Boise, ID (8/12/16)— David Castillo was named the first champion in Front Street Fights history on Friday night, defeating Scott “Tickle Fight” Thometz by TKO in the fourth round of the main event at Front Street Fights 9, presented by BodyBuilding.com, to claim the Lightweight Championship belt at CenturyLink Arena.
Castillo (20-8-0) dictated the fight in his Front Street Fights debut after both fighters spent much of the first round on their feet. As the fight progressed, Castillo was able to use his size to force Thometz (10-6-0) to the perimeter of the cage. Several Castillo blows opened a cut below Thometz’s right eye, opening the window for Castillo to be more aggressive. After several body shot injured Thometz, Castillo’s final flurry forced the referee to call the match and award Castillo the belt at 2:25 of the fourth round.
In the co-main event, another fighter set himself up for possible championship opportunities down the road. Matt Jones (5-2-0) defeated Kerry Lattimer (6-8-0) by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27×2) for his fifth win in his last six contests, aligning himself for a shot at the Featherweight Title. Lattimer was very effective in escaping Jones’ attacks throughout the fight but was never able to produce much of an attack of his own, as Jones was in control for much of the three round bout.
Colton Vaughn (7-6-0) earned redemption in a Heavyweight bout against Luis Cortez (3-4-0) 11 months after Cortez knocked out Vaughn in the first round of Front Street Fights 6. Friday night it was Vaughn earning the TKO, taking Cortez to the ground and landing several punches before the fight was stopped at 1:36 of Round 1. Vaughn was not on the card for the event until this past Tuesday, when he was added to replace a disqualified Daniel Spitz.
Andrew Cruz (4-0-0) kicked off the pro card with a submission victory over Abraham Campos (1-2-0), with Campos tapping out with three seconds left in Round 1 because of a Cruz arm-bar.
AMATEUR RESULTS:
Dominic Pierson-Granado (9-3-0) def. Stephen Stirewalt (3-5-0) by split decision (30-27×2 Pierson, 29-28 Stirewalt)
Michael Garcia (6-1-0) def. Robert Peel (1-2-0) by unanimous decision (30-27×3)
Chase Peel (4-2-0) def. Paul Crawford (1-3-0) by submission at 1:46 of Round 2
Ethen Beard (3-0-0) def. Taylor O’Neil (2-1-0) by TKO at 2:46 Round 1