the fight.”
Winsworth knocked Yusuf’s head gear loose. Culler said it gave Yusuf the opportunity to catch his breath and recover, but it was too late.
With about 10 second remaining in the round, Winsworth connected with a clean jab, staggering Yusuf.
“Yusef stood there trying to throw back but Cole moved his head and slipped all Yusuf’s punches,” explained Culler. “While it wasn’t a knockout, (Yusuf) couldn’t move his legs and fell forward, and at that time the bell rang saving Yusef from losing by knockout. Instead, we had to wait for the judges to make their decision.”
Culler said the referee stood in the center of the ring with a boxer on each side waiting for the announcement, which was that Winsworth had won.
“Cole got his trophy, told his opponent great job and thanked him for the experience,” Culler said.
Winsworth, a sophomore at Nevada High School began training at Ground Up Boxing Gym a year ago as part of a program for at-risk youth.
“Cole’s father said that the Boxing program has made an impact in his life from the first day as Cole was failing a few classes,” said Culler, “and now he has A’s and B’s, turns his work in and tries harder to achieve good grades.”
Culler continued: “When Cole started we had a program allowing kids to train free of charge if they could maintain those requirements, but since we were not able to get any sponsors from local business and have not been able to get any type of funding from the local organizations to help cover the expenses of competing and traveling for competitions — we had to do away with our free kids program until we are able to secure some additional funding. We (currently) give discounted rates to kids based off financial criteria of the parents.”
Culler said the goal of the boxing program was to keep at-risk youth active, healthy, off the streets, and away from drugs.
“Since opening the program we have had many local kids compete and win and rarely do we lose a boxing match,” he said. “The kids train hard and fight hard for their community. Cole told me he dreamed of becoming a boxer long before (he joined) the Ground Up Boxing Gym, and that is a dream I plan to help him achieve.”
Winsworth next steps into the ring on Sept. 30, in Springfield.
“It’s always a pleasure for my fighters and I to attend the fights at Authentic boxing gym as it is the closest thing to a professional boxing match the amateurs boxers could experience,” Culler said.
“The fighters get to work inside the ring in front of a large crowd and this type of atmosphere better prepares boxers for their upcoming career as a professional boxer. As we saw with Mayweather vs. McGregor, that boxing is the highest paid sport in the world and with the boxers here in Nevada getting some of the best boxing experience available it is likely they will continue to win and represent Nevada with pride and honor for many years to come.”