NEW TOWN - Shawn Hawk wanted to win just a little more decisively than he did in his boxing match with Ruben Williams Saturday night.
Hawk defeated Williams unanimous decision in the main event of 4 Bears Fight Night at 4 Bears Casino & Lodge near New Town - though Hawk (21-1-1, 17 KO's) said he was hoping to score a knockout victory.
"I'm just a little mad I didn't get the knockout," Hawk said. "He's a tough guy, a veteran."
Williams spent a good portion of the second and third rounds up against the ropes weathering combos from Hawk, who appeared to be in better shape for the fight than Williams.
The fourth round went better for Williams (29-11-1, 16 KO's), who fared better with the counterpunches he threw. Hawk and Williams squared off away from the ropes more in the middle rounds, with Williams attempting to mount more offense than he had previously.
Williams would spend most of the late rounds again just trying to withstand Hawk's offensive attack.
The 6-foot-1 Williams had the advantage in reach, which Hawk said frustrated him a little bit. "He's a lot quicker than I expected and his arms are really long, probably one of the longest reaches that I've fought so far," Hawk said.
Hawk is now 2-0 since returning from training with retired boxer Virgil Hill in New Jersey and fighting as a cruiserweight.
After this, Hawk plans to stay in shape and be ready for his next bout after defending his SNBC title in a fight that will air along with the four others on Fox Sports North on July 31, either at 9:30 p.m. or after the conclusion of the Twins-Mariners game.
"It's TV, I fought for a title, defended my title in front of one of my hometowns," Hawk said. "It was a big event for me."
In the featured fight, Eric Hunter beat Leon Bobo by TKO in the eighth rounds. Bobo (18-6-1, 2 KO's) spent most of the fight advancing on Hunter with his guard up and no apparent intention of forcing the action, but Hunter began to really mount a substantial offensive attack in the final two rounds.
Hunter (14-1, 7 KO's) said his objective was to put in rounds instead of scoring a knockout early in the fight.
"I was just really trying to pace myself, I'm trying to get rounds in," Hunter said. "In my last couple fights I've been knocking everybody out so I've been trying to get rounds in, picking him up a little bit. I started noticing after the second round he was trying to really survive. That's why he kept putting his guard up, trying to survive."
4 Bears Fight Night opened with a hotly contested four-round bout between junior middleweights Cheyenne Ziegler and Ryan Soft who regularly taunted his opponent during the fight. Soft won by split decision, though Ziegler (3-5, 2 KO's) was stunned when it was announced he was bested by Soft (2-1-1, 1 KO).
Soft and Ziegler were followed by two fights that each ended in the first round. Dominic Wade ran his record to 8-0 with six knockouts when he caught his opponent Troy Lowry (27-10, 16 KO's) with a shot to the ribs, a blow Lowry commended his opponent on after the bout.
Marcus Oliveria (20-0-1, 16 KO's) scored a quick knockdown of James Morrow (11-18-3, 5 KO's) early on in their light heavyweight match, and soon after he landed a number of consecutive blows to Morrow's face to cause the referee to call the fight.
In amateur action, Minot's Jessica Doner defeated Kayla Brady, Dylan Mason bested Rondale Hubbert and Cameron Grady won against Joel Galun.
