In what proved to be an exciting, all action main event, Andy “Kaos” Kolle took a unanimous decision victory from Matt “The Predator” Vanda at Myth in Maplewood in the middleweight main event of “Capital Punishment”.
The judges tallies were 77-75, 77-75 and 77-76, all for Kolle who improves to 16-1, 12 KOs with the biggest victory of his young career.
An raucous house at Myth were volleying back and forth in support of their favorite fighter as there was a true ebb and flow in this contest over eight action packed rounds. Vanda – a 5’10” natural junior middleweight – got off to a fast start when he decided to brawl with Kolle (6’1”) early in the contest. Vanda asserted his will on the bigger fighter by consistently coming forward, pushing Kolle to the ropes and landing a myriad of punches.
Fans of “The Pride of the East Side” quickly saw the improvements made in his attack by world class trainer Ron Lyke. Early on, Vanda looked aggressive, threw punches in bunches, and seemed the stronger of the two fighters. A definite credit to Lyke in his first time training Vanda for a full eight weeks leading up to this important bout.
It was Vanda, however, who slowed in the middle rounds which allowed Kolle to find a home for a stiff southpaw jab and straight left hands. Working behind his jab, Kolle moved Vanda backwards and landed combinations of his own that surely won him the middle rounds.
Just as the contest looked to be moving more and more to Kolle’s corner, Vanda worked inside in the seventh and landed a short, hard left hook that landed flush on Kolle’s chin and dropped the Fergus Falls, MN middleweight to the canvas. Dazed and clearly hurt, Kolle used the ropes to bring himself back to his feet in beating the count of ten. Vanda moved in for the kill, trying to close the show, but kudos to Kolle’s as he quickly cleared his head and finished the round.
The important eighth round went to Kolle, 25, as he finished the stanza by pushing Vanda to the ropes and finding a spot for his punches that took an important round from “Skelator”.
The outcome was clearly up in the air as both corners seemed pensive as they awaited the decision. Perhaps karma caught up to Vanda, 29, in what his critics would call a handful of questionable decisions from years past. Shaking his head in disbelief, Vanda walked out of the ring after the scores were announced. With the defeat, Vanda falls to 37-5, 21 KOs.
