Osseo's Caleb Truax and Brooklyn's Peter Quillin didn't get in the ring until just before midnight Saturday at the Armory, and it was 12:07 a.m. Sunday before their bout started.
And then a disappointing result was reached for all.
Truax and Quillin smacked heads in the middle of the second round, causing a wide gash across Truax's right eyebrow. It was ruled an accidental head butt, and when the ring physician got a closer look between rounds it was determined Truax could not continue. The bout was ruled a no-decision.
"It was such a great crowd, a great night for boxing in Minnesota,'' Truax said. "And then this happens.''
The bout, the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card, had been scheduled as a 12-rounder for two 35-year-old IBF supermiddleweight contenders, with the winner in line for a mandatory title fight against Caleb Plant, the IBF champion.
The crowd of 4,117 was the largest of four PBC cards since boxing returned to the remodeled Armory in April 2018. Most of the fans were there to cheer for Truax, and they stayed until the early morning to see their man.
In a front-row seat, Truax's mother, Leah, shed a few tears as she watched her son bleeding and trying to fight on.
"I knew it was a bad cut,'' Leah said. "There's no way they could go on with a fight. I've always enjoyed watching Caleb's fights; I'm so proud of him for all he's put into it. But, yes, it's tough for a mom to see her son bleeding like that.''
The main event was televised on FS1 and was pushed deep into the night by several circumstances. First, there was a baseball game on the network between the New York Mets and Atlanta that lasted 3 hours, 37 minutes, delaying the televised boxing an hour. Then two of the televised fights went the distance — 12 rounds for Sergiy Derevyanchenko over Jack Culcay in a grueling brawl of middleweight contenders, and then 19-year-old Joey Spencer's six-round defeat of Osias Vasquez.
After the fight was called, Truax headed toward the locker room. It took 14 interior stitches and 14 exterior stitches to repair the wound.
Bob Dolan, a member of the Minnesota board that oversees boxing, reminded Truax that when a bout is stopped in this manner the boxer suffering the cut can't fight again for 45 days.
"It's going to be quite a bit longer than 45 days for this,'' Truax said. "Right now, I'm worried about when my daughter wakes up and sees this cut. I hope she's not going to get scared.''
The next PBC card at the Armory will be held July 13, with Minneapolis welterweight contender Jamal James as a headliner. The opponent has not been announced.
